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.
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)
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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)
