There was a city located far from the home of the Arizal that was ruled by a wicked and cruel man who caused as much pain to his Jewish residents as he could. One day, the ruler issued a proclamation that the Jews must bring him a massive sum of money within 30 days or he would expel them from their homes.
The local Jews had nowhere near that amount of money and had no idea what to do. The entire town gathered in the local shul to daven and beg Hashem to have mercy on them and annul the decree. They also sent messengers to other Jewish communities and to the tzadikei hador, asking them to daven on their behalf.
The messengers traveled far and wide, not stopping to rest, as they tried to get to as many communities as they could, knowing the importance of their mission. On Friday afternoon, shortly before the onset of Shabbos, the messengers reached the city of Tzefas. Even before finding a place to spend Shabbos, they went to the home of the Arizal – who already was known far and wide as a great tzadik and a man who possessed ruach hakodesh - to tell him why they came and to ask him to storm the Heavens to save their brethren.
When they arrived at his house, they found him dressed in finery, wearing his special Shabbos robe. He looked like a glorious angel of Hashem. His students were gathered around him, ready to go out into the fields to welcome the Shabbos Queen, as was their custom. The severe expressions on the strangers’ faces told them that an urgent matter had brought them there at such an hour, and, therefore, the Arizal turned to them to hear what they had to say. With tears in their eyes, they recounted their story to him.
The Arizal comforted them by saying that Hashem’s salvation can come in the blink of an eye. He said, “You will be my guests for Shabbos. Quickly prepare yourselves and welcome the Shabbos Queen. Do not be worried, as it is forbidden to cry on Shabbos. But know that you will soon experience Hashem’s salvation.”
The messengers did as the Arizal said and they stayed in his home over Shabbos. They saw that he was even more lofty and exalted than they had heard and they experienced a very uplifted Shabbos. After Havdalah, the Arizal turned to his guests and invited them to come with him. He ordered his students to bring strong ropes and join him as well. The Arizal walked in front and everyone else followed him.
It was dark and gloomy all around, and only the stars above lit up the sky a little. None of them saw anything around them and could not see where to go. They just followed wherever their leader went, without asking any questions or making a sound. They walked like this for a long time, until suddenly the Ari stopped, and the entire group stopped after him.
The Arizal pointed to the ground in front of him, and, when they strained their eyes in the darkness of the night, they saw a very deep hole in the ground. The Arizal immediately commanded the students to untie the ropes and lower them into the hole. They hurried and did as he said, and when only the ends were left in their hands, the Arizal commanded them to raise the ropes back up. The people began to pull, and they immediately realized that the task was very difficult. They could tell that something very heavy was caught in the ropes.
They pulled and dragged with all their might until they managed to raise the rope, and behold, before their eyes was revealed a magnificent four-poster bed, adorned with precious royal ornaments. On the bed lay a man sleeping soundly, his clothes and his entire appearance testifying to his being an important person.
The Arizal approached the bed and shook the sleeping man violently. The man suddenly woke up, and looked with frightened eyes at those around him. The Arizal spoke to him in a firm voice and said, “Are you still stubbornly insisting on expelling the Jews of your city?”
The messengers recognized the man as the ruler of their city, and he admitted that he did intend to do this. The Arizal handed him a bucket that was missing its bottom, and told him, “I am obliging you to draw the water from the well into this bucket until it is empty. You must do so before the dawn rises.”
The governor looked at the bucket and said, “How can I do that? Even if I live a thousand years, I will not be able to draw even a single drop of water in such a bucket. It has no bottom so no water will go into it!”
However, the Arizal insisted. He told him, “Start drawing water or else your end will be bitter!”
