Rabbi Moshe Meir Weiss once related the following extraordinary story. In Tunisia, there was a much beloved chief rabbi named Rav Tzemach Tzorfasi, zt”l, who was a great Tzaddik and masmid, and was extremely diligent in his Torah study. Each night he would get up at midnight, sit on the floor and say Tikun Chatzos and mourn the destruction of the Bais HaMikdash, and then he would learn Torah until Shacharis.
One night as he started his learning, a gust of wind came suddenly and blew out his candle, leaving him in complete darkness. He searched the entire house for an ember to relight the candle but he could not find one. Distraught that he would lose out on a night of learning, he remembered that the town bakery was open throughout the night, and surely they would have a fire going!
He decided he would go there and get a torch so he could reignite his candle. Rav Tzemach headed to the bakery and he knocked loudly on the locked door, waking the night watchman who had fallen asleep. The startled man came to the door and upon seeing that it was the chief rabbi who was knocking, he hurriedly opened the heavy beam that bolted the door.
Rav Tzemach asked him for a fire so he could light his candle to learn Torah, and the guard pleasantly gave him a torch and wished the Rabbi a good night. Rav Tzemach started to head home when another sudden gust of wind blew out his torch! Undeterred, he turned right back to the bakery and once again, he knocked and woke up the guard. With a little reluctance, the guard lifted the heavy beam and opened the door for the Rav.
Rav Tzemach apologized and explained that the wind blew out his fire, so the guard relit the torch and bid him a good night. Once again, the Rav headed home, and once again, just before reaching his home, another wind blew out the fire! For the third time, Rav Tzemach went back to the bakery. This time, the guard ignored the knocking, and reasoned that it was almost morning anyway.
However, the Rav persisted, determined not to lose a night’s learning, and finally, the guard came to the door. He said through a hole, “Rabbi, it’s the middle of the night and this beam is very heavy to lift!”
Rav Tzemach apologized profusely and told the guard that for lifting the heavy beam so many times to help him study Torah, he should be blessed with as much gold as the weight of the heavy beam! The blessing stirred the guard because Rav Tzemach was known throughout the town for his powerful blessings, and he quickly opened the door, relit the torch, and escorted the Rabbi to his home.
On the very next day, a well-dressed man came into the bakery and approached the guard. This man said he had heard that the watchman had a reliable reputation, and he asked the guard how much money he makes each day. He answered, five riel (the currency at that time in Tunisia), and the visitor told him that he needed a reliable man’s help for a few days and offered to pay him 25 riel per day! The guard promptly accepted.
The visitor took out a handkerchief and told the guard that he would need to be blindfolded, because the place he needed help was in a secret location, and the watchman agreed. They proceeded to travel several hours until the guard had the blindfold removed, and he found himself in front of a rickety cottage. When they entered, he saw a room filled with pictures on the walls. The well-dressed man walked over to one of them and moved it away, and revealed a small hidden door from behind the frame. They walked through the door, and the guard gasped in amazement at what he saw.
There were sacks and sacks of gleaming gold coins. The man told him, “See those wooden chests in the corner? I need you to fill each of them with a certain amount of gold coins from the sacks.” The guard worked efficiently for five days and packed all the gold up as he was instructed. When he finished the job, he was paid very generously and was given a generous tip. Then he was blindfolded once again and brought back to the bakery.
A few weeks later as he was working in the bakery, he heard a community officer announcing in the street that someone had passed away and left no relatives, and his small house was up for public auction. When he heard this, a far-fetched thought crossed the guard’s mind. Could it be that the house being auctioned was none other than that the small cottage? Could this be the fulfillment of the Rabbi’s blessing?
He attended the auction and to his incredulity, it was indeed the rickety cottage that he worked in just a few weeks before! He proceeded to buy it with the money he had just earned when he packed the gold in the chests, and he hurried over to see the cottage. He entered the small room, moved the picture that was hiding the doorway, and entered the secret room. He stepped in and saw before him all the gold packed away in all the chests, now belonging entirely to him!
You might wonder how we know the details of this story. Towards the end of his life, Rav Tzemach moved to Eretz Yisroel. On his journey there, he stopped in Istanbul, and while resting, an Arab ruler passed by. He looked very intensely at Rav Tzemach and then suddenly fell to his feet and started kissing the Rav. He exclaimed, “Rav Tzorfasi! I am the night watchman from the bakery! Because of your blessings I am now a ruler and have my own palace!” He brought the Rabbi to his home and told him the entire story, and in gratitude, he gave Rav Tzemach enough money to live comfortably for the rest of his life in Eretz Yisroel! Rav Weiss explained that the moral of this incredible story is the great reward that awaits people who help and maintain Torah study to continue!
From Torah U’Tefilah: A Collection of Inspiring Insights compiled by Rabbi Yehuda Winzelberg.
