Treasures of Emunah
The Twenty Lashes of the Wicked Manager
As Told by Rabbi Elimelech Biderman
We've established that everything is from Hashem and everything is for the good. But how is everything for the good? How can bad be good?
To answer this question, we begin with a mashal from the Chofetz Chaim zt'l (Macheneh Yisrael):
A poritz rented out one of his taverns to a Yid for three hundred rubles a month. The poritz had to travel, so he appointed someone in his stead to run his estates and collect the rents.
A Greedy Rasha (Wicked Man)
This temporary manager was a greedy rasha and immediately raised the rent to five hundred rubles a month. The tenant tried to raise five hundred rubles, but by the end of the month, all he had was 480 rubles. He gave them to the manager, and promised that the following month he will pay the outstanding twenty rubles.
The manager was livid, "For each ruble that's missing, you will receive a lashing," and he gave him twenty lashes with his whip. The Yid returned home crying and bruised. His wife asked him what happened, and he told her.
Eventually, the poritz returned. The Yid immediately went to him and told him how much he suffered while he was away. "The manager raised the price to 500 rubles, and on the first month when I paid him only 480 rubles, he gave me twenty lashes."
One Hundred Rubles for Each Lash
The poritz was very upset when he heard this and he said, “For each lash, I will obligate him to pay you one hundred rubles. He whipped you twenty times, so I will make him pay two thousand rubles... I know what I’ll do; he owns a large property in the city that’s worth four thousand rubles. I’ll make sure that you get half of it.”
That night the Yid returned home crying. His wife asked him, “What happened this time? Did the manager beat you again?”
“No. This time I’m crying that he didn’t hit me more. If he would have hit me another twenty times, the manager's entire estate would have been mine.”
This mashal is a reminder that suffering serves a purpose. As the Midrash teaches, “HaKadosh Baruch Hu says, 'When I give you suffering in this world, remember how much goodness I am giving you in Olam Haba."
There are several aspects of goodness that comes from suffering. One is that it atones aveiros, preparing us for Olam HaBa. Another is that the pain and hardship is often a forerunner for the chessed and kindness that will come afterwards.
Reprinted from the June 27, 2024 email of the Torah Times Media.
