Last night, I went to Chabad for KOL NIDRE and left the Synagogue more than excited. First of all, I liked the service very much but the Rabbi also told a few great chassidic stories and I would like to share one of those stories with you, as it is extremely inspiring.
There once was a poor Jew called Moshke. He had absolutely no money and was hardly able to support his family with his small income. In order to get to work, Moshke had to take a train. Walking would have been too far but he couldn't afford buying a train ticket. What he did was getting on the train and hiding himself under one of the backbenches in the last wagon. Hopefully no conductor would discover him and ask for a ticket.
Everything went well until, one day, Moshke won the lottery. He was so glad that, finally, he was able to buy a ticket just like everyone else. Now he was a rich man but, after buying the ticket and getting onto the train, he, again, hid himself under the bench in the last wagon. This time a conductor discovered him but Moshke stretched out his hand with the ticket. The conductor looked at the ticket and said: "What are you doing here ? This is a First - Class - Ticket and you are sitting under a bench in the regular department".
What we should learn from the story is that every Jew has a First - Class - Ticket in his hand but we have to use it. Instead of feeling so low we should stand up straight and use our G - dgiven potential in every way. Don't make yourself so terribly low and meaningless but show your self - confidence !
Very nice story even if I would have preferred he had bought two tickets!
ReplyDeleteThat story has reminded me of another one.
A young man wanted to travel from Krakow to Belz for Rosh HaShanah. He was poor and did not have the money for his travel expenses.
So he hid underneath one of the iron benches in the train car, and traveled in this manner from Krakow to Belz.
When the holy gaon, R. Yissachar Dov zt"l, the Belzer Rav, heard about this, he told his Chassidim to raise a sum of money in the amount of a train ticket from Krakow to Belz.
He then instructed them to purchase postage stamps with this money, and to shred them in his presence, so that the government would not forgeit the cost of this fare.
Eyes to see, Rabbi Yom Tov Schwarz, page 279