173. An Odd Dream That Made A Shiduch

00:15 Shalom Aleichem, kindleh. I'm going to share with you a gevaldig story of the Baal Shem Tov. This story was told by the grandson of the Baal Shem Tov. He was the Rav of Skole. He was a Skole Rav. He was the grandson of the Baal Shem Tov, and he lived by the Baal Shem Tov for many years. And he said, "This is a story that I personally saw with my own eyes." He says that, "Once I remember that two men, two people came to see the Baal Shem Tov. One of them said that he was the Rav of a certain city and, and he has a son who's a big Talmid Chaham and a big Yirash Mayim and a Hasid and a special person. And the second person that came into the Baal Shem Tov, uh, said that he has a daughter and he wants his daughter to marry the son of the Rav. And the second person is very rich. He's a very simple person, doesn't know much, doesn't... He's not very learned. He's an Am Ha'aretz." So the Baal Shem Tov, "Why did you come to me?" And he said, "We came to ask your advice. Should me, my chi-- the daughter of this rich Am Ha'aretz marry the big Talmid Chaham's son of this big Rav? Is this a good Shidduch? Is it a good marriage? We came to ask your advice. You should tell us what to do." Baal Shem Tov said right away, "I give my agreement to this Shidduch,

01:52 my Haskamah, and I think it's a good Shidduch." And immediately got up from his seat, the Baal Shem Tov, and went to the closet, took out some mashke, some mezeinis, some cakes and cookies, and they sat down, they drank L'Chaim, and that's it. They became chosan and kallah. When the two people left, they were very happy. The Baal Shem Tov said that they should... Their children should get married. Baal Shem Tov said to me, he says the Skole Rav, he was a child then. He says, Baal Shem Tov says to me, "The world of letsones was a good shadchan." You know what a shadchan is? Shadchan is a person who suggests a Shidduch. That means who should marry who, you know? Oh, I got a... I know a boy that's gonna marry your daughter. Shadchan. He's a shadchan. The world of letsones, the world that makes fun m-was a good shadchan. Now, I didn't know what he meant. What means the world of letsones, of joking? The, the joking world, the world of jokes was a good shadchan. It was a strange statement to make. So I didn't understand what the Baal Shem Tov was saying, so I went. I was very curious what, what, what the Baal Shem Tov meant. So I went to the hotel where these two people were staying, the Rav and this rich man who was an Am Ha'aretz. I went to the motel and where the Rav was, and I went to the Rav and I said, "The Baal

03:18 Shem Tov said these words, and I don't understand what he meant. Maybe you could tell me what it's about." So the Rav says, "Oh, now I understand. Now that you tell me what the Baal Shem Tov said, I... Something I understand now that I didn't understand before." I asked him, "What, what, what was that?" So he told him like this. This guy, my mechutan, right? The, the Am Ha'aretz, the rich Am Ha'aretz who wanted my son, the Talmid Chaham, to marry his daughter, once upon a time, he was very, very poor. He wasn't even rich. Not only was he an Am Ha'aretz, didn't know how to learn anything, but he was also poor. He was a water carrier. He used to bring water from the well and bring it around to different houses, and that's how he made a living. Water carriers didn't make a lot of money. They made very little money. They were very poor. But Hashem gave him a berakhah, and somehow he started doing business, and he became richer and richer. He became a very, very rich man, a big gvir. After he became a big gvir, he felt, "Oh, I'm a big gvir." So he sent a shadchan, right? A shadchan is a person who suggests a Shidduch. He sent a shadchan of the town to me that I should, uh, agree that his son, the Rav's son, should marry his only daughter. And he promised me to give three thousand rubles for the chosan and two thousand rubles for

04:54 me as a gift, as a present. Five thousand rubles was a fortune of money. But I got very angry at the chutzpah of this shadchan and the chutzpah of this Am Ha'aretz, this ignoramus. He's, he's, he's, he thinks that I, my son, the Talmid Chaham, should marry the daughter of such an Am Ha'aretz. And I told the shadchan to get out of here, to get lost and, and leave the house. I'm not interested in such stupid suggestions. But he kept coming to me every day because the rich man gave him money, said, "You go every day. Don't let go. Keep nudging him. Keep nagging him until he agrees." And so for an entire year, this shadchan kept coming to my house and driving me crazy. And I kept telling this one, "Get away. Close the door. I don't wanna see you again." And he would come back again and again. Then something happened. Recently, one night I was sleeping, and I had a dream. And I'm traveling with my... In, in my dream, I see I, I hired a wagon driver, a ba'al hagolah, and I hired him to take me somewhere. And why did I go? I went on a trip to go from different towns to raise money for my yeshiva because he had a yeshiva, and sometimes yeshivas, they don't have enough money. They need to collect tzedakah from people. Usually rosh yeshivas would sometimes travel to different cities and get money for their yeshiva. So in my dream, I'm dreaming that

06:28 I'm in a wagon. I hired a wagon driver, and we're driving for different towns and different villages, which is villages that are around my city, right? Not very far from my city. I'm going there to collect money. I know the area very well because it's not far from my city, and I go there every year, so I know the area pretty well. But this time in my dream, when we were traveling, we came to a strange city which I didn't recognize. I never saw it before. It was very strange because I stayed close to my city, and yet I'm in a city that I've never seen before. It was already sundown when we arrived in that city, and I didn't recognize anybody in the city. I've never met anybody in the city. I decided to go to the shul and ask people, "Where can I stay overnight in a motel?" In the Beis Midrash, when I went into the shul, in the Beis Midrash, I saw a commotion. There was like a noise and, and I see that a lot of people were arguing about a question in a Sefer Beit Shmuel. Beit Shmuel is a famous commentary on the Shulchan Aruch, and the Beit Shmuel asked a strong question on the Tur, on the Tur Shulchan Aruch. And people were arguing about the question. It was a very deep question. Some were trying to answer the question. Some said, "No, the question is a good question, a strong question. You can't answer it. It's

07:54 really, really a strong question." And people were arguing and arguing like it was... Raising their voices excitedly. And I'm watching this as I come into the shul. I didn't recognize anybody there, but I, I was fascinated by this argument, and I understood which Beit Shmuel, Sefer Beit Shmuel they're talking about. And I knew the question that he was asking, but I was listening to how they were arguing about this Beit Shmuel. So I saw a few young bochurim who were also listening, and I said to them, "Um, I have an answer to that question that this person there is asking, and everybody's getting excited. I know how to answer that question." These young people, these young bochurim, how they liked it. So I told them what the answer is. They said, "Wow, this is a great answer." And they went to the elderly people who were arguing in the, in the, in, in the front of the shul, and they told them, "You know, there's a man standing by the door," pointing to me, the Rav, that I'm, that I'm standing there. I'm a guest, I'm a stranger, and I came up with a very good answer. And suddenly, as the young bochur were giving the answer, giving over the answer, we hear, uh, this powerful, mighty scream all the way coming from the e-- from the Mizrach, all the way in the front of the shul where the elderly, uh, hakhamim were, were arguing, and, and, and a voice was screaming, "Who is the

09:23 one there that, that's giving this answer to answer the question against the Beit Shmuel?" "He's an ama ha'aretz. You're listening to him? He's a big ama ha'aretz." And all the hakhamim started laughing at me and looking at me like I'm this stupid person who's can't even think straight, and, and, and for sure not a talmid hakham. He's giving such a stupid answer, and they laughed, and they mocked me. And I realized, oh my God, this is a, a terrible place for me. I got up and I left. I took my wagon driver. Let's go to another place. We went to another city, and also there I went into the shul. There also people were arguing about something. Here they were arguing about a question the Beit Yosef, the Rabbi Yosef Karo, the famous Beit Yosef was arguing against the Tur. And they were arguing, arguing very, very passionately. They were arguing and excitedly and people raising their voices, and everyone was saying, "No, it's... I can answer the question this way." He says, "No, no, your answer is nonsense." And they were arguing back and forth. I knew that Tur very well because I'd learned it before. And I told them, I went over to the group and I said, "Here's what I understand of this, and I think the question is not a question." They all looked at me, and they started laughing so loud, just like in the previous city. They started mocking me and laughing at me, and, "You are such an

10:47 ama ha'aretz," they said to me. "And you are such an ama ha'aretz, you have a chutzpah to even come and offer your answer." And, and, and, and they all laughed at me and laughed at me. "And you come and get involved in a conversation of Talmidi Hakhamim, what do you know?" I was very embarrassed, and I went outside, and we continued to travel. I said, "Oy, um, maybe I'll find another city where I can stay overnight, but this is a terrible place." I came to the third city, and there again, I went into the Beis Midrash and people were arguing about the machloket of Rashi and Tosafot. They were arguing about a certain Gemara, a certain Sugya in the Gemara, and people were arguing about why Rashi says this or why Tosafot says this. And I went over to them again. I said, "Yo, I know this Gemara, and I can explain what Rashi and Tosafot are saying." So they listened to me, and then they all suddenly burst into a wild laughter and, you know, embarrassing me, calling me names. I'm so stupid. I'm such an ama ha'aretz, even more and worse than the previous two cities. Suddenly, one person who was, uh, from the crowd, from the hakhamim that were arguing, went up to the bimah and gave a pound on the bimah and said, "Everybody quiet, quiet." So everybody got quiet in the shul, and he said, "Did you see this ama ha'aretz that just came in and gave this whole explanation?"

12:13 In his city, there is a rich man, a big baal tzedakah, and he's got midas toivos, and he's got a special, very wonderful daughter. And the gvir, that rich man, wants to make a shidduch with this Amor HaArets' son. He called the Rebbe an Amor HaArets. This Amor HaArets' son, and he's willing to give to him and his son five thousand rubles. And this Amor HaArets says, "No, I'm, uh, too important for him." What do you guys think about this chutzpanik that doesn't want to accept five thousand rubles because he thinks it's not for his kovod that his son should marry the daughter of a, of a very rich man who is a big baal tzedakah and has good midos, but he's not a Talmid Chacham, not enough for him? And I woke up. That was the end of the dream. When I woke up from the dream, I had this thought, maybe... Why do I have this dream? It's a strange dream. Maybe this is a shidduch, a real shidduch min Hashamayim. And I send a messenger to the rich man, and I said, "Let's go to the Baal Shem Tov together. We'll ask him. Whatever he says, we'll do." And that's when the Baal Shem Tov said, yes, he should do the shidduch. And then the Baal Shem Tov said to the, his grandson, the Skolyar Rav, he said, "You know what? This whole dream was like a joke," right? It's like a making a, th- calling this Rav an Amor HaArets and

13:48 embarrassing him. But you know, in a way, it also made him humble because he, he, he thought I'm such big Rav, a big Talmid Chacham, oh, this guy's daughter is not for me because it's not for my kovod, you know? So th- th- they taught him min Hashamayim. But it was a funny dream where they, th- they made like a... The whole thing was a joke, but it made the shidduch. And that's the end of the story.