The old chacham lived in a small apartment in the Old City of Jerusalem where he would study Torah all day. It was said that he knew many secrets of the revealed and hidden torah.  For breakfast he would have only a cup of coffee and a roll, for lunch he would have a yogurt, and for supper he would have a bit of rice and soup. He explained to his family why he ate so little. “If one wishes to rise to a high level of spirituality, they should not indulge themself by eating big fancy meals. Therefore, I eat only what I need.”

The chacham’s son lived next door with his family and he had an unmarried daugh­ter. She was very kind and when she opened “her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is upon her tongue. (Proverbs 31:26). She personally took care of her grandfather every day.

One evening, the young girl noticed two guests entering her grandfa­ther’s apartment. “These men look like great Torah scholars,” she whispered to her mother. “The RaMbaM said that lemons can stimulate and refresh the body and mind. I will bring each of them a cup of hot lemon tea to refresh them.”

The girl brought three cups of lemon tea on a tray to her grandfather’s house. She carefully opened the door to his apartment. Her eyes opened wide. She could not believe what she saw. “How could this be?” she exclaimed in wonder. There was only one person sitting in the room — her grandfather. Three open sefarim (holy books) were on the table — one in front of him, and one in front of each of the other two chairs.

He, too, was surprised by his grandaughter’s presence. “Thank you for the tea even though I did not want you to bring it now. Now please, shut the door.”

She closed the door and ran back to her own house. “Mother, you will not believe what I just saw,” she said. “I saw two men enter Grandfather’s

house. I am sure that nobody left. Then, when I opened his door, only Grandfather was there. And there were three open sefarim on the table!”

What had actually happened became very clear. Her holy grandfather, the old chacham was learning together with two heavenly guests. Because of his humility, it was important to him that no one find out about this. He was upset that his secret had finally been discovered, but he also knew that his grand-daughter was on such a high spiritual level that she was able to see them.

Lemon Spiced Tea

DIRECTIONS

In a large saucepan, bring water to a boil. Remove from the heat; add tea bags and cinnamon sticks. Cover and steep for 6 to 10 minutes.

Discard tea bags and cinnamon sticks. Stir in honey and extract if desired. Serve warm in mugs. Garnish with lemon slices and cinnamon sticks.