Now desperate, she was finally forced to become the wife of a lowly watchman, already advanced in years, and barely earning enough to buy bread for the two of them.
When the woman contemplated her current lot, and remembered the former days, she grew bitter at the thought of what she had turned away. But the darkest days were still ahead of her. With the advance of years, the watchman became blind and could no longer fulfill his duties. Thus, the two were left without a means of livelihood.
“There is only one thing that we can do now,” said the watchman. “You must take me by the hand every morning and lead me to the market place. There we will wait until people have pity on us and give us enough money and food.”
The woman began to cry. “What! Go begging in the streets! I will never do this!”
“If you do not do this, I will beat you,” cried the watchman.
And so the woman had no choice. Every morning they would go out to beg, and the people who saw whispered: “Can this be the former wife of Rabi Yosi Haglili?”
Reunion
One day, the watchman said to his wife, “I notice that in all these months, you have never guided me to the home of Rabi Haglili. I understand that he is a man of great charity. Take me there so that we may benefit from his goodness.”
When the wife heard this, she turned pale and said: “I would rather starve than go to that house.”
The blind man, tired of her complaining, began to beat her. As she began to scream, the entire neighborhood arose to find out what was happening.
They took the two before Rabi Yosi and there, to his amazement, the scholars learned that this was his former wife.
The Past Forgotten
Despite all the evil that she had done to him in the years gone by, Rabi Yosi now forgot the past. He turned to the blind man and said, “How are you not ashamed to hit your wife? Can you not see that she is an unfortunate and tragic person?”
The blind man was deeply ashamed, and answered, “I am sorry. It is only that I have kept asking her to bring me to the home of Rabi Yosi Haglili, who will give us food and money. But she continually refuses to heed my requests.”
When Rabi Yosi heard this, he said, “If I give you and your wife a place to live and food to eat, will you promise me that you will respect your wife forever?”
“If you will do this for us,” replied the blind man, “I give you my word that I will live with my wife in peace forever.”
And so, Rabi Yosi bought the couple a modest dwelling in the neighborhood and every day would see to it that enough food for them was provided. The two lived until the end of their days in peace, and Rabi Yosi was happy for them.
This is how a man pays back good for evil. It is a difficult thing, perhaps, to overlook hurts and wounds, but if we were never to forgive, we would live in a world that knows only fear and revenge. If the Almighty sees fit to forgive man’s sins, how can we not do the same?
