The ruler begged for mercy. He pleaded not to demand something from him that he could not possibly do.
The Ari then said to him, “How can you want me to have mercy on you, when you yourself have made decrees on the Jews of your country that they cannot possibly comply with? If you revoke what you decreed on them, everything will be fine. If not, you will die here.”
The ruler was seized with fear and trembling. With his teeth chattering, he promised to fulfill the request. The Ari took out a prepared document from his pocket and read it aloud: “I the ruler of such-and-such place, confirm with this document, signed with my hand, that I have received into my hands the sum that I have imposed on the Jews of my city to deposit in my treasuries. This nullifies every decree I have enacted against them.”
The ruler immediately signed the document and returned it to the Ari. The Ari handed it over to the messengers and ordered the man and his bed to be lowered back into the pit.
When the morning dawned, the ruler awoke from his night’s sleep, his head heavy and all his limbs aching. He wondered about the strange dream he had but he convinced himself that it must have just been a silly dream, with no basis in reality. When the day of the deadline to bring the money arrived, the ruler eagerly awaited the arrival of the representatives of the Jewish community, but they did not come.
He immediately sent word to the leaders of the community that if they did not appear before him with the money by sunset, he would expel all the Jews and their property would be confiscated by the government. The emissaries who had returned from Tzefas came and stood before the king, bowed before him in humility, and said: “Our lord, your signature attests that we have paid in full to the royal treasury all that was imposed on us, and the decree is null and void.” They presented him with the receipt, written and signed by him from that fateful night.
The ruler looked at the letter and the men who were there with a bewildered look in his eyes. He recalled the frightening vision he had seen that night, and he now understood that it was not merely a dream. Great fear filled his heart. He thought: Who knows what else might happen to him at the hands of the holy leader of the Jews? If he could bring him and his bed to him in the dead of night, what else could he do? He immediately announced that this was indeed his signature.
He revoked the decreed and, from that day on, he was very careful not to harm the Jews. Not only that, but he issued a proclamation throughout his kingdom that all Jews living in his state would be under his protection and a severe punishment would be inflicted on anyone who harmed them.
Reprinted from the Parshas Devarim 5785 email of The Way of Emunah: Collected Thoughts on the Weekly Parshah from Rabbi Meir Isamar Rosenbaum.
