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Tag: Islam

The Baker’s Reward

Posted on Tuesday, 25, August, 2020Tuesday, 20, September, 2022 by Rabbi

Part II – A Blessing Realized and Meeting the Rabbi

When he thought about all those golden coins that his kind employer set aside for him, and were wait¬ing for him at the secret cellar, the baker felt sad. He remembered the rabbi’s blessing. Those golden coins would have made him a rich man, though not nearly as rich as he had expected if the rabbi’s bless¬ing came true. Now he had lost even that! True, he had saved quite a bit from his wages, but now that he had to go back to his bakery there was not much of a chance that he should ever see a golden coin again. “Well, so be it,” he thought, and dismissed the whole matter from his mind.

A few days later, when the baker was in the market place, he heard that a house on the outskirts of the town was up for public sale, as the owner had died without leaving any heir or will. It immediately occurred to the baker that this could very well be the house with the cellar where he had been working for the stranger.

The following morning, the baker took his sav¬ings and hastened to the auction. The house proved to be no great attraction by the look of it; it was old and run-down. No wonder there were very few peo¬ple who were eager to make a bid for it.

The bidding started low, and when the baker raised his offer to an amount he felt he could scrape together by selling his bakery, there was no one who was prepared to outbid him. So his modest offer was accepted, and he put down the money he had with him as a deposit.

In due course, the purchase of the house was completed, and the baker received the keys and title to the house. Thereupon, he moved into the house, and immediately made his way downstairs to the cellar. His heart beating with anticipation and excitement, he tried one key after another until he finally unlocked and opened the creaky door, carefully closing and locking it after him. Then he lit the candle he had taken with him, and lo and behold! The scene was exactly as he had left it the last day he had worked there. There were the neatly stacked up piles of golden coins on the long wooden table, and the jewels, and half-emptied bags as well as many bulging bags with gold and gems that had not yet been touched. What good fortune that no one had been interested enough in the house to go down and look at the cellar!

After feasting his eyes on all that treasure that was now his, he sat down to ponder his new situa¬tion. He realized that he could not suddenly show himself in town as a wealthy man, for everybody knew him as a poor baker. If the local authorities would get wind of his wealth, it would be the end of it for him. So he thought of a plan.

He began to drop a word here and there among his friends and neighbors that he had received word from his uncle in Istanbul, who had no children, and was getting old, asking him to come to live with him and help him in his business. This gave him an excuse to make several trips to Istanbul and transfer his entire fortune there.

The former baker bought a beautiful, home in the center of the city and presented himself as a prosperous diamond merchant. He set up a large business, and soon became very influential in government circles. Never did he forget, however, that all his good fortune came to him because of the rabbi’s blessing, and he hoped that he would some day be able to repay him as he richly deserved.

Many years passed since that night when the rabbi troubled his Arab neighbor, the baker, to light his lamp for him. The aged rabbi, whose lifelong yearning was to be reunited with the Divine Presence at the sacred Western Wall in the Holy City of Jerusalem, now decided to spend his last days in the Holy Land.

When the leaders of the Jewish community in Tunisia learned of their beloved rabbi’s decision, they provided him with all the necessary expenses, as well as with a companion to care for him on the long, difficult journey. They also sent out letters to the heads of the Jewish communities in the various cities where the rabbi would be stopping on his way to the Holy Land, so that they would be prepared to receive the holy rabbi with the honor and respect due to him.

The rabbi arrived in Istanbul where he was duly received with honor and affection. The head of the Jewish community invited him to be his guest for as long as he would care to stay.

While questioning about the needs and concerns of the Jewish community, the rabbi asked his host if there was anything he could do help the community while he was in Istanbul. The head of the community heaved a deep sigh and replied:

“As it happens, our Jewish community is in serious difficulties at present, due to certain decrees that the government has imposed. The only person who can help us is a rich effendi who had great influence at the royal court. A delegation of our com¬munity leaders is going to meet with him tomorrow. However, we are quite concerned about the outcome, as we have never approached him before, and we have no idea how he will react to our request. Would the holy rabbi care to join our delegation? With the help of the Holy One, blessed be He, and in your merits, the chances of success would surely be increased.”

The rabbi readily agreed to go along with the delegation.

As soon as the delegation was ushered into the room where the effendi awaited it, everyone was startled and astonished to see the effendi spring up from his seat and rush to the rabbi to welcome him. The effendi grasped the rabbi’s hands and kissed them reverently. “I am so happy and honored to see you, rabbi,” he said excitedly.

The rabbi looked as much surprised as eve-ryone present.

Returning to his seat, the effendi asked everyone to be seated, and said, “I am now ready to hear your request.”

The head of the Jewish community then told the effendi about the difficult situation the community faced if the harsh decrees were put into effect. He begged the effendi to use his influence at the royal court to persuade the Sultan to rescind them.

“I give you my word,” the effendi promised, “that I shall not rest until I carry out your request.” Then he added, “Now, honorable representatives, please excuse me while I speak for a while to the distinguished guest from Tunisia.”

Thereupon the effendi led the rabbi to a private room, and when they were both seated, began at once:

“I see that the rabbi is puzzled to see me so moved by our meeting. Let me remind you of something that happened many years ago. In Tunis, across the street from your house there lived a baker. Once, in the middle of the night, the rabbi needed a light…”

A happy smile appeared on the rabbi’s face. Of course he remembered that night, and he now realized that the baker and the effendi were one and the same person.

Proverbs 6: 23 Charity

“As you see, holy Rabbi, your blessing came true, beyond my wildest expectations.”

The effendi then confided to the Rabbi how, in a very strange and wondrous way, he had come to his great wealth, and had never forgotten for a moment that it was due only to the rabbi’s blessing. He further told the rabbi how he cherished the hope to see him again and repay in some small measure for the good fortune he had brought him. This is why he was so excited to see him and so eager to fulfill the request of the Jewish community.

Having told his story to the rabbi, the effendi produced a purse filled with golden coins and said, “I would consider it a privilege if the rabbi would accept this as a personal gift.”

The rabbi declined it with thanks, assuring the effendi that all his needs have been provided for.

Before parting, the effendi begged the rabbi to bless him again that his good fortune should con¬tinue to shine on him.

“You see, my friend,” the rabbi replied, “The Almighty pays his debts. In the merit of the good deed you performed to bring light into my home, so that I could study the holy writings, the Almighty bright¬ened your life with good fortune. Be good to the Jewish people, and be generous with your wealth to help anyone in need, then The Holy One, blessed be He will continue to bless you with good health and prosperity.”

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. Like us on Facebook or tweet us on Twitter

If the stories are not shared they will be lost.

Please share this story with others

Posted in Charity, Derech Eretz, Faith, Stories, Tzedakah, UncategorizedTagged Arab, Blessing, charity, Islam, Jewish, Jewish Stories, Proverbs 6: 23, Psalms 119:105, Rabbi, sadaqah, tzedakah, wealthLeave a Comment on The Baker’s Reward

The Baker’s Reward

Posted on Sunday, 23, August, 2020Tuesday, 20, September, 2022 by Rabbi

Part I – A Lamp and a Blessing

Many years ago there lived in Tunisia a holy rabbi, who was highly respected by all the people in his community. He spent most of his time studying the Torah. After a few hours of sleep, he would to get up in the middle of the night to recite Tikkun Chatzot a Jewish prayer recited as an expression of mourning and lamentation over the destruction of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. He would then joyfully return to study Torah and other holy writings until the early hours of the morning.

One night, he was distressed to find that he had no way to light his oil lamp. Then he remembered that his Arab neighbor, the baker, probably still had a fire in his oven. So the Rabbi went across the street and knocked on the baker’s door, hoping he might still be awake.

The baker had already gone to bed and was fast asleep. The Rabbi kept on knocking until the baker finally opened the door and demanded, sleepily, to know why he was being disturbed in the middle of the night.

“I’m sorry to bother you,” answered the rabbi apologetically, “but I need a light for my lamp.”

There were still some flickering coals in the oven, so the baker kindled a firebrand and gave it to the rabbi.

The rabbi thanked the baker and left. He had hardly crossed the street when the wind blew out the firebrand. As much as he hated to bother the baker again, the rabbi made his way back to the bakery and knocked again on the door.

The sleepy baker got out of bed again and opened the door, looking surprised and annoyed.

“Please forgive me for troubling you again, but the wind blew out the light. I am very sorry…”

Muttering to himself, the baker went to fetch a freshly lit kindling stick, and gave it to the Rabbi without a word. The rabbi thanked him very much, wished him a very good night, and left.

This time he reached his door successfully, but just as he was about to open it, a gust of wind blew out the light again.

“Enough is enough,” a voice inside of him said, “give up and go to bed!”

“Oh no!” The rabbi heard himself say, determined that he would not let anything keep him from his holy studies. He turned around and went to his Arab neighbor for the third time.

Not surprisingly, the baker was frustrated this time, and he opened his door to the rabbi saying:

“With all due respect to you, honorable rabbi, it is the middle of the night and I work from early morning until late afternoon. Every time you knock I have to lift this heavy iron bar to open the door for you.”

“Believe me, I am truly sorry to cause you so much trouble, but it is most important that I can light my lamp to study G-d’s holy word. The Holy One, blessed be He will surely reward you for your good deed with so much gold that would outweigh by far that heavy iron bar!”

The Arab baker had a great respect for the holy rabbi’s blessing. His frustration disappeared and, he observed, “I see you are not used to handling firebrands; this time I’ll take it across for you and make sure that your lamp is lit.”

Saying this, the baker put on his coat, took a burning kindling stick and sheltering it with his coat, successfully brought it into the Rabbi’s house and lit his lamp.

Happy to have received such a wonderful bless¬ing from the holy rabbi, the baker returned home, while the rabbi sat down with a grateful heart and immersed himself in his holy study.

The baker had no doubt that the rabbi’s bless¬ing would be fulfilled. But day followed day and nothing happened. He continued to sweat at his oven, scraping coal, but not gold.

“I guess I am not worthy of the rabbi’s blessing; I’d better forget all about it,” the baker concluded sadly.

Psalms 119: 105

One day, as he took a stroll towards the bazaar to cool off and catch a breath of fresh air, a stranger approached him and asked him if he was looking for work.

“I have a job. I’m a baker, and while it brings me no riches, I make a living, thanks to the Holy One, blessed be He.”

“I see you’re an honest man,” said the stranger. “I need a man like you for my business. What if I offered you five times the amount you earn from your bakery; would you be interested to work for me for a few months?”

“If it’s just for a few months, I’d first have to find someone to take over my bakery for that period of time.”

“Good,” said the stranger. “Let’s meet here tomorrow at the same time.”

The following day, when the baker arrived at the arranged meeting place, the stranger was already there waiting for him.

“I’m ready to start working for you,” the baker announced.

“Very good, come with me.”

The stranger led the baker through a maze of unfamiliar winding streets, uphill and downhill, turning now right now left, until he finally stopped in a side alley.

“I hope you’ll not mind being blindfolded,” the stranger said to the baker. “No one, not even you, must know where you are working; and you must not breathe a word to anyone about the kind of work you’re doing for me.”

The stranger took out a long kerchief and blindfolded the baker. They continued walking for a short distance, then stopped again. Here the stranger led the baker down some steps, took out a large key and opened a creaking door.

“Here we are,” said the stranger, removing the blindfold from the baker’s eyes.

The baker found himself in a windowless cellar, where, by the light of a lamp that the stranger had lit, he saw a long table, with a couple of chairs. On the table lay many small bags, bulging with golden coins and jewels, worthy of a royal treasury.

“Your job,” said the stranger “is to help me separate the coins and jewels and sort them out in heaps according to their size. Then you will have to count them, record the totals, and put them into bags.”

They got busy without further talk except for the instructions the baker received. He liked the work very much, and the time passed quickly.

“That’s enough for today,” said the stranger finally. He gave the baker his day’s wages, five times the amount he would have earned from his bakery. He then put aside a golden coin, saying, “Each day, in addition to your wages, I shall put aside a golden coin for you, and when the entire job is finished I shall give you all the accumulated coins as a parting gift.”

The stranger again blindfolded the baker, unlocked the cellar door, and led him out, carefully locking the door after them. Up the steps, they went and after some distance, he removed the blindfold. They continued by a different way and finally came to the place where they had met for the first time.

“Until tomorrow morning, same time, same place,” the stranger said, and went his way.

They met every morning and spent the day working together in that secret cellar, until one morning, several weeks later, the stranger did not turn up. The baker waited for him for a long time in vain, so he went home. The same thing happened the following day. When the stranger didn’t turn up on the third day either, the baker concluded that something must have happened to him, for they had not fin¬ished their work. “Where can I look for him? I don’t know his name, or where he lives; so that’s the end of that.” There was nothing left for him to do but to return to his work at the bakery.

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. Like us on Facebook or tweet us on Twitter

If the stories are not shared they will be lost.

Please share this story with others

Posted in Charity, Faith, Stories, Tzedakah, UncategorizedTagged Arab, Blessing, charity, Islam, Jewish, Jewish Stories, Proverbs 6: 23, Psalms 119:105, Rabbi, sadaqah, spiritualstories, Storytelling, tzedakah, wealthLeave a Comment on The Baker’s Reward

Anger, Business and Charity

Posted on Thursday, 10, May, 2018Wednesday, 21, September, 2022 by Rabbi

“Rahim? You collect money from him?”

The holy rabbi nodded. “He’s one of my most generous contributors.”

The holy rabbi had taken upon himself the difficult task of collecting money for those in need. From village to village, from house to house, he hiked, asking for donations. Now he was sitting, enjoying a rare moment of rest in the home of Simcha, a prominent merchant in the Jewish community.

Simcha asked the holy rabbi, “Do you know that Rahim is not Jewish?”

The holy rabbi stared at the merchant. He knew that Rahim was a well-to-do businessman who often gave him large sums of money for charity, was not a religious Jewish person. That was no problem, indeed the holy rabbi rejoiced in the opportunity to give a non-observant Jewish person the merit of such a great mitzvah. Involving a non-Jewish merchant and collecting charity was entirely different, raising many questions and problems into an already very sensitive and complicated community.

Holy rabbi had no idea that Rahim was not Jewish. Now that he’d found out, he decided he would no longer stop at the wealthy merchants shop. Better to stay away then to become involved in some type of misunderstanding or worse scandal.

Some weeks went by since the holy rabbi’s visit, when there was a rapping on Simcha’s door. The angry words of Rahim and the pounding on the door echoed throughout the house.

The feeling of uneasiness, Simcha slowly open the door. His neighbor, Rahim, stood in front of him, his face red and his eyes flashing.

“I will not have it, I will tell you!” He shouted. “What right did you have to interfere in my business?”

Startled, puzzled, and very frightened, Simcha stared at his angry neighbor. “What in the world are you talking about?”

“The holy rabbi! Why did you tell him to stop taking my money?” His fists clenched, Rahim gave Simcha an ultimatum: “get the holy rabbi to come back, or else!”

When the holy rabbi came the Simcha’s house a short time later, the frightened Simcha told him about the strange meeting with Rahim and begged him to return to Rahim’s shop. Realizing that not visiting the non-Jewish merchant would create more problems for him, the holy rabbi agreed, and once again Rahim became a regular donor.

Many months later, when peace had been restored between the two neighbors, Simcha found the courage to ask Rahim why he’s been so angry that the holy rabbi was not visiting. “Why is it so important to you to give money to Jewish charities?”

“Is it not written in you holy books that when the Master of All Blessings told Abraham to take his only son to a holy place that he answered: “Both are only sons – Isaac  is the only son I have from his mother, and Ishmael is the only son I have from her who is his mother.”

G-d: “The son whom you love,”

Abraham: “Master of the Universe, are there separate compartments in one’s inmost self for love? I love both of them.” (Sanhedrin 89b, Tanhuma, Va-yera, 22)

You denied me a special privilege and holy deed,” Rahim replied. “Divided as we may be by religion, we are united by charity. From the time I began giving money to the holy rabbi my business prospered, and once he stopped coming. Blessings upon my house and business stopped. If matters in my house and business are to succeed,” he handed, “I need the holy rabbi to help by accepting the charity I can give.”

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) 

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. Like us on Facebook  or tweet us on Twitter 

If the stories are not shared they will be lost. 

Please share this story with others

Posted in Derech Eretz, Faith, Rabbi's thoughts and teaching, Stories, UncategorizedTagged inspirational stories, Islam, Jewish Stories, Rabbi Rock, Rachmiel Tobesman, sadaqah, short stories, tzedakah1 Comment on Anger, Business and Charity

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