154. The Chicken That Saved The Kallah From Embarrassment

00:17 Many years ago, there was a Jew, a big Talmud Chacham. His name was Reb Hirsh Yaser. The re-the reason they called him Reb Hirsh Yaser is because he came from a city called Yaser. Yaser is in Moldovia. And, uh, this Reb Hirsh Yaser moved to Poland in a city where the Rav was the famous tzadik, the Apter Rav. Uh, he wrote the famous Sefer, Orei Yisroel, Rav Avraham Yeshurun Heshel, who is known as the Apter Rav. He was the Rav of that city, and Reb Hirsh Yaser was living in that city. He was a poor man, very poor. He used to learn all day in Beis Midrash. He used to learn Torah and daven. And he was very poor. He had a daughter. She needed to get married. The Reb Hirsh Yaser had one middah, one good thing about him. He was always happy. He never complained about anything. Even though he was very poor, he's always happy, and always talked to people with great love. He was nice to people. People just loved him. He had many, many friends. Many people loved him very much because he was always happy, B'simcha, and always showed love to everybody and kindness to everybody. So he had many friends. Now, Reb Hirsh Yaser needed to marry off his daughter, who was a beautiful, wonderful, and, uh, wonderful, wonderful daughter, but he didn't have any money. And if you don't have any money, then people will say, "Well, he has no money to pay for the wedding, no

01:59 money to give money to the couple when they get married." So nobody wanted to get married to his daughter. So he didn't know what to do. So people, his friends, decided, "You know what? We're gonna make sure that your daughter gets a chassan who is a Talmud Chacham, and even is rich, has money, comes from a fam- from a rich family. We'll make sure you get a very nice chassan." And they took Reb Hirsh Yaser, they said, "Come with us." There's a place in Romania called Arad, and that place used to be a big marketplace. People like once a year, people came from all over Europe to do business. There was a huge market where people sold horses, people sold, sold clothing, people sold wine, people sold, uh, you know, wood, all kinds of stuff. People came from all over. Merchants came from everywhere in Europe, and everyone had their own stuff, and people would buy. Thousands of people would come from all over. Many, many Jews. Usually it was a place where you could meet Jews from all over the, all over the world. So they decided, they said to Reb Hirsh, the friends of Reb Hirsh Yaser, who liked him so much and they wanted to help him, said, "Listen, come with us to the Arad, and we'll make sure that we find a chassan for your daughter." They took this Reb Hirsh Yaser, they dressed him up with clothes like a very, very rich man. The nicest, fanciest clothes, a special hat

03:31 and a, a beautiful coat. He looked like a f- a wealthy man. They rented a wagon with, with white horses so he would look like a very, very rich person who was, who was, who was riding in a very fancy coach. And they went with him to this city of Arad where there was a big market, and they checked him in when they came to the city of Arad. They checked him into a hotel. One of the fanciest, b-because it was expensive hotels in the city where all the rich people, very rich people could only afford to be in such a hotel. They put him up in that hotel. Of course, they raised money first to be able to pay for this. And they raised enough money, they put him in that hotel, and then they put out an announcement in the whole city of Arad in the marketplace that a very famous rich, hugely rich person, Reb Hirsh Yaser, is here in town. And that his daughter, he's got a wonderful, wonderful, amazing daughter, and that he's looking for a shidduch for his daughter. Now, people heard this, thousands of people heard about this gvir, this very rich man who is very well known. His name Reb Hirsh-- Nobody heard of Reb Hirsh Yaser as a, as a rich man. Nobody heard such a name, but they believed them. They said, "Okay, he's very, very rich. He's very famous." You know, sometimes somebody's very famous, but you never heard of him, but he's famous

04:55 to other people. So people just thought, "Okay, this is interesting. An interesting man." So one day, uh, a person, a very rich man and a very important man came to the hotel and he said that he would like to meet this famous rich man, Reb Hirsh Yaser. So they introduced him to the, the friends of Reb Hirsh Yaser introduced him to this rich man who came to see him. And he said he has a son and he would like to, um, maybe have his son meet his daughter and maybe they can get married. And Reb Hirsh Yaser said okay. Now before Reb Hirsh Yaser met this gvir, the friends of Reb Hirsh Yaser told him, "If a rich man comes and he wants his son to marry your daughter," and normally people, the parents would get together in the olden days especially, and they would say, "Okay, how much money are you gonna give to the children? How much money are you gonna give to the chassan and kallah?" And of course, the rich people were expected to promise a large amount of money For the wedding and for them to, to be able to start their lives, to start a business, uh, g-get them a house. So they would usually ask, and people would make a commitment how much money they're gonna give. So they told Reb Hirsh Yaser, "You don't make any commitments. If, if, if, if the other guy, the father of the chassan, says to you, 'Okay, how much money are

06:22 you gonna give?' 'I'm gonna give so much money. How much are you gonna give?' Then you say, 'Don't worry, Hashem will help.' Don't make any commitment. Just say, 'Hashem will help. Everything will be good.'" Okay. So when this rich man came to see Reb Hirsh Yaser in the hotel, he said, "No, I have a very, very special son who's a talmid chacham and a, and a, and a very, very special boy and, and I would like to think maybe, um, meet your daughter." So they agreed and they... Everything was good, and they decided they should get married. So now the, the, the two, uh, fathers, father of the chassan, of the cha-- of the kallah got together and the father of the chassan said to Reb Hirsh Yaser, who is the father of the kallah, um, "No, how much money are you gonna give? I'm gonna give," he says, "a large amount of money. This is the money I'm gonna give. How much will you give?" And Reb Hirsh Yaser just kept answering, "Well, Hashem will help. Hashem will help." Now, the other man, the, the, the, the father of the chassan thought, "Why is he talking like this? Why is he not making a commitment? There's something strange. Ah, it's probably because he's so rich that you don't have to worry about it. He's for sure gonna give a lot more money than he can promise. He's gonna give a lot of money, and you don't have to worry about him. He's a, he's

07:38 a, he's a trustwor- trustworthy person." So he didn't make a big deal and says, "Okay, fine, fine, we'll see. I'm sure you'll give a lot of money." And Reb Hirsh Yaser just kept saying, you know, "Uh, uh, Hashem will help. Everything will be good. Don't worry." Finally, Reb Hirsh Yaser, the shidduch happened and Reb Hirsh Yaser went back with his friends to, to, to the city where the apt rov was the rov of the city, and, and that's it. He went back to Bes Medrash and learned. Took off his fancy clothes, which wasn't his clothes, it was just borrowed clothes from a gvir, from a, a rich man, and put on his old, uh, torn clothes and, and sat in Bes Medrash and learned. A few months went by and the father of the chassan in the other city realized that Reb Hirsh Yaser is not sending any gifts to the chassan. Normally, you should send special presents to the chassan, um, you know, to show that you appreciate the chassan, and no, nothing is coming. So he got very worried and he, and he starts sending letters. And he wrote the address, the name on the letter, the envelope for the postman, he wrote that "To the famous gvir, the very rich man, Reb Hirsh." Reb Hirsh. So when the postman took it, he thought which rich man in this town is Reb-- named Reb Hirsh? And there was another Reb Hirsh who was very rich but he didn't have any kids. So the

09:07 postman thought, "This letter must go to Reb Hirsh, this rich man." Okay. Reb Hirsh Yaser everybody knew in the town was very poor. Here it says on the envelope, "The rich man, Reb Hirsh." So he brought the letter to the other Reb Hirsh, the rich man. The rich man opened up the letter and he sees it's a letter where the, the father of the chassan is writing, "How come we didn't hear from you? You don't send any presents to the chassan, um, you know, who's getting married to your daughter, the kallah." And this Hirsh, the, the very... The really rich man, the Reb Hirsh is surprised because he has no children. Why is he getting a letter like this? He even felt a little bit hurt, you know. It's reminding him of his unfortunate situation that he doesn't have any children. And, and he took the letter, he said, "Probably a mistake." And he tore, tore it up and threw it in the garbage. A few weeks later the, the father of the chassan sees there's still no answer so he writes and another letter. He said, "How come you're not answering my, my letter? And I want to know why aren't you sending anything for the chassan?" And the letter again goes to the gvir, the very famous rich man, Reb Hirsh, and brings it to... He brings it to the, to this, uh, again, to the same rich man, Reb Hirsh, who has no children. The guy looks at the letter again and

10:30 says, "Again, same letter, mistake." Tears it up and throws it out. Finally when the rich man, the, the, the father of the chassan in the other city realized that the, the father of the kallah, the Reb Hirsh Yaser is not responding, he decided to go personally himself to the city in Apt and look up for this Reb Hirsh Yaser, his, his, his, you know, the father of, of the kallah, and ask him why he's not sending any, anything to the chassan. He traveled all the way there and when he goes around he asks, "Well, where is the famous rich man, Reb Hirsh, that I'm looking for?" And they showed him the house of the rich man, Reb Hirsh, who had no children. He goes to his house and, and he knocks on the door and the Reb Hirsh opens the door and says, "Yeah, what can I do for you?" He says, "Oh, don't you recognize me? I'm your mechutan. I'm, uh, you know, it's my... My son is gonna marry your daughter." And the rich man says, "Are you crazy? Man, I don't have any children. I don't know what you're talking about. I don't have any children. What are you talking about a wedding with my daughter? I don't have a daughter." He said, "Oh, I'm so sorry." And he said, "You know, you're insulting me. You keep talk-- reminding me that I don't have any children. Please don't do this again. You're hurting me." And, and the other rich man said, the

11:46 father of the chassan says, "Okay, I'm so sorry but I'm looking for a Reb Hirsh Yaser. There's a guy, Reb Hirsh Yaser, they, they told me... He said he's very rich." He says, "I don't know what you're talking about. Just do me a favor, leave me alone." And the father of the chassan left. And he started looking around to see where is Rabbi Hirsh Yaser. On the way, while he's walking through the street, he sees like a cemetery, and there stands a lady who is involved with the Chevra Kadisha. She's like in charge of all the burials of the people that die in the city, and she also collects tzedakah for various tzedekahs, you know, for poor families. So he hears her screaming out, "Please give tzedakah." So for the wedding of the daughter of Rabbi Hirsh Yaser. So he's surprised. He said to her, "Who? Rabbi Hirsh Yaser? I know this name. Where can I find him?" And the lady says, "Just go over there in that house." "Oh, no." She says, "Go to the Bais Medrash. Rabbi Hirsh Yaser learns there all day." He goes to the Bais Medrash. When he goes in the Bais Medrash, he sees Rabbi Hirsh Yaser sitting with torn clothes. He realized this was a mistake. He was tricked. He was fooled. Rabbi Hirsh Yaser is actually a poor man. So he walks over to Rabbi Hirsh Yaser. Rabbi Hirsh Yaser sees him. He's as always very friendly and happy, and he, and he gives him a big

13:12 Shalom Aleichem, and he gives him a hug. He says, "What can I do for you? What, what are you coming here for?" And the father of the Choson decided he got very angry that they tricked him, but he decided not to say anything, and he just responded Aleichem HaShalom. And, and... But then he left. Where did he go? He went to the Rav, the-- who was the Apter Rav, the Oyev Yisroel, and said, "I wanna call this Hirsh Yaser to a Din Torah." To a Din Torah means Rabbi should come to Beis Din, "Because I have a complaint against him. He tricked me and got my son engaged to his daughter. He tricked me by saying that-- pretending that he's very rich, and now it turns out he's a poor man. He lied to me." Now, the Apter Rav heard this. He understood that it is Rabbi Hirsh Yaser who the Apter Rav liked very much and knew that he was a great man. He was sitting and learning. He was a Talmid Chacham. He's go- can imagine what's gonna happen now. The father of the Choson is gonna call off the Shidduch and break up the Shidduch, and there's gonna be a big Rachmanus on, on, on the daughter. So the Apter Rav said to the, to the father of the Choson, "Stay aside for a moment. I need to go to the other room." Went to the other room and started davening. He davened that Hashem should help Rabbi Hirsh Yaser and especially

14:42 help his daughter. She shouldn't be insulted and humiliated by this, by this, uh... the father of the Choson who's gonna say, "Hey, you're poor. I don't want the Shidduch. That's it. Let's break it up." And he davened to Hashem to help Rabbi Hirsh Yaser and his daughter. Then the Apter Rav came out of the room, and he said, "Okay, I'll send a special messenger to call Rabbi Hirsh Yaser to a Din Torah. They must show up in Beis Din." In the meantime, while this was happening, Rabbi Hirsh Yaser saw his... the father of the Choson. He sent a message to his wife, "Please prepare a big, beautiful meal because we have a guest in town. The father of the Choson is in town." So the mother, the wife of Rabbi Hirsh Yaser said to his daugh-- to her daughter, "You know, the father of your Choson is in town. We need to make a special meal for him and invite him. And please take this chicken." They used to have live chickens. "And go to the Shochet that you should shecht the chicken so we can have some chicken tonight for dinner and invite the father of the Choson." So the daughter, the Kallah, took the chicken, and she ran through the streets of the market to go to the Shochet. On the way, the chicken slipped out of her hands and started running away. So the girl started running after the chicken, and the chicken saw that the girl is running after him, after

16:04 the chicken, so the chicken ran even faster and faster. And the chicken kept running and running and running, and she kept running after the chicken through the whole city until the chicken kept running out-outside the city. It, it went outside the city. She kept running and running and running, didn't realize she was outside the city. And the chicken is running even faster, and she's running faster, and the chicken is running even faster. And she's chasing and chasing and chasing till she got into a forest. The chicken got into a forest, and she ran after the chicken in the forest. And then the chicken got into a little shack, a little hut inside the forest, a hut that was almost collapsing. The chicken f- ran inside. And she, the Kallah, ran after the chicken into the little hut. And the chicken s- is standing on top of a big chest, like a big box. So she grabbed the chicken, and she opened to see the box. She's inside this full and full and full of gold coins. She didn't know whose it was. This is a treasure. She looks around. She started looking to see if there's anybody who owns this shack. And finally she met some people further down in the forest that said to her, "Yeah, once there was a very famous Parets who, um, drove through here with his wagon and his coach, and he was killed somewhere around here." So she understood from that that this chest was from this Parets who

17:35 is no longer alive. So she decided, she said, "That must, must be Min Hashamayim." Hashem made a nest for her that she should have, she should become rich. So she sent... She went quickly to get a wagon, and she hired a wagon and a wagon driver, and they put the chest on top of the wagon, and they took it home to her house. In the meantime, the Shliach of the Beis Din from the Apter Rav came to Rabbi Hirsh Yaser and said, "Listen, you Mechuten, the father of the Choson is, is calling you to a Din Torah." So he came to the Beis Din, and the, and the father of the Choson says, "Listen, I made a Shidduch with this, this man, his daughter, because I was sure that he's rich, and he dressed like a rich man. He pretended to be very rich, but he lied to me. So I don't want the Shidduch anymore because it was a mistake." So the Apter Rav says, "No, no, no, no. Listen, let me tell you the truth. Rabbi Hirsh Yaser right now is a very rich man. You can go to his house, you'll see it for yourself." And he said to the Mechuten, "Mazel tov, mazel tov." And he said to the father of the Choson, "Trust me, go to his house. You'll find out that he's actually a very rich man now." And they both went, and when they saw in the house there was this huge treasure she found, they understood that

18:57 the, yeah, that the Apter Rav had davened that Hashem should make a nest so she, the Kallah, wouldn't feel insulted and humiliated. This story was told by one of the great Tzadikim, Polish Tzadikim, and he said that tell to-- when you tell this story, it's a Segulah, uh, for Parnassah, it's a Segulah for a Shidduch, Segulah for a lot of good things.