The Rebbe of Tolna was very fond of music, and the most renowned cantors visited his court. The famous cantor, Nisi Belzer, occasionally led the services in Tolna. In Nisi Belzer’s choir was a young boy, Meir, who had been orphaned from his father, a devoted Chassid of the Rebbe of Tolna, at an early age. Meir was very musical and had an unusually sweet voice, and Nisi relied on him for major solo renditions.
However, Meir had a wild streak, and being without a father to discipline him, often behaved mischievously. One Rosh Hashana, when Nisi signaled Meir to begin a solo, Meir purposely sang a totally different portion of the Prayer. Nisi became angry, but to everyone’s surprise, the Rebbe signaled Meir to repeat the solo, and the Rebbe wept during his singing. After the service was over, the Rebbe said to the youngster, “May you always sing these sacred songs, and may they be your salvation.”
Nisi could not contain the boisterous youngster, who gradually drifted away from Torah observance, and entered a conservatory of music. He became an outstanding opera star, and eventually married a non-Jewish woman. After many years of success under the bright lights, Meir’s fortunes declined. His wife left him, he became depressed, and his once dulcet voice lost its character. He was about to be released from the operatic group when he asked for one more chance to redeem himself at a concert.
He strode onto the stage, and suddenly began singing the liturgy of his youth, the very solo the Rebbe had asked him to repeat. The orchestra stopped playing and the curtain was promptly lowered, and Meir was shown the exit door. With no job and no home, Meir joined a group of beggars who traveled from town to town, and one Shabbos he found himself in Tolna.
No One Recognized the One-Time Child Wonder
He joined the throng of people who attended the Rebbe’s Shabbos meal, and of course, no one recognized the one-time child wonder. When the Rebbe asked someone to sing one of the Shabbos songs, a voice suddenly rang out, “I will sing!”
The Rebbe then said, “Let the man sing. Perhaps the singing will be the rectification for his errant ways.”
Meir began singing the liturgy which the Rebbe had asked him to repeat many years earlier, and both Meir and the Rebbe wept with the rendition. Only afterwards did a few of the older Chassidim recall the incident with the young choir boy, and realized that the Rebbe’s words, “May this song be your salvation,” were prophetic.
Meir remained in Tolna and became a sincere Baal Teshuva. Shortly after that, he died, and the Rebbe of Tolna personally assumed the responsibility of saying Kaddish for him.
Reprinted from the Parshas Emor 5784 email of Inspired by a Story by Rabbi Dovid Caro.
