And Lavan and Besuel answered… “The thing is from Hashem. We cannot speak to you badly or well. (24:50)
Hashem Makes Shidduchim:
promise you that it won’t work.”
A few days later, the Sultan met a girl and handed her a letter, instructing her to deliver it to one of his ministers, who was single, and telling her that he’d give her 100 coins for her efforts. The Rov said, “If you think He then sent a message to the you can do it, go ahead. But I minister that he commands him 18
It is related that Sultan from Istanbul once told the Rov of the city, “You Jews believe that G-d makes matches, and a person can’t do this. I disagree.”
to marry the girl bringing him the letter, and saying that he would also give him 100 coins.
As the maiden was walking to the minister’s house, she bumped into an old, poor woman, who asked her to lend her 100 coins for food. She felt so bad for her that she gave her the letter and told her, “Give this to the minister. He will give you 100 coins.”
The old woman went to the minister and gave him the letter. Since he had to obey the Sultan, he married her.
A short while later, the Sultan made a big feast and invited all his ministers. The table was loaded with delicacies, and this minister took a simple, soft piece of bread and put it in his pocket. The king asked why he did that,
teeth. She can only eat very soft food, so I took this for her.”
The Sultan asked, “What do you mean? I sent you a young wife.”
The minister replied, “My lord, I married the old woman you sent with the letter.”
The Sultan investigated the matter and discovered what happened. He then went back to the Rov and said, “Your Torah is correct. Only G-d can make matches.”
The Loan That Made a Shidduch
The Gemach, and he kept track of all the loans he gave out in a special notebook. would return the money, he
Rashash
zt”l
ran
a
When
borrowers
and he said, “My old wife has no would make a mark in the 19
notebook to signify it had been paid.
One day, a tailor came to repay loan. immersed in learning when the man handed him the money. He took the bundle of bills and put it in the back of the Sefer HaRif he was learning from, and then continued learning, failing to mark in his notebook that the loan had been paid.
a
The
Rashash
was
A while later, the Rashash was looking through his notebook, and he noted that the tailor had not paid his debt. He summoned him and asked him when he would be paying. The tailor was shocked and said that he had already paid it. The Rashash told him that if that were true, he would have made a note of it. When the tailor insisted that he had paid, the Rashash said that
to a din Torah.
The bais din ruled that the tailor must swear that he paid. The tailor got up to swear, but the Rashash stopped him and said he forgave the debt, as he didn’t want him to swear falsely. The rumor quickly spread that the tailor was a thief and a liar. Everyone stopped giving him work, and he became very poor.
Some time later, the Rashash opened his Sefer HaRif and found the money. He realized what it was and felt terribly for having wrongly accused the tailor. He immediately ran out to the street and asked where the tailor was. He was told that he had been so ashamed by the rumors about him that he had moved away.
He asked around and found the
he had no choice but to take him tailor’s new residence. He went 20
there and tearfully said to him, “Please forgive me. You were right. You did pay me back.”
The tailor replied, “I can’t forgive you. You caused me so much pain and embarrassment. Everyone now thinks that I am a thief and a liar.”
The Rashash said, “You are right. I will go to every shul in town and tell everyone that I was wrong and you were right.”
The tailor still said, “That won’t work. Everyone will say that you are such a tzadik that you felt bad for me and tried to help me.”
The Rashash agreed but said, “I have a better solution. You have a son, and I have a daughter. Let’s make a shidduch between them. Once we do this, everyone will believe that you are an honest, upright man.”
When the tailor heard this idea, he agreed to forgive the Rashash, and their children did indeed get married.