Digital Maggid
A kretchmer was a sort of a tavern — a roadside inn… food, drink and a place to sleep it off. It is well-known that our master, the BeSh”T was the prioprietor of just such a place. And some of the best torah took place not in opulent synagogues or well-appointed houses of study, but in the local tavern.
At the very close of Shabbos, just before dark, I came across this little beauty, still relating back to Parshas Naso, which closed along with Shabbos at sundown on Saturday night. Never let it be said that Jews — even the serious, hard core kind — don’t have a sense of humor!
אַ חסיד אַמאָל געבעטען דעם טריקסער מגיד, ער זאָל אים בענשען
A chasid once asked the Trikser Maggid to bless him.וועסט געבען א פּדיון, וועל איך דיך בענשען —
— If you’ll give a pidyon (fee), I’ll bless you.? אָן א פּדיון בין איך ניט ראָוי לברכה —
— Without a pidyon am I not eligible for a bracha (blessing)?!אָן א פּדיון זאָל דיך גאָט בענשען —
— Without a pidyon, G-D should bless you!,מיינט דאָס…אַז וואָס באַכאָלט, בענשט דער רבי —
— So this means…the rebbe blesses whoever pays,?און אָן געלט הייסט דער רבי גאָט זאָל אים בענשען —
and without money, you mean G-d should do the blessing?: אזוי שטעט בפּירוס אין דער תורה —
— So (it) states explicitly in the Torah:”כֹּה“ תְבָרְכוּ אֶת-בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל (ו.כג)
”Thus” shall you bless the Children of Israel” (Num.6:23)אויב אַ איד וויל זאָלסט אים ”אזוי” בענשען,
,”If a Jew wants to be blessed “Thusאָן געלט, ”אמור להם,“ זאָג אים ”יברכך ה’“
without money, “amor lahem,” I say to him, “y’varech’cha Adonai,”…. גאָט זאָל דיך בענשען
G-D should bless you ….
Ironic, isn’t it? We sometimes pay a great price to get what we want, when, if we only asked in the right place, we could get something better for free. But that’s the beauty of Torah. It shows us the complete spectrum of human possibility.
