If you refrain from violating the Sabbath, from pursuing your own interests on My holy day; if you call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the L-rd honorable, (Isaiah 58:13)
Once, the students of a holy rabbi decided to prepare him a special Shabbos meal. They worked for days to make sure that everything would be just as it should be, so that the spirit of the Shabbos would descend as it never had before.
The students and the rabbi came in from shul (synagogue) and began to sing Shalom Aleichem and an atmosphere of holiness surrounded the holy rabbi and his students. As they sang, the Holy rabbi began to laugh and laugh, as though he could not contain himself.
All was silent as the holy rabbi stood to make Kiddush, a student lifted the Kiddush cup and placed it in his holy teacher’s hand. Suddenly the holy rabbi began to laugh loudly, and all the students looked around to see what had made their teacher laugh — if there was something out of sorts — but everything was as it should be.
They began the Shabbos meal, hoping everything would meet their teacher’s approval. They served the holy rabbi the first bowl of the soup that they had worked so long over….He tasted it, and then he laughed so hard he almost spilled the soup.
The students were shocked. They rushed to taste the soup, but there was nothing in it that tasted…funny.
Still later, they were singing the Shabbos songs, listening to the holy rabbi’s lessons on the weekly Torah portion and stories. The holy rabbi smiled several times and was in a very joyful mood.
It was the custom of the students that as soon as the stars came out after the spirit of the Shabbos had departed, they would choose one question between them, and present it to the Holy rabbi. This Saturday night, there was no debate as to what question they would ask. “Holy master, why did you laugh three times during the Shabbos?”
In answer, the holy rabbi said, “Come with me,” and with that the students crowded into the holy rabbi’s carriage. Several hours later, the carriage stopped in a small village. The holy rabbi was greeted by the village leaders and he asked about Anschel the bookbinder.
Anschel the bookbinder lived on the edge of town, and several students went to bring him to the holy rabbi. When Anschel the bookbinder entered the old wooden village shul (Synagogue) and saw the holy rabbi he began to cry. “Oh, Holy Master, I know I have committed a great sin. Please tell me what I must do to be forgiven.”
“Anschel, tell us how you spent your Shabbos.”
“Do I have to? I’m so ashamed.”
“Yes, tell us everything and leave nothing out.”
“Rabbi, holy rabbi, I’ll never do it again. Please don’t make me confess my sins in public.”
The holy rabbi softly comforted: “Anschel, do not fear and have no shame, but please tell us how you spent your Shabbos.”
Fearfully, the Anschel glanced around the room and began his account: “I am an old bookbinder. In my youth, I could earn enough that my wife and I had what we needed during the week, and always had something special to greet the Shabbos. But as I have grown older, my hands can no longer work fast and we have suffered terribly.”
“Sadly, this Shabbos — for the first time — we had no Shabbos candles — and nothing for a Shabbos meal. So I went to shul and stayed late as there was nothing to go home to, but as I walked down the road I saw light shining from my house. I became very angry at my wife for taking charity, but for the sake of Shalom Bayis (peace in the home) I decided to hold my anger.”
“I entered the house and saw the table set with everything fine, there were golden challahs and wine. My wife was determined that we would observe the Shabbos as well as we were able. I could hold my anger no longer and asked my wife why she accepted charity. She answered me:
“Anschel, my beloved husband do you remember the black dress with the fancy buttons you bought me when we were first married?”
“Yes, but what does that have to do with now?”
“Well, I was cleaning for Shabbos and was very sad. I found that black dress and tried it on and my heart skipped a beat as I remembered you told me when I wore that dress I looked like the Shabbos Malka (Sabbath Queen) and that I’d always be your Shabbos Kallah (Sabbath Bride). Then I had an idea. I took the buttons off my dress and took them to the jeweler and he gave me 5 gold coins for them. So I bought all we needed for Shabbos.”
“As she finished telling me this, I saw a wonderful light. I sang Shalom Aleichem, and I understood for the first time that the light that I had thought came only from the candles was also coming from her. I grabbed my wife and we danced around the table and with tears in my eyes I knew I loved more today than any other time.”
“I got control of myself, and went back to observing the Shabbos with due respect.”
“I stood at the head of the table and raised the Kiddush cup to make the blessing, when my wife smiled at me and my heart melted. I felted twenty years younger and rushed through the blessing and then danced around the Shabbos table with my wife.
“We finally sat down to eat and my wife served me chicken soup. At that moment, I realized that the nourishment — which all these years I had thought came only from the soup — actually came also from her, from our being together through so many Shabboses. (Sabbaths)
“And before I realized what I was doing, I jumped up, pulled her to me and kissed her. We danced as though we were teenagers.”
“Shocked at my own behavior, I sat back down. I stayed in my seat properly until later, when we sang the Shabbos songs and shared stories. Throughout Shabbos I kept looking at my wife lovingly”
“Suddenly, I knew that, in spite of our great poverty, while I had her in my life, I lacked for nothing.
“Rabbi, holy rabbi, I know I have defiled the Shabbos. Please, tell me what I must do to be forgiven.”
“The Holy rabbi looked at his students. ”When Anschel and his wife spent their Shabbos in such deep and holy love, I was there with them, and I shared in their joy.”
“When he spoke his love for his wife, not only I but the angels in heaven heard — and they smiled. And when he got up and kissed his wife, acting on that deep love — the angels in heaven saw them, and they laughed.
“And when the two of them joined their hands and sang and danced their joy, the angels themselves began to sing and to dance. And the Eternal Heart itself heard them, and it was warmed.
“On a Shabbos of such perfect joy, who wouldn’t laugh?”
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)
