Remaining silent

A rav came to the tish of Rebbe Shlomke of Zvhil zt'l for the first time to experience what it was like. He

saw many poor and bitter people seated around Rebbe Shlomke's table. One guest had a long-time

complaint that the other guests get to take cholent before him, and by the time it is his turn he receives a

smaller portion than they received. Rebbe Shlomke told him that this Shabbos he can take cholent first, so

he will definitely get enough. The guest filled his plate with cholent and then, he began filling another

dish.

The other guests were upset and demanded that he allow them to take cholent. He ignored them and

continued filling his plates. They rebuked him again, and then the poor man did something disgusting.

He spit into the pot, making the cholent inedible for everyone else.

The visiting rav watched this episode and said to Rebbe Shlomke, "Is this a tish? We didn’t hear any divrei

Torah. All we saw was bad middos."

Rebbe Shlomke replied, "We can learn a lot from this tish. We learn that even when something doesn’t go

the way we want, we accept it and remain silent."

(Torah Wellsprings, Emor, 5782)

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