Reb Yaakov Shimshon of Shepetivka was a Gaon, and a Tzaddik. He was a talmid of the Mezritcher Maggid. Near the end of his life he went up to Eretz Yisroel to live. He settled in Teveryah. There he devoted himself to helping the poor people of the area. He traveled as a messenger to raise money for the Yidden of Eretz Yisroel and to strengthen the Yeshivos. During one of his travels he came to the great city of Istanbul, Turkey. He stayed at the home of the Rav of the city, who was also the chief rabbi of the country. He noticed that the Rav was very tense. The Rav opened up to him and said, “I see you are a holy man, and I would like to ask you for advice. We have here in our city a parness, a community leader, who is also a very important merchant. He is also very close to the Sultan. His problem is that his arrogance has caused him to become an evil talebearer. He tells the Sultan whenever he finds out that a Yid has broken the law. He does this to find favor in the Sultan’s eyes.
It so happens, that lately he got into an argument with a friend about business. They couldn’t come to an agreement, and the matter came to our Bais Din. When he appeared before our Bais Din he brought with him a letter with the seal of the Sultan on it. The letter said that this rich man must be justified by the Bais Din no matter what. For a week I have been wandering around in pain. I have not been able to find a way out. Therefore I beg you for a a solution, since you are a gaon.”
The tzaddik trembled when he heard this. Then he said, we can’t allow something like this to happen! My advice is that the Rav should pretend to be sick, and send a message that he cannot sit in at this Din Torah. However, a Rav has come to our city, who knows Halachos of monetary issues very well, and the case will be heard by him. The litigants agreed to have the Shepetivka Rov hear the case. Unfortunately, the Sultan, a few days later, sent a letter to the Shepetivka Rav that had the same words as the first letter. The Shepetivka Rav did not react to this letter. He called the litigants to Din Torah. The parness came to the Bais Din confident he would win. The Rav then sat down and got ready to judge the case. Both sides laid their arguments before the court. The Shepetivka then thoroughly interrogated both litigants, and delved into the matter deeply until it was as clear as day to him that the merchant was correct, and the parness was wrong. He wrote out his ruling clearly on two sheets of parchment, and gave each of the litigants a copy.
When the parness saw that he had lost the Din Torah, and that he had lost a large amount of money because of this, he decided to take revenge. He ran immediately to the Sultan, and told him that the new judge had not obeyed the Sultan, and had ignored him and his letter entirely. The Sultan grew very angry. He sent for the Rav to come to the Sultan’s court immediately. The Rav wasn’t afraid. He put on his coat, took a chumash with him, and went to the Sultan’s court, where the Sultan and all his ministers sat. The Sultan, became angry, immediately threatened the Rav with accusations and threats of being a traitor and disloyal to the throne for not having obeyed the Sultan’s orders. The Rav stood silently. The Sultan got even more angry when he didn’t answer him. He screamed and insulted him, and finally asked him, “Why don’t you answer me about what I accused you of?” Suddenly, the Shepetovka Rov opened the chumash he was holding to Devorim, and began to read in a loud voice: “Do not favor anyone in judgment; rather you shall hear the small just as the great; you shall not fear any man, for judgment is up to Hashem” (Devorim 1:17).
The Sultan and all the ministers around him sat like stones and listened as the Shepetivka Rav spoke. To them it sounded as if it was coming directly from heaven, so strong and sweet. Everyone liked hearing it, and admired the Rav’s dignity as he spoke. The Sultan and all the ministers began to respect him greatly, and they sent him home with honor. When the tzaddik left the palace, everyone began to talk about this wondrous event. The ministers were from various countries, and each of them explained that he had heard the words of the Rav in their own language. One of them said that the Rov had spoken in formal, flowing Arabic, another insisted he spoke in complex, flawless French, and yet another minister said he heard it in well-structured, beautiful Turkish, and so on.
When the Sultan heard his ministers talking, he was bewildered. He asked that they bring back the Rav so he could explain to them what had happened. The Rav returned to the palace court, and they greeted him with a lot of honor. They sat him next to the Sultan, and the Sultan asked him, “Perhaps you could tell us which language you used when you spoke to us and read from your book?” The Shepetivka Rav answered, “You should know that when I spoke to you it was not my mouth speaking at all. The Torah spoke through me. I had in mind the same thoughts -Kavanos- that were present when we stood at Mount Sinai when Hashem gave us the Torah. There too, everyone in the world heard the first two words of the commandments in their own language. That’s why each of you thought I was speaking to him in his own language. I actually spoke in Hebrew!
The Sultan’s opinion, as well as the ministers’ opinion, of the Rav grew when they heard that. The parness lost favor with the Sultan. And from then on, the Sultan refused to hear any bad word spoken against the Yidden.
