יום שישי, י״ח תמוז תשפ״וFriday, July 3, 2026
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When his students saw the mule, they decided to clean it and smooth it for their teacher.
Rav Yosef Shmuel looked at the guests and said, “I am very sorry, but I am hired to do the holy work of teaching children Torah. I am not allowed to waste even a moment from this work. This evening, when I have finished, I will be glad to see you and talk with you.”
Finally, his wife came in with the dinner that she had hurriedly prepared and which was not comparable to the wonderful repast she had given away.
The great giant of his time, the Vilna Gaon, once said that the Shaagas Aryeh had the entire Talmud and its commentators at his fingertips and that he could relate the gist of all of them and their sources in one hour.
As for myself, I can only answer that the yetzer hara has persuaded me to take the position because of the honor.
“It must be that beggar,” he exclaimed. “He probably stole my cane.”
“If, however, he rules the other way – that something is not kosher when in reality it is kosher – and thus robs a poor man of his money, this is a far more serious thing.
“Come now, I insist. Tell me what errand of mercy you are on so that I too may have a share in the mitzvah.”
One of the most remarkable men in chassidic lore was Rav Yaakov Yitzchak Horowitz, known as the Chozeh of Lublin. Rav Yaakov Yitzchak was responsible for chassidus capturing the hearts of the vast majority of Polish Jewry. He was not only a great scholar but also possessed humility and modesty, traits that drew many other […]
The story of the Bnei Yisrael in the land of Mitzrayim is a tale that has become tragically repetitive in the history of our people. It is the story of a land which allows Jews to enter, devote their talents and energies to building that land and making it strong, only to have the inhabitants […]
The man has been found guilty and his soul is bitter because of it.
Now I know why Hashem punished us with the confiscation of our shul.
But the words would penetrate their hearts and each would say to himself: “But I, too, am doing this terrible thing.” In this way Reb Elimelech would inspire the people to teshuvah.
“I will tell you,” replied the rav. “I am very puzzled at why you suddenly desire to honor me and have me as your guest. What quality do you find in me that is new and worthy of merit?
“I wanted you to have a taste of the cold,” answered Rav Chaim. “This way, you too can feel the intense cold and realize the suffering of this man and his wife, who are now residing in a bitterly cold house.”
“Don’t worry,” said the king, “what could it be worth, two or three talents of gold? I’ll give you ten talents of gold, so you can forget about it.”
Shmuel HaKatan shook his head and said: “No, what happened here today is a sign not of great love. On the contrary, it is a bad omen.”
The arguments, however, could never appease his wife and one Thursday she came to him for money to purchase food for Shabbos.
He walked out of the room, making sure to leave the door ajar so that the two litigants could hear his voice.
Don’t you know Avraham, the famous dry goods merchant, who lives near the lake in a big mansion?
“What could I do? Your wife is hard of hearing,” whispered the poor woman barely able to talk.
“I would appreciate if you could give me some pointers on how to improve my wine,” said the wine merchant eagerly.
“And what was your grandfather’s name?” asked the visitor. “The same as my name,” replied the child.
The trial was the next day and he hadn’t as yet told the family what he would do.
The man was overjoyed to see his benefactor and gave them food and water besides shelter and safety.
Because of this I wandered about and found friends in similar situations who were also unhappy and I began to hang out with them.
Time passed and Zemira gave birth to a son but not even this could awaken Avinadav from his melancholy.
Yonadav was greatly impressed at the vast sums of money the young man had in his possessions.
“I do nothing worthwhile,” he modestly replied and refused to discuss any of his deeds. For the man was a very modest and humble person.
While he slept, he dreamed of Eliyahu HaNavi, who was trying to awaken him from his sleep.
“I’ll pay you whether you cure her or kill her,” shouted the loyal husband.
He lacked for nothing materialistic and could have lived the rest of his life, had he chosen to, in the luxury and laziness that dominated the Roman upper class life.
When the soldiers heard this they exclaimed happily: “You mean this is the sacred Jewish fruit? Hurry, get on the horse. You are coming with us to the palace.”
Now let me ask you, what would happen to an infantryman if he deserted his regiment and went to serve in the cavalry? He would be court-martialed, wouldn’t he?”
Dug out beneath his bunk was a little chest which he guarded with his very life. It contained a small Sefer Torah, miniature size, but kosher, and a shofar.
So began a marvelous period of good fortune. He invested the twenty-four gold pieces in many types of businesses and everything his hand touched turned to gold.
Pressing close to the cage, the Ibn Ezra shouted the words, “Shema Yisrael…”
“You can have your choice,” said the wise king. “You can choose to take this gold, 100 pieces each, or I can give you each three pieces of advice.”
“It isn’t the work,” said Eliezer. “I want to learn our holy Torah.”
He followed her advice and, before departing, the rabbanim offered him a bracha. “Aba Yudin, may the Lord return your wealth, for all the kind deeds you do.”
In their perverted justice they also declared the following law: Anyone who was injured by another so that blood flowed from his wound, was compelled to pay his attacker since he bled him!
“When I asked why she cried so much she said she came from a very religious home and feared she would be sold to a non-Jew and forced to convert.
Know that from. the day I began to recite the holy name of God, I have always loved Shabbos
And so the enemy burst into the Sanctuary and set up a stand on the Temple Mount.
By means of a clever pretext, they succeeded in getting Rabi Yitzhak aboard a ship and sailed it down the river.
When the young man awoke, he did not know where he was. As he looked around, the princess looked out and saw him.
One winter morning a terrible blizzard raged, the weather dropped to below zero, and the woman became desperately ill.
Entering the city he visited the cattle market and saw two parei adumah untouched by any harness.
Crowded into their ghettos and suffering legal disabilities that make today’s claims of discriminations pale into insignificance, the German Jews suffered poverty and wretchedness.
Every night he would go out in the darkness and dig for hours until the waters began to rise, and watering places for the weary and thirsty came into being.
One of the greatest opponents was a certain wealthy man who did all that he could to make life difficult for Rav Naftali.
Do you wonder at times what possible purpose some little insect might have for being?
The two fathers began to discuss the terms and naturally, they were astounded to find that each one assumed that the other would give double.
Twelve years went by until Eliyahu HaNavi came to the entrance of the cave and exclaimed, “The Roman emperor has died and all of his decrees have become void. You are no longer under a death sentence.”
Rav Naftali was born the day that the Baal Shem Tov passed away, on the holiday of Shavuos, in the year 5520
Certainly, the Jewish leader, even more than the layman, must have his answers and explanations ready at all times
“The mitzvah of drawing water for the baking of the matzah for the Seder comes only once a year. I do not care to share it with a horse.’’
“You speak foolishly, daughter, how is it possible for a man who has not eaten for 10 years to live?”
With enthusiasm, zemiros that had been purposefully collected for the evening were chanted.
Bnei Yisrael marched out of Mitzrayim with a mighty hand under their great leader Moshe. This was not, however, their first attempt to escape from Mitzrayim and return to the land that G-d had promised their fathers.
Rabi Pinchas’ piety and honesty were known far and wide. He would often say, “Even though our Sages (Yevamot 65b) declared that to preserve the peace, a person may change his words to fit the situation, I will never utter a false word regardless of the consequences.” If he heard that one of his followers had uttered a false word, he would expel him from his presence.
When Bnei Yisrael returned to their homeland they were a poor and weak group of people. Because of the great number of enemies and wild animals that had inhabited the land during their exile, they huddled together in a few areas, like Yerushalayim, in order to find protection.
But not everyone is destined to taste of the fruit of this world and to enjoy its vintage. Among the inhabitants of this town lived a poor man, Nachumka.
In the midst of his merrymaking, the king ordered his servants to bring out the golden vessels that were taken from the Beit HaMikdash by his father Nevuchadnezzar. The king and his men drank from them and praised the gods of gold and silver.
The Jewish people are hardly strangers to persecution and tyranny. When we hear of the complaints of other peoples, we smile bitterly and wonder: What do they know of persecution? What do they know of tragedy and bitterness? We are a people who have experienced oppression for centuries and have drunk deeply of the bitter cup of woe.
Although Daniel was the chief minister in Bavel, he could not eradicate the custom practiced in many provinces of worshipping idols. In the capital city there was a statue of Baal and more and more people began to worship it. Even the king was beginning to believe in its power.
There was once a tzaddik from Poland, Reb Velveli, who decided to settle in Eretz Yisrael. The land was poor and inhabited by very few people, but he and his wife had such love for the land that they were willing to suffer privation and hunger just to be one of its citizens.
Through the influence of Daniel, one of Nevuchadnezar’s ministers, his three companions, Chananiah, Mishael and Azariah were appointed as governors over various provinces in Bavel.
The stories concerning Rav Naftali of Ropshitz are quite numerous and reveal his sharp biting wit. Rav Naftali was often persecuted and sneered at by misnagdim but the sharp mind with which he was blessed always served him in good stead in finding proper answers.
In the third year of the reign of Yehoyakim, melech Yehuda, Nevuchadnezzar, melech Bavel, lay siege to Yerushalayim and conquered it. He took many treasures from the Beis HaMikdash back with him to the land of Shinar.
Reb Moshe Chaim Ephraim, the grandson of the Baal Shem Tov, was a deeply learned man who took his sources and admonitions from the Torah.
In the city of Antioch there lived a man of remarkable generosity by the name of Aba Yehudah. He was a man who gave to all, whenever there was a need. Rabi Yehoshua and several other rabbanim arrived in the city one day on an urgent mission to collect money for the unfortunate needy. They knew that Aba Yehudah always gave a generous contribution so they looked forward to seeing him.
From the remarkable Beis Midrash in the town of Brodi came forth a dazzling number of Talmudic chachamim (scholars), many of whom went forth to greatness in the annals of Israel. One of them was Rav Chaim Tzanzer.
Rav Nechuniah was a modest and exceedingly honest person who did good and kind things at every opportunity, without seeking rewards and honor for those deeds.
The great sage Don Yitzchak Abarbanel (1437-1508) would never stop lauding the brilliance and sagacity of his fellow Jews to King Alfonso V of Portugal. Abarbanel was the King’s treasurer and he was respected and loved by the monarch.
Chazal tell the story of a very rich man, who as he grew old began to worry about his future. "What good is all my wealth?" he asked, "if I may soon have to leave it behind me."
The Baal Shem Tov had two grandsons, Rav Moshe Chaim Ephraim and Reb Baruch. Both were pious and well educated in Torah, yet, Rav Moshe lived a frugal and poor life while his brother, Reb Baruch, became very wealthy.
The great Shlomo HaMelech, wisest of all men, wrote that there is a time for all things. There is a time to be born and a time to die, a time to cry and a time to laugh, a time to preserve and a time to throw away.
“Sin between man and G-d, Yom Kippur can forgive, but the sins between man and his fellow man, Yom Kippur cannot forgive until his fellow man forgives and he makes amends (Yomah 85b).
If you were to ask the average Jew who destroyed the Bais HaMikdash and who sent the Jewish people into galus, he would instantly answer, “The Romans.”
Rav Eliyahu Chaim Maisel of Lodz was a great scholar and also had a very sharp mind. Because of his own cleverness, he once saved an innocent Jew from an unjust punishment.
Rabi Yochanan said: “What is the meaning of the sentence in scriptures, ‘He does wonders that are immeasurable and miracles that are incomprehensible’? This refers to the miracle of the birth of a child.”
Galicia was able to boast of having three giants of the Chassidic movement who lived at the same period of time. They were Rav Meir of Premishlan, Rav Tzvi Hirsh of Rimenov and Rav Naftali of Ropshitz. The latter, especially, was famous for the sharpness of his mind.
One of the great Chassidic rabbis was the saintly Reb Mordechai of Nashchiz. He used to eat only a loaf of bread the whole week, and added herring on Shabbos — in honor of the day.
In the days of Shlomo HaMelech, the richest man in the land lived in Yerushalayim. His name was Bavsi and he was known as a wicked miser. He oppressed his servants and his slaves and made their days bitter with toil from dawn until late at night. Because he was so stingy, he did not give them enough food to eat, so they and their children constantly suffered from pangs of hunger.
It is very easy to catch a thief when one has clues and evidence. It is a far different matter, however, when one must attempt to find the guilty party through his own wits alone. It is then that we must have a truly wise man- one as wise as, say Shlomo HaMelech.
One of the areas in which even observant Jews sin is in their attitude towards rabbanim. A rav is not just someone whom we have the right to hire and fire; he is not just a man who gives a speech on Shabbos. He is a teacher and a leader. When he rules on a point of halacha, it is not only our right to listen to him; it is our obligation to do so.
One of the great chassidic rebbes was the saintly Rav Mordechai of Nashchiz. He used to eat only a loaf of bread the whole week, and added herring on Shabbos — in honor of the day.
Once when there was a drought in Eretz Yisrael, the rabbanim approached Rabi Yochanan Ben Zakkai. “Rebbe,” they said, “please pray to Hashem that He send rain before the people perish from thirst and hunger.”
The life of our sages was never an easy one. Although persecuted by the Romans, they continued to devote all their efforts to the study of Torah and doing good deeds.
Chazal say that on the New Year, the entire amount of a man’s sustenance is fixed, except for what he spends on Shabbos, Yomim Tovim, Rosh Chodesh and sichar limud. In these cases, if one spends more one receives more; if one spends less, one receives less.
Our sages teach us: “Great is charity and great is its reward.” He who gives charity to the poor, his prayers will be answered; a measure for a measure - midda k’neged midda. He heard the cries of the poor so will G-d hear his prayers when he cries.
Czar Nicholas was a rabid anti-Semite and constantly sought means and methods to convert the Jews to Christianity. But the harsher the decrees he issued against the Jews, the more tenaciously they adhered to the tenets of their forefathers.
June 26, 2026 
