Give away your challah or get slapped

The renowned tzaddik Reb Zelig Braverman zt'l and his Rebbetzin would bake and distribute challos on

erev Shabbos, to the poor of Yerushalayim.

Once, a poor person came to his door late on Friday afternoon and asked for two challos. Reb Zelig

replied,  "I'm so sorry, but all the challos have been distributed. Nothing is left."

The man got angry and smacked Reb Zelig on his face, twice. Reb Zelig immediately took the two

challos that were on his table for the Shabbos meal and gave them to the poor man.

When the poor man left the house, the family members asked Reb Zelig, "Why did you give away our

challos? We need them for the seudah. And does he deserve anything after he slapped you?"

Reb Zelig explained that if this poor man slapped him, he probably neededs the challos desperately.

Reb Zelig understood that the poor man's wife would be angry if he came home without challos, and

there would be a serious shalom bayis problem in their home.

"As for us," Reb Zelig said, "we can manage this week with some matzos."

Then, Reb Zelig closed himself in his room, and from outside the door, people heard him say, "Zelig, 

why did you need to be slapped twice before you learned that you must give away from yourself to

others?"

He rebuked himself for not helping this poor man immediately.

(Torah Wellsprings, Kedoshim, 5782)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mesirut Nefesh

The Gemara (Avodah Zarah 9.) teaches that the world will exist for six thousand years. The first two thousand years are called תהו (void) because there was no Torah in the world. The following two thousand years are called the years of Torah. The final two thousand years is the era of Moshiach because Moshiach will come then." The first two millennia of Torah began when Avraham Avinu was 52 years old. Why don’t the two thousand years start from the time Avraham recognized Hashem (which is at the age of 3, 40, or 48, as discussed above)? The Satmar Rebbe zt'l answered that when Avraham was 52, Nimrod threw him into the fiery furnace at Ur Kasdim because he refused to worship idols. The value of Torah is when it’s kept with mesirus nefesh. Avraham believed in Hashem earlier, but when he was 52 years old, he kept the Torah with mesirus nefesh. That’s the beginning of the two thousand years of Torah. During the Communist regime, it was difficult to find a mohel in Russia. One Russ
Read more

For God's own redemption, He must "grab hold of our hands and drag us from our places" back to our home

Rashi's commentary on Deuteronomy 30:3 includes the following: "The Divine Presence dwells with Israel in all the misery of their exile so that when they are redeemed, He ascribes redemption to Himself -- He shall return with them. Furthermore, the day of the ingathering of  the exiles is so important, yet so difficult, that it is as if He Himself must grab hold of their hands and drag them from their places." Ah yes, what a difficult time God has had dragging us to Eretz Yisrael.  We stubbornly refuse to  grant Him the redemption He so desperately wants for both us and for Him.
Read more

Igniting the spark

The Gemara (Succah 29.) says that the Jewish nation is compared to the moon. The Lubavitzer Rebbe zt'l noted that the moon is always there, only sometimes we don't see it. Similarly, the spark of a Yid is always present, only sometimes it is covered over, and we don't recognize it. But the holiness is there, his spark can be ignited, and then he will return with teshuvah sheleimah. (Torah Wellsprings, Lech Lecha 5783, Rabbi Elimelech Biderman shlita)
Read more