There once was a young man who wanted to study Torah with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all of his strength. He was honored to study with some very holy rabbis. Sadly with all of his learning, something was missing. The young man felt empty, it was as though the fire was not burning very brightly in his studies. He decided that he would search to find a holy teacher. Not someone to give him more information, more details on the finer points of Jewish law and ritual, but a teacher who could show him how to see the beauty in the world around him and could touch him to his very core – his soul. So the young man set out on his journey to find a holy teacher who would show him how to reach the highest places in the heavens, yet still embrace the world around him.
The young man was so hungry to find the right teacher, that he traveled from town to town speaking to every rabbi he could find. Many were very learned, had beautiful rituals and were holy. They taught him much Torah, but not any of them were able to touch the deepest parts of his soul.
One day, he traveled to a small village in there he saw the newly arrived village rabbi, a veil of holiness surrounded him and the young man knew that this was the holy teacher he was looking for. Still, the young man wanted to make sure that this holy rabbi was indeed the teacher he was hoping for and so he decided he would wait for a sign.
Now in the small village, every Jewish person was on a very high level. Everyone observed Shabbos, ate only kosher food, and prayed from their hearts. Yet there was one person, Yossele Trayger who most people felt was just a simple person. He could barely read or write, he knew how to pray a little and could recite a few Psalms. When the young man saw him, he knew that he was special.
Yossele Trayger was a giant of a man with bulging muscles. Because of his size and strength he was a porter. All day long he would stand in the marketplace and help people carry their bundles, but he did so much more than merely carrying packages and heavy boxes.
He would meet a woman shopping for provisions for her household, on Sunday, and she would ask him to carry all of her purchases to her home. Yossele Trayger would lift up the heavy bags and put them on his shoulder effortlessly, as he began to carry them he would ask: “please forgive me for asking, but do you think there’ll be some of this food left for Shabbos, l’Koved Shabbos, for the honor of the Holy Shabbos?”
The woman would look at him and think for a moment and then, maybe just to make Yossele feel good or maybe because it was the truth, the woman would answer kindly: “you know, I’ve bought a lot of food, even for my large family. I’m sure there will be plenty left for Shabbos.”
Yossele would start to smile and then, it seemed like he was filled with a holy light. He would lift the packages and bundles higher onto his shoulder, almost as though he wanted to lift them to the heavens. Then he would begin to hum a tune and very soon he would burst out singing as loud as he could on the way to the woman’s house:
“L’K-o-oved Shabbos, oy, L’K-o-oved Shabbos, oy, L’K-o-oved Shabbos!”
People along the way would just look and sometimes smile as they watched Yossele Trayger pass them.
On Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, Yossele never carried anything without first asking about Shabbos. By Wednesday and Thursday, he didn’t even bother to ask, that late in the week. People were already thinking about Shabbos. On Friday, he would dart around the marketplace carrying anything and everything to all the Jewish homes. The whole city seemed to echo with his singing:
“L’K-o-oved Shabbos, oy, L’K-o-oved Shabbos, oy, L’K-o-oved Shabbos!”
Yossele Trayger’s heart was filled with warmth and joy, but sadly people can be very cruel and mean-spirited. Many people in the small village made fun of Yossele’s singing and even began to consider him nothing more than a joke. They called him crazy and even made up a nickname to tease him: “Yossele l’Koved Shabbos”
The young man watched Yossele all week, and even though people laughed at him, the young man felt that Yossele was one of the holiest and truest of people in the small village.
Shabbos was approaching the young man determined that he would watch the holy rabbi at the end of Friday night services. The rabbi had a custom of greeting everyone by saying: “Gut Shabbos.” The young man wanted to see if the rabbi really greeted everyone in the shul. If the holy rabbi could see how special Yossele was and paid attention to him, gave him honor, the young man would know that he was the holy teacher he was looking for. If instead, the rabbi ignored Yossele like everyone else usually did, and didn’t bother to say anything to him, the young man would know for sure that this rabbi was not the teacher he was looking for and he would have to journey further to find his holy teacher.
After the Friday night prayers were over, everyone rushed up greet the rabbi by saying “Gut Shabbos.” The young man noticed that Yossele did not join in the crowd around the rabbi, but instead stood in the corner of the old wooden shul and just watched. He looked so sad, so alone and totally broken. The young man watched him as a tear formed in his eye as he realized that Yossele was probably so used to being insulted and abused as the butt of jokes that he could not believe that a holy rabbi would want to speak to him. Slowly the young man walked across the shul and stood by Yossele.
The holy rabbi finished greeting all of the people who crowded around him. He looked around the shul and noticed two people who were standing in the corner whom he had not spoken to yet, Yossele and the young student. The rabbi walked across the shul to the corner and extended his hand to give a Shabbos greeting.
Yossele was so shocked he couldn’t move, but the young man pushed him towards the village’s new rabbi. The young man watched carefully to see what the rabbi would do. Very slowly, Yossele eased toward the rabbi and watched as the rabbi took the holy hand that carried everything l’Koved Shabbos.
The holy rabbi closed his eyes stood very still. He squeezed Yossele’s hand tightly and said, very softly: “my holy friend, would you please tell me your name?”
Yossele was so shy and so uncertain, he couldn’t even look at the rabbi. He just hung his head and mumbled, “um my name… um my name, is Yossele.”
“Is that your whole name, or do you maybe have another name also?”
Yossele was so ashamed, he bowed his head even more. “I ah well um sometimes people call me… I mean, they’re only joking, but they call me…. Yossele l’Koved Shabbos.”
“Why do they call you that?”
Yossele was so upset he could hardly speak. His voice dropped to a whisper: “because… because… because when I carry their bundles and packages. I always sing l’Koved Shabbos.”
The holy rabbi’s eyes filled with tears. He held Yossele’s hand and looked him in the eye and gently said to him: “Yossele, I really, really envy you. To have such an exalted name – l’Koved Shabbos – and for such a holy reason. What an honor. To meet such a Jewish person that lives what he believes.
The young man found his teacher.
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)