The holy rabbi’s eyes filled with tears. He held Yossele his 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. Please tell me a little about yourself.”

“Holy rabbi, the truth is, there is not much to tell. I never knew my parents, because they left this world when I was only five years old. I don’t have any other family, so I lived on the streets, making money for food anyway I could. Sometimes, late at night, I go to the old wooden shul, and some people out of kindness would teach me how to pray a little, and how to recite the Psalms. I never learned anything else. I’m big and I’m strong and so I make a living as a porter. I have a wife and children, and that’s all there is to say about me.”

The holy rabbi squeezed Yossele his hand again and said: “Yossele, sweet Yossele, there’s one more thing I want to know. This is very important to me. Why do you always sing? What are you thinking about when you carry all those heavy bundles and packages singing l’Koved Shabbos?”

Yossele looked at the holy rabbi is tears welled up in his eyes. He began to cry: “rabbi, holy rabbi, I know the beginning, but I don’t know how it will end. I know that in the beginning the Ribbono Shel Olam (the Master of the Universe) created the heavens and the earth. I learned about our fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, our four holy mothers, about the twelve tribes of Israel, I know the Master of the Universe took us out from the land of Egypt and brought us to a holy land where we built the Holy Temple, the place of G-d’s glory in Jerusalem.”

“I also know what happened next. We were driven out of our land, the Holy Temple was destroyed, and ever since, the Jewish people have been wandering around the world, in exile, without a home.”

“So you see, holy rabbi, I do know the beginning, and a little bit of the middle, but I don’t know the end. When will the bitter exile finally be over? When will the Holy One, blessed be He, take us back to the holy city, to Jerusalem? When will be able to gather again in the Holy Temple l’Koved Shabbos, in honor of the holy Shabbos?”

 

“So that’s why I sing, holy rabbi. My song is really my cry, my prayer to the Holy One, blessed be He. You ask, what am I thinking? Well I will tell you. I am thinking, Ribbono Shel Olam, l’Koved Shabbos, for the honor Shabbos, but the end of the long exile should come soon, l’Koved Shabbos, for the sake of the Holy Sabbath, the Holy Temple be rebuilt today, l’Koved Shabbos.”

The holy rabbi was silent for a moment and he could not hold back his tears. He began crying from the deepest parts of his soul, and he said: “Yossele you know the holiest secret of all, that everything we carry, everything we do, everything that happens to us in our lives, everything is all l’Koved Shabbos, for the sake of the Great Shabbos to come. If all of the Jewish people only knew this exalted truth, then the end of the terrible exile, the great day, the coming of the Messiah, would literally be so close, so near.”

That Shabbos Yossele was at every meal at the holy rabbi’s house. As the stars rose in the sky and the holy rabbi made Havdalah, Yossele looked into the flame and smiled. The next day Yossele disappeared. No one knew when he left or where he went.

The years went by and Yossele was forgotten. The young man continued his studies and became a teacher too many and became known as a holy rabbi. The holy rabbi was traveling through a distant village when he saw an old man sitting on a rocking chair in the marketplace. He heard a haunting melody, a song that was very close to his heart:

“L’K-o-oved Shabbos, oy, L’K-o-oved Shabbos, oy, L’K-o-oved Shabbos!”

It then became clear what had happened to Yossele. He left his home and went into the forest and there met the holiest of holy teachers who made him into lamed vov tzaddik. Yossele had become one of the 36 hidden holy people who keep the whole world going, l’Koved Shabbos, until the Messiah comes and everyone comes together l’Koved Shabbos, for the honor of Shabbos.

May all your tales end with Shalom (peace)

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