151. The Alter Rebbe's Chossid Who Was Accused Of Stealing Horses

00:15 Shalom Aleichem, kinderlach. Here's a story that was told by the Razoh. The Razoh was Rabbi Zalman Aron, the brother of the Rabbi Rashab and the son of the Rabbi Maharash. He was the older brother of the Rabbi Rashab. He was in business, although he was a great man, a holy, holy person, but he didn't wanna be Rabbi, he didn't wanna be a Rov. He, uh, did business for a living. Story goes like this: there was a Jew who was very sick, and the doctors told him he must travel to the city of Königsberg and have an operation. There in Königsberg there was a special hospital for this type of illness that he had, and in that hospital they can do an operation and, and cure him and save his life. This Hasid went to the city of Königsberg, but he realized when he got to Königsberg that he doesn't have enough money on him. Didn't have enough money to pay for the operation and to pay for the hotel where he needs to stay. So he didn't know what to do. He was a little bit lost. He didn't know what to do. He was walking down the streets of Königsberg and was hoping Hashem would make a nest for him. And then he sees the Razoh in the streets of Königsberg. The Razoh apparently came to Königsberg for business. He was doing business, so he came to visit the city to buy or sell some stuff. So he sees the Razoh on the other

01:52 side of the street, and he's embarrassed to go over to him to tell him about his situation, that he came here and didn't, uh, didn't have enough money on him. He felt a little bit stupid, right? You, you walked to... You traveled to such a city, you know you have to do an operation, you don't bring enough money with you. So finally the Razoh saw that he was a little bit uncomfortable, so he called him over. He says, "Come here. I wanna talk to you." So he went over to the Razoh and, and the Razoh asked him, "What's the matter? I see you so down. You seem upset." And he said, "Yes, because I have no money and I need to do operation." So the Razoh gave him the money. He says, "Here, take the money and go do the operation." The operation was very successful. When he came out of the hospital, this Hasid, the Razoh saw him and said, "What can I do? You have a sleepy malach." The man didn't understand what he meant. What does it mean that this Hasid had a malach in Shomayim that is a little bit sleepy? So the Razoh explained to him with a story. The story is about one of the Hasidim of the Alter Rebbe. He was a very strong Hasid of the Alter Rebbe, would travel very often to Alter Rebbe for a Yontif, for a Shabbos. But he was very poor, so he couldn't afford a horse and wagon, so he would

03:12 walk on foot. Sometimes this Hasidim would walk for weeks and weeks to go to the Rebbe. So this Hasid would walk to... So he would walk to the Rebbe, to the , and he would also come back home on foot. Couldn't afford a wagon. So as he spent time by the Alter Rebbe, he decided to go back home, and again, he walked on foot. And he had to pass by a forest. Walking alone all by himself in middle of a forest. As he's walking and walking and walking, there's a wagon, a goy that's in a wagon with horses, two horses, and the wagon stopped and the goy says to him, "Here, go, get onto my wagon. I'll, I'll give you a ride." So the Hasid agreed, and he sat down next to the goy, the wagon driver, and they traveled. On the way, the Hasid noticed a strange thing. The goy is constantly looking back. Every few minutes he looks back, and he seems very nervous. He looks back to see if somebody's following him. So the Hasid didn't understand why he's doing this, but he didn't ask any questions. Um, so suddenly the goy stops and says to the Hasid, "Listen, I gotta go to the bathroom inside the forest. So, um, I'm gonna get off the wagon and I take one of the two horses, I'll unattach it from the wagon, and I'm gonna ride on that horse as deep inside the forest where I can go to the bathroom, be in a

05:00 private place. And, uh, you keep... You ke- take over this horse, you keep riding, and I will catch up with you with my other horse. When I finish doing what I need to do, finish going to the bathroom, I'll get into that horse and I'll chase after you and I'll catch up with you." And the Hasid didn't think much. He said, "Okay, fine." So the goy, um, detached the horse and he rode away into the forest, and the Hasid kept moving and riding with the horse and the wagon, and didn't realize that this goy was actually a ganav. He stole this wagon and the two horses. He stole it from another goy, and that's why he was so nervous and looking back all the time. Maybe, uh, the police is chasing after him 'cause they're looking for him. They're looking for the, for the stolen wagon and the horses. So what happened was is that he heard a noise In the back somewhere there was like a noise of horses, uh, running and running, so he was afraid maybe they're chasing after him. So he decided to take one of the horses, went into the forest. He didn't have to go to the bathroom. He made up the story. He made it up. He just wanted to go inside the for- the forest and climb onto a tree to see far away if the-- whether people are chasing after him. And if there's-- the noise is coming from the police and people that are chasing

06:31 after him, then he'll run away with the, with the horse and deep inside the forest, and they won't catch him. Meanwhile, they'll catch the Jew because they recognize the wagon, and they'll think that the Jew stole the wagon, and the Jew will get into trouble instead of him. If there is nobody chasing, then he'll go back to the wagon, and he'll continue on the way. Obviously, apparently, he went up to the tree, all the way high up on top of the tree, and he saw that there was actually a lot of police and, and, and many people, and the owners of the wagon, they're all chasing after him, after the wagon. So he hopped onto the horse and rode away. He-- The horse was running, running deep into the forest, and nobody could find him. But in the meantime, they caught up with the wagon, the police and all the people that were chasing, and they said to the Hasid, "You're the ganav." And they pulled him off the wagon. They beat him up, and they kicked him, and then he was bleeding. They, they really, really, really gi-- you know, hurt him very badly. And the Hasid kept saying, "No, I, I didn't steal anything. I, I, I was just, um... It was this guy. He took the horse. He ran off into the forest. I, I, I'm just-- He just gave me a ride. I, I don't know anything about the wagon." But they didn't believe him, and they, they kept beating him.

07:56 And then finally, they took him to court to the judge, that the judge should decide what his punishment should be. Now, the judge was a good person, and he took one look at this Hasid, and he realized that this Hasid doesn't look like a thief, doesn't sound like he was a thief. Maybe his story is a true story. Maybe he-- it's really true that he didn't steal anything. It was just that the other guy who stole it just ran away with a horse, so they wouldn't catch him, and they would catch the Hasid instead. So the ju-- but the judge couldn't prove it. So he had no choice. He had to punish the Hasid. Told the Hasid, "You have to go to Siberia, far, far away in some cold, cold foreign city, and you're gonna have to live there for, for ten years." And they send him to a city far away in Siberia. It's-- And they told him he has to live in that city. And in that city, there was a Jewish community with a shul, but the people were very ignorant. They didn't know anything. They didn't have a rav. They didn't know-- They didn't have a cheder. They didn't know how to teach Torah to the kids. They didn't have a shochet. They didn't have who could shechtes kosher meat. They had nothing. They really wanted, but they didn't have anything. There was nobody that was knowledgeable, that knew anything. So when this Hasid arrived, he was a big talmid chacham,

09:20 this Hasid, so he began to teach them Torah. And they said, "Okay, you'll be our rav." He became their rav, and he started teaching them, and, and everybody came to shul. He showed them how to daven, and, and, and, and he started opening up a cheder for the kids, and they taught the kids Alef Beis and Torah. And pretty soon there was a, a mikveh and a yeshiva, and the place began to be a very, very special Jewish community with, with yeshiva bachurim and, and che- and cheder, chadorim, and, and a rav, and there was a... And they brought in a sheche- another shochet and a mohel, and everything was like a regular Jewish community. The whole city changed completely because of this one Hasid who happens to be sent by the police as a punishment to this city. But instead, he made the city a real special, wonderful Jewish community because of him. Many years passed, and this ganav, this Russian ganav that got away with the horse, was caught because he was stealing somewhere else. He went to steal again, and they caught him. When they caught him, they took him to prison, and they, they tortured him. They said, "Listen, tell us what else you did. You must have stolen from other places." And he admitted that he's the one who stole the wagon some years ago, and that Hasid had nothing to do with it, and that they sent him away to Siberia for nothing, for, for no reason. He's not

11:01 guilty. He told everything. So the police realized that the Hasid is not a ganav. So they, they freed him. They sent the police to the city in there in Siberia and said, "Listen, you don't have to live here anymore. You can go back to where you lived in your house." In the meantime, that community that he was in Siberia, they could find another rav, and he left. When he came back to the Alter Rebbe, the Alter Rebbe told him, "You see, min hashomayim, you were supposed to go to that city and be a rav there and bring a learning of Torah there so people start learning and know how to practice, do Shabbos and kashrus. You were supposed to be the rav, the leader of that community. But your malach that is supposed to watch over you, instead of making sure that you get to that city, eh, because of business, how are you gonna get to that city? You live, you know, in, in, in..." In Minsk, you live in some other city. Uh, to go to Siberia, nobody thinks of going to Siberia. But what does Hashem do if He wants you to go to Siberia and be the Rav there? It makes you go there for, for various reasons that you don't know, but you know that, oh, you're going there for business maybe. Maybe you need to do some business there, and then you end up being there, and the people like you, and they say you should be a Rav.

12:23 So it could have happened that you would become the Rav in a nice way, where you would do business, you would be rich, and your business-- For your business, you would have to travel there, and there people would ask you to teach them, and then you would be a Rav there. But it so happened that your malach, instead of making you b- be a Rav there in a nice way, in a pleasant way, you had to unfortunately end up with this goy and the wagon, and the police would accuse you that you're a ganav and you stole the wagon with the two horses. And then they'll punish you to send you to that city so that you can-- so that Hashem's plan that you should be the Rav of that city would be fulfilled. So you can be the Rav of that city. But had your malach looked out for you, uh, made sure that the plan of Hashem would have been fulfilled, not in such a terrible way where you'd been beaten and, and brought to the judge and sent to Siberia as a punishment. He, the malach, would have made sure that it happened in a nice way, where you went there on a visit, maybe for business, maybe for other reasons, and you become Rav there. So the Razor said to this Hasid who had the operation, "You also, you were supposed to have an operation, and your malach should have looked out for you that you should have enough money so

13:39 you can do the operation. There's a reason why Hashem needed you to be sick and have the operation. But unfortunately, you had to, uh, um, end up in this city without money, not knowing what to do, so that I had to give you the money. But if your malach would've n- wouldn't be so sleepy and would have looked out for you a little bit better, it would have been in a much nicer way."