Two simple tailors from the city of Vilna, worked the neighboring villages as partners. Their work was not particularly beautiful, but it was good enough for the common folk. One time, they stopped in a village and called on the Jew who collected taxes by contract with the local squire.
The tailors asked the obviously downcast man what troubled him. "The squire is about to marry off his daughter and has ordered me to find him an expert tailor to make the gown. He has not been satisfied with anyone I have brought him. If I do not provide him with what he wants, he will drive me out of the village."
The two tailors listened quietly. "We are both tailors. Tell your squire about us. Maybe he will give us a chance at his daughter's bridal outfit."
The tax collector finally agreed and the squire allowed them to sew him a sample. He was satisfied when it was completed, and commissioned them to make up the entire bridal wardrobe. He paid them generously, and before they left called in his Jewish tax collector to thank him for having found him such fine workmen.
The squire's shrewd wife took her husband aside: "Those Jews were overjoyed that you were so gracious with their fellow Jew, the tax collector. Why don't you tell them about our other Jewish tax collector, the one we threw into the dungeon with his family? They may feel like paying the ransom."
The squire took his wife's advice. "How much does he owe you?" they asked.
"Three hundred silver rubles."
The two tailors spoke to each other privately. "Listen, brother," said the first tailor to the other. "Let us dissolve our partnership. Let's work out how much my share comes to, and I'll take it in cash."
They made their calculations, and each man's share came to three hundred silver rubles. With the money divided, the first tailor gave the squire his three hundred silver rubles. The prisoners were freed.
The two tailors continued their journey home to Vilna. The one who brought his savings with him opened a business and prospered, while his friend, who had come empty handed, fell on hard times. He had to beg for his daily bread, but never once did he reveal his great mitzva.
One day, when the impoverished tailor stopped someone for a little money, the stranger asked him: "What will I get from giving you money?"
"I can give you my blessings," he said.
The man thought, "The blessing of some fool." But he gave the tailor some small change, and forgot all about it.
This man was a flax merchant, and on the day that he had met the tailor, he went to a particularly tough customer. This time their transaction was completed quickly and profitably. The flax merchant wondered if the blessing of the pauper had actually helped him.
The next time he had to meet a difficult customer, he found the tailor, gave him tzedaka and asked for his blessing. Again things worked out well. Seeing that it was the poor man's blessing that made his affairs prosper, the merchant made it a rule to repeat the procedure, and quickly became a wealthy man.
One day, the merchant told his friends and relatives the secret of his success. Soon, everyone knew about the tailor and his blessings. People thronged to him. The Baal Shem Tov heard about the tailor and sent two of his disciples to convince him to visit. They succeeded in persuading him to come with them.
The Baal Shem Tov asked how he had been granted this gift from heaven. Since the tailor had no answer the Baal Shem Tov asked him to recount his life story. The tailor proceeded to tell of all the ups and downs of his life, until he came to the episode of the squire, and the bridal gown, and the prisoners, and the ransom...
"That's it!" cried the Baal Shem Tov.
He asked the tailor to stay with him, and personally taught him both the revealed and the hidden aspects of the Torah. In time, the tailor became a great tzadik himself, and wrote a book on the sacred mysteries of the Kabala.
