A Judgment of Money

Posted on Tuesday, 11, July, 2023 by Rabbi

The holy rabbi of the village was out walking through the market place when he saw a man so upset that he was crying. He went over and asked, “Why are you so upset?”

The man began telling of his misfortune. “I am a storekeeper in a nearby village. I left my home with a hundred rubles in order to buy goods for my store. After arriving here, though I looked in all my pockets, I could not find the money. Now I am lost, because I cannot buy goods, and I have no way to earn a living.”

“Don’t worry,” said the holy rabbi, “I found your money. Come to my home and I will return it.”

The holy rabbi guided the man to his home and sat him at the table and served him a meal. After the storekeeper had eaten and was satisfied, the holy rabbi gave him a hundred rubles.

The man’s eyes lit up, and he thanked the holy rabbi abundantly. He took the money and bought all the goods that he needed for his store.

As soon as he arrived home, his wife said jokingly, “Why are you always so absentminded? You may have gone to buy goods, but you forgot the money at home.”

He realized what had happened; the holy rabbi had given him a hundred rubles of his own.

The next morning the man returned to the village where he met the holy rabbi, immediately went to his house, and told him, “Rebbe, you fooled me. I never lost anything, and you never found anything. I had forgotten my money at home.”

He then placed the hundred rubles before the holy rabbi.

“I cannot accept the money,” said the holy rabbi. “I gave it to you as a gift.”

“But I don’t want gifts,” said the storekeeper.

Each was adamant. They finally decided to go to the beis din (rabbinic court) to determine who should have the money.

The holy rabbi explained to the court, “whoever consoles a poor person with words of comfort and encouragement receives eleven blessings, as it is stated: ‘And if you draw out your soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then shall your light shine in darkness, and your gloom shall be as the noonday. And the Lord shall guide you continually, and satisfy your thirst in drought… And they that shall be of you shall build the old waste places, you shall raise up the foundations of many generations’” (Isaiah 58:10–12).

The storekeeper responded that the money the holy rabbi gave him was not his money he thought lost, but the personal money of the holy rabbi. He refused to accept the money.

The holy rabbi countered, “the Holy One, Blessed be He, furnishes him with money with which to perform his acts of charity.” (Bava Basra 9b)

The beis din found this an interesting case. Each claimed that he did not want the money, and that the other should receive it.

In the end, after hearing both sides, the beis din ruled that the holy rabbi was to keep the money in his possession to be used for charitable purposes, and that whatever mitzvah (a commandment to be performed as a religious duty) would come of the use of the money would be considered as done by both of them.

May all your tales end with Shalom (peace)

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Tell it to your children, and let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation. (Joel 1:3)

Rachmiel Tobesman is a motivational speaker and Maggid (spiritual Storyteller). He is available for speaking engagements or storytelling, Click here to contact us

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The Sin That Was Sold

Posted on Tuesday, 24, November, 2020Tuesday, 20, September, 2022 by Rabbi

There were two Jewish merchants who were good friends. They used to purchase all kinds of goods, and one of them was a very handsome man indeed. One day they heard that a certain noblewoman had many goods, which she had inherited, to sell. They went to her place to purchase whatever she had. Now she had never seen a Jewish person, and her family had told her only bad things about them. When she asked her servant about these visitors, he laughed at her, saying: “Your family were not honest with you. They are like other men and lack for nothing except that they have no homeland now.” When she heard this, she wished to see the visitors and went to the entrance. There she was very surprised seeing the handsome merchant, whose face seemed to brighten the whole room. So she sent for him and spoke to him, and she was amazed that he could speak her language. She thoroughly enjoyed talking to him, and the flame of desire for him burned within her.

Their business was concluded, the other merchant went to the neighboring villages in order to hire wagons for transporting the goods, while the handsome one with the noblewoman. That night she sent for him to dine with her. He came and enjoyed the food, wine and conversation. The noblewoman told him how she loved him, and gave him all his share of the goods as a gift. With the desires for wealth and for the noblewoman joined, and he could not resist them.

In the morning, his friend returned with the wagons, they loaded up the goods and went their way. While on the road the handsome merchant recalled what he had done and was very ashamed of himself. His friend asked him what was troubling him, but he put him off with various excuses. He wanted to ease the burden of his friend so he insisted on knowing the real reason his friend was troubled and at last, under his pressure the handsome man told the other what had happened. The friend tried to comfort him, but he was not prepared for consolation and wept for what he had done. When his friend saw that he refused to be comforted, he offered to purchase the transgressions from him. They shook hands on the sale and returned home; and the man who had purchased the transgression grew very wealthy and was prosperous in all he did.

In due course the wealthy merchant died; and when he appeared before the Heavenly Court to give a reckoning for his deeds, they included the sin of his friend among his own. The dead man appeared to his friend in a dream and summoned him for trial before a very holy rabbi.

The man was terrified and did not know what to answer; and the dead man appeared in his dreams nightly until he became very sick. Then the sick person begged his family to carry him in his bed to the holy rabbi. They did so, and he told the rabbi of the dreams.

The rabbi said to him: “Have no fear! When he comes to you again, tell him that the Torah ‘is not in heaven’ (Deut. 30:12), and if he wishes for a trial, let him come before me together with you.” The rabbi set a special time for this trial according to the Torah.

When that time came, he sent the synagogue attendant to the grave¬yard to summon the dead merchant. The dead man came together with the living; and a minyan (a group of ten men) gathered in the synagogue.

Then both the dead man and the living stated their arguments. The holy rabbi listened to both ever mindful. The holy rabbi spoke to the living man saying,” A sin’s beginning is sweet, but its end is bitter. (Ecclesiastes Rabbah 2:2) One must always remember that ‘No sin is so light that it may be overlooked; no sin is so heavy that it may not be repented of.’ (Shiras Yisrael, 12c) The matters before us today are indeed great, for the wealthy merchant only wanted to ease his friend’s pain.”

After a moment or two the holy rabbi continued, “Those who commit sin and do wrong are their own worst enemies. (Tobit 12:10) For this reason the living man was troubled down to his very core by his sinful behavior.” After listening to the two before him, the holy rabbi found that the words of the living man to be sincere and ruled against the dead merchant.

The holy rabbi concluded that, “Happy is he who repents while still a man (Avodah Zarah 19a) for had the living man carried his own sin, he would have repented it long ago.” The holy rabbi consoled the dead merchant saying that he would perform reparation for his soul and lighten his punishment.

When the rabbi had declared his judgment, the sound of loud weeping was heard; and in the spot where the dead man had stood there now appeared a large cloud of smoke.

Based on Adas Tzadikkim 41-5

May all your tales end with Shalom (peace)

Click here for more storytelling resources

Tell it to your children, and let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation. (Joel 1:3)

Rachmiel Tobesman is a motivational speaker and Maggid (spiritual Storyteller). He is available for speaking engagements or storytelling, Click here to contact us

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The Tree that Spoke in Court

Posted on Monday, 11, June, 2018Friday, 26, April, 2024 by Rabbi

Two men stood before the beis din (rabbinic court), telling two completely different stories.

“A year ago”, declared Chaim, and well-to-do merchant, “my friend and neighbor Shimon came to me, begging for help. His business was failing, and he said that if I loaned him 1000 silver coins. He could pay off his creditors, who were growing very impatient. He would then buy merchandise and make a new start. We were friends, and he was in trouble, so I immediately gave him the money. I trusted him. Now time is past when I asked for the money back. He refused to give it to me.”

“Why should I return the money? I didn’t take?” Answered Shimon. “There was no such loan. Where is your proof?” He demanded.

“Proof?” Chaim’s face was scarlet, with rage. “You were my friend, I helped you out. I didn’t even ask for a receipt. Now, after all I did for you, you steal my money and call me a liar!”

As was his way, the holy rabbi who led the court looked intently at the two angry men and began to question each of them closely. He asked for all of the details of the transaction, carefully watching each man’s reactions.

“I remember it exactly,” Chaim said, in response to the holy rabbi’s question of when the loan had been arranged. “Shimon and I were standing beneath a white tree when we discussed his business troubles. It was a hot day and we enjoyed the shade tree gave us. I told him that I was a little uncomfortable loaning money without a witness and he told me to let the tree be the witness.”

Up until now it has been business as usual in the beis din (rabbinic court): two men argue a case, each giving his own version in a room where logic, justice, and truth hung in the very air.

justice

Suddenly, the holy rabbi introduced an unusual request.

He turned to the wealthy merchant and instructed him, “If the tree is the witness then the tree must come and testify. Go to the tree where you made the deal.”

Chaim stared. “Now?”

“That’s right, now. Bring me a branch from the tree. With the help of the Holy One, blessed be He, the branch will help me to reveal the truth.”

When Chaim rushed out of the room, a puzzled silence fell. No one had the courage to question the holy rabbi but everyone wondered how in the world a branch could help find the answer. Could a tree, then, speak of what it had seen a year ago?

Time passed and the holy rabbi looked out the window and saw that the sun was setting. He looked out the window frequently and seemed to be growing impatient. “Where is Chaim already?” He said, half to himself. “The day is almost gone and evening is coming and I want to get this finished today. Why is he taking so long?”

“It will be a while until he gets back,” Shimon said helpfully. “The tree is quite a distance from here. Perhaps the holy rabbi should see someone else in the meantime.”

“No,” said the holy rabbi, his face expressionless, “let us wait for the branch and hear what it has to tell us.”

Not long afterward, Chaim walked back into the room. Feeling a bit silly, he placed the branch on the table in front of the holy rabbi.

The holy rabbi stared at the branch intently for a few seconds. The others looked at it as well, a long brown piece of wood with small knots and a few twigs still stuck to it. It was, in fact, nothing more than the branch of a tree.

The holy rabbi turned his gaze on the two men standing before him, a look of quiet satisfaction on his face. “The tree branch has spoken and told me that Shimon has, indeed taken the money and it must be returned.”

“Nonsense!” Shimon exploded. “How in the world… Trees don’t speak!”

“This one did,” the holy rabbi said. His face was stern and his voice was serious. “The tree spoke, and you spoke. If you had not taken the loan, how did you know where the tree was located? You knew very well what tree Chaim was going to, and that’s the proof that Chaim’s story was true.”

Shimon, realizing that he had fallen neatly into the judge’s trap, shamefully admitted that he had, indeed taken the money and tried to get out of repaying the loan. “You don’t know what it’s been like,” he said, sobbing. “I’m just beginning to see some success in my business. If I have to pay the loan back now I will be ruined, bankrupt. My family…. We will all go hungry. I didn’t want to lie, but I had no choice.”

The holy rabbi’s eyes flashed fire, but he gently put his hands on the broken man’s shoulder. “Every man has a choice. Your sins have been many. You stole, you lied, and you betrayed a friend.” He stared at the man his penetrating gaze seeming to pierce his very soul. Then he turned to the victorious plaintiff, Chaim.

“I believe your friend Shimon sincerely regrets his actions. He is admitted that he owes you the money in front of the beis din. We allow him to pay the loan off, enabling him to continue in business?”

After a moment’s thought, Chaim agreed to let Shimon repay him on easy terms. The two men then left together, not yet friends, but no longer enemies. In his hand, Chaim held a brown branch, to bring home in order to show his family and friends the tree that had spoken.

May all your tales end with Shalom (peace)

Click here for more storytelling resources

Tell it to your children, and let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation. (Joel 1:3)

Rachmiel Tobesman is a motivational speaker and Maggid (spiritual Storyteller). He is available for speaking engagements or storytelling, Click here to contact us

Please share this story with family and friends and let us know what you think or feel about the stories in a comment or two.

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