Ba'al Shem Tov Story

an orphan couple and they so happened that this orphan boy the support from girls were not related in any way shape or form of ended up working at a for their common employer and they say but uh there was a boy it was a girl or no sugar they kind of been interested in each other it wasn't like today's day and age they didn't go to your club or hang out or anything but they decided it would be a good idea that made me think about getting married that's in all the background she had no parents she had no parents anyway as they say in Yiddish says you've all got sugar they decided that way to get married now their common employer was a very very generous and kind person he decided that he would pay for the wedding pay for the wedding he also many say man it's a very big Mitzvah message table generals a big mister to help people make the wedding but especially here it was an orphan two orphans makes it an exceptional Mitzvah and so he decided that he would pay for the wedding and he gave this young man and young woman a sizable amount of money and he said go to town and buy the things that you will need to be able to set up a home quilt some kind of mattress so the flatware was not exactly beautiful silver or China but enough to be able to to have a modest dwelling together saying that this is connected to this time because you may have seen this there's article to think of the times of Israel was the last place I saw this but it's in English it's called the Schwarz a costume is called a black wedding and a black wedding and Yiddish euphemism meant that at the time of an epidemic that they would make a wedding between a orphan boy an orphan girl and the American doing this Mitzvah would bring about good things for the community and society at large the story goes that in in the 1918 Spanish epidemic this was actually done by the Jewish community in Jerusalem there was social distancing whatever they called it at the time you were going to be together and there was a whole story how they put this wedding together but they did make a wedding like this and shortly afterward the epidemic dissipated so it definitely can go wrong by helping orphans get married you can't go wrong with it whether or not it's going to end this whole Colvin mishegoss I don't know does this disaster were dealing with but this is what being talked about now and we believe in the power of mitzvahs and we believe in the power of the other striked and who knows it could be could be this is the thing that's needed to bring about an avalanche of difference this whole situation came really almost out of nowhere although we have the hindsight in 2020 people could start to predict and people say they could have seen this happening but I don't know I didn't hear this from somebody else I was I was living here as you were living in this world that we didn't see it happening we didn't see it coming I remember even it was one shoulder that closed and I was like mystery you couldn't believe it closed up like cancel the poor term activity what's going on because we couldn't wrap my head around it less than a week later everything was shut down anyway so the story goes that this very very generous employer gives them the sizable amount of money and the young couple sets out for the big town but they could purchase these things and on the way a little bit of virus had to go through this area somewhere who so polish border that was always switching back and forth but that time was under Polish dominion and they are regulated on in the forest no I'm sorry sorry sorry they got to the forests no problem and they come to town when they come to town and they hear this told what and they said that there's this family they rented a property from the local landowner the local Duke uncle Squire and yeah neither shall polish scholar Tourette's and it couldn't make payments because they couldn't make the payments they were now being thrown into a pit if it was the euphemism for the dungeons that these landowners were a tremendous power they had their own little armies a little police force they really report it to nobody could do as they please Poland did not have a formal royal family it was various Dukes Archduke's and various nobility members of nobility and a member of nobility would be chosen to be king of Poland but but it wasn't passed on necessarily from parent to child and some of these some of these Squires of Dukes enormous wielded enormous power over enormous swaths of Poland and some of them are very small little fiefdoms maybe they had the small troop of armed soldiers and they they were essentially the de facto ruler in the area in which in which they resided as long as they didn't start but the King they could really do as they please and they did and the Jewish people were at their mercy as were many of the Polish Magnus the serfs and if people were destined with individuals most of them they were not necessarily find individuals they were party animals and they made a living simply because they owned everything so they would have people rent that the properties lose the property get paid and they don't have to do anything to make a little problem was a question you couldn't make the payments so we have this this couple family your whole family that's now being led into the deep dungeon deep pit and there's nobody nobody has to guard the place because you can't escape here your throne deep into the ground there are no windows once a day food is thrown down either a food is thrown it is not thrown when a family went into a situation like this a pit like this you either did come out that didn't come out it was not a good - not a good every gives it circumstances very bright very dismal circumstances and this is what's happening is this Jewish family that's being led into this group as they called it didn't it is just pit so the young man will look at each other they said how can we go and make a wedding and celebrate there's a Jewish family that's literally going to be wound so they said how much money how much money do they all say Allah said huge amount of money it's a whole year's lease how much money is it so it turned out that the money that was required was just about exactly the money that this very very generous employer had given that how could we think about ourselves and buy prepare for our future life we know that we were here we had we had cash in hand and together they decided to come what may if they wouldn't be able to get married and set up home then it would be delayed they would not they could not turn their backs on our need of this this very very destitute and unfortunate family and so they came forward and they said we can pay who are you it doesn't matter where we are we have cash and they had a bag of money and they paid the Dukes representatives and the family was set free and they ran away for anybody to think we think that they want the attention then when you put on a comfortable position and and most importantly they didn't feel really was almost not their money the money was given to them for a specific purpose and maybe the landowner would be upset we had to do what we had to do and the landowner will not give us more money so they came home and they couldn't bring themselves to tell the truth came to so little money we're terribly sorry we're happy with scape with their lives and don't you know don't feel obligated it's not your problem it's not your issue God maybe we weren't supposed to be able to set up a family maybe we weren't supposed to be have a marriage who knows the employer was a very very very generous and sensitive man and he thought to himself how can I look at this young woman had such unfortunate circumstances and he literally scrape the bottom of his battle and gave whatever he had accepted a couple I guess I was supposed to lose the other money and I want you to hide away from me it's very important we both work for me be a big privilege for me that you'll have this wedding and and he gave them almost an equal sum of money I'd give them originally they were of course over the very very touching thank you the story goes way back to town during this time they did pretty much the things they need they needed and they came back home and a wedding date was set in the entire little step over how many people could have lived in this Chapel no people think like the shtetl looked like Fiddler on the Roof with with all kinds of different people doing all kinds of different tasks of chores my dear friends there were many many little settlements of Jewish people who lived some of them made a living through some farming and Mill was somebody else had a tavern sometimes for what guests that will come through but some of these shot clock didn't even have a minion some of them had a minion a little show not that not many of these little settlements didn't have a rabbi and itinerant preachers who would come by and teach them Torah on occasion I don't know how big or small detector was there was a speckle and clearly it wasn't that wasn't a big marketplace today there was no malls when he needed to buy things to get married to have to walk a few hours to go to the local larger town and and when there's there was a wedding like in Fiddler on the Roof the whole shuttle participated I don't know if it was actually a rabbi in town on Earth Day or if they sent for a rabbi but at any rate the rabbi was present and the to bow was drawn up and a wedding and a wedding and they they they slaughtered goat sheep and the whole town participated in preparing for the wedding of this orphan boy and girl neither who my parents and everybody felt that this was like their personal simcha tremendous joy tremendous happiness the villagers felt blessed to be able to do some ladies within an hour of the Hopa all of a sudden that carriage shows up pulls into town and a very venerable king looking at ballet lights from the wagon and he says I received news of the way the custom the groom he is a long-lost nephew of mine as long as I I didn't even know my younger brother died this is the whole thing is a shock to my system I just received word and I I'm here to participate in the wedding the orphan boy never knew he had an uncle he was so shocked that they hug them and kiss them and he said I'm so happy to be here to celebrate your wedding and the next man gets out he doesn't look as venerable but also a fine-looking scholarly man and he says he claims to be the uncle of the bride and so he was the uncle of the next one comes out of another rabbi and he's our cousin of the cousin and a fourth guy comes out and he's the cousin of the college so the whole town heard this you know music very wanted used to get out there described you met their relatives and uncle's two uncles are here and here and this of course energized the sukkah and it was even even greater joy and even greater happiness than it was before and you know to hear a little wedding scene you saw on fiddler on the roof will finally fit perfectly except there's no profit in it thing went with me nicely though it was the cousin the custom in Poland Romania the area called Nestor Rabia product parts of Ukraine also the custom was wedding all the wedding gifts would be announced this was this way everybody who came it actually was a young couples will be able to start their lives hi we were gonna get the equivalent of today $50,000 do you start life off so everybody would give these weren't wealthy people but everybody this never would give give something and that's how young couples would start life over this is how what would they give extra money one had an extra pillow and people would save pluck chickens and save the feathers they gave a feather pillow and somebody else would give maybe say with somebody was raising goats here next year ago to give them a goat and somebody else might give a blanket so they asked I give up pops people gave different gifts sometimes there's new gifts of this use gives everybody gave this is not even lived it Allah generously he gave freely and people cared about each other so it came to haunted houses yes they said to the uncle what are you gonna give you have to house the gift so the uncle said announce that I am giving the village the village where what people go shopping that village belongs to the Duke and you know stores in the shops at least I give the in village that parcel of matter the whole area that that little tiny municipality I gift them to the possible everybody burst out laughing was ridiculous me who gives it how do you give them the Dukes village they thought the man is probably destitute he doesn't have any money he's being nice so it was very funny so everybody laughed it was you Marissa and they went to their uncle the purported uncle of the caller said what do you give he says I am going to give there's a mill not far away from here and the mill belongs to us particular Duke it I'm giving the mill and so it was and the next one that cousin he said he's giving the river there was a little river and people would pay I suppose a fee to go fishing there he's giving a little little stream and the other one said he was giving a field is a field over there a little farm he's giving him homestead ok it was it was very humorous it was very strange and the villagers eyes but people took it with a sense of humor and that's how it was the wedding he came to his conclusion and as they say everything was happily ever after he never before seen uncle's got back into the carriage with the cousins and they rode off from the dead of the night and nobody was wiser and nobody ever saw anybody together that was the end of the story now this very very generous employer I guess he was the wealthiest person in town he he felt that the need to do something to help this couple you know that's a starlight walk so he gave him an option of employment opening up a little satellite or whatever he was doing and it's a farm and he was a was not it was a little bit further away from the town and an isolated place but there you can start up and you know maybe you working actually be able to go back to town anyway the young the young man who was the young woman with delighted with each other they were just so happy to be married to each other and they were so thankful to villagers they began their life together and they both worked hard you know they put bread on the table one night in the dead of the night there's a knock on the door it's late this is furious knocking on the door young man opens the door and there he sees a fellow wearing hunting dark his eyes are bloodshot his face is blue with cold and and he's near near exhaustion about to collapse and he began to speak as quickly as he can of the words are tumbling out of his mouth and and the young orphan can make some sense of what's going on apparently there's a son of a local Duke and he went hunting and it's winter and if they somehow they were they the Camerons have gone over an area that was covered with ice and interview it wasn't on the actual road the ice had broken and they fell into a deep ravine that was filled with ice and water and the horse was there and the wagon and foam there and the young Duke could not extricate it off and he had tried he had worked five hours and barely managed to pull himself out of this and he was Luka fell he said biting my master the young prince is going to freeze to death please did that value drop visualizing the young man put on his large woolen boots like big socks when I was in Russia so this is called bully kiss they just were like his big heavy wool wool socks boots and put on his fur jacket and wear a hat to shop get you took the largest lantern you could find and you know he was a sturdy young fellow - nope I guess we'll do it equivalent of today's day bungee cords or whatever else is was the things you need to try to pull something like this off he had some some basic tools and he went off he went off with this with a servant and the founder of him and the young man the young man's job and with tremendous tremendous effort he managed to schlep this guy out of the pit and the young man was barely a lot the young prince was barely alive and he slept him we slept him back to his house in the meantime the the young woman the young orphaned wife had made it prepared some some some porridge of a they brought the alcohol and evolved his body without pour me back to their blankets and he spent the night in that house and the next day they left of course the Duke didn't go out of his mind terrifying what happened to his son he was overjoyed to see his son and they brought in a local medical team and the doctor said he would be okay and he wouldn't even loses his fingers and his toes despite the front of the frostbite they would take him a few weeks to recover and it was good good rest here and a few weeks even after and so in a few weeks was back to himself and the Duke who was delirious with joy that his son had saved threw a ball local mobility from far and wide and the guest of honor I guess a lot of these people are no special lovers of the Jewish people but still we have to be appreciate what this well this is orphan boy nor from a real good safety safety sounds like it really gets along in that part of the world alcohol flows freely I'm not talking about [Music] heart ill or heart vodka and that's how you party and the party you know that it was it was intense a lot of drinking very very very very very heavy party as they say party heavy and somewhere in the middle of the night they Duke got up and he says I never grateful to the sub couple and I am going to award the prize for saving my son he said there's a little village and I own the rights to everything in that village and I gift this village now of course somebody knows to this young man a woman at the wedding it wasn't that uncle who showed up was the Holy One shepherd and it was not cousins or uncles of the collar these were three Tom media about shelters at the ball shelter took along with him all greats a deacon and the Duke gifts the village the very same village that the bomb shelter had gifted at the wedding the Duke gifts the village to this young couple and after that the next Duke gets up and he's drunk out of his head and he doesn't want to be out done after the abdominis is I'm so grateful my best friends only Son this is a very very very big deal I have I have many mills this is one little less is not gonna make me not gonna make me or break me the mill that I home and it was a very mill that the toddler that I'll shut that I'd give it to the collar he said they're very milk I gift the mill to discover and so it was the next Duke gift of the brook and the next get Duke gift of the farm to homestead and this was the this is how the party ended and as the objective later explained that merit of the sadaqa that this young couple gave they gave everything away such Macedo snappish you know a young boyfriend orphaned children and and and here they are and they had a few dollars which they never could have anticipated or expected and they gave it all the way to save a family they'll shut the said of the narrative of this that's why I shouldn't paint him back and that's why they did indeed live happily ever after this is the story so as I said that's a story which is a little bit related to