Rav Shlomo Yosef Zevin, zt”l, related a story. If one was poor, finding boards to build the walls of a Succah was always a problem. Therefore, year after year, Rav Mordechai of Lechovitch, zt”l, used to prepare a stock of them, and lend them out to the poor people of the town during the few days between Yom Kippur and Succos.
One year, Erev Succos was on a Friday, and a threadbare pauper who was lame in one leg, made his way up to the door of the Tzadik Rav Mordechai, and asked him if he could borrow a few planks for his Succah. Rav Mordechai felt bad, but he told him that that there were none left. He had given them all out already, and the man left.
Rav Mordechai then looked out his window, and he saw this ragged fellow limping from house to house, searching for a few boards of wood. He felt so sorry for him that he burst into tears. He cried, “Ribono Shel Olam! Just look how Your children cherish the Mitzvah of living in a Succah! See the self-sacrifice they have and how determined they are to fulfill it! It’s raining outside. The alleys are full of mud, and yet, this poor man, whose clothes are ragged, he is lame in one leg, and he is wearing torn shoes, is hobbling around looking for boards for a Succah!
A Special Plea to the Ribbono Shel Olam
“Look down, Ribono Shel Olam, from Your holy Place in Shamayim! Bentch Your people, Klal Yisroel, and spread Your Succah over them, Your Succah of Shalom, peace!”
Rav Mordechai then took a ladder and climbed up to the roof of his house and searched around until he found a few boards that he could probably do without for a few days. He handed them to his attendant and instructed him that he should find the poor man, and he should help him build his Succah, as he could likely use the help, and time was short because it was Erev Shabbos as well!
Reprinted from the Succos 5785 email of Rabbi Yehuda Winzelberg’s Torah U’Tefilah.
