Once, the Baal Shem Tov was sitting with his students and he told them that one has to learn Mussar from everything in the world, and that it is even possible to learn good character and Mussar from a goy. The students were amazed and thought, ‘How is it possible that lessons of holiness can come from a goy, and teach Mussar to Bnei Yisroel?’
Not even a few moments passed when they heard a knock coming from outside below the window. When they looked out the window, a goy was standing there and he asked if there was anything that might need to be fixed. This was common in those days, that handymen went around and people would give them their items to be repaired.
The Words of Goyish Handyman
When they told him there was nothing that day that needed his service, he told them, “Surely you have many items that need to be repaired. The truth is though, that you don’t want them fixed. Therefore, you should not say that you don’t have anything to be fixed, rather, you should say that you do not want to fix them.”
Immediately, the Baal Shem Tov explained to his students why this had just occurred. It was to teach them that Hashem wanted to awaken them through the words of the goy, and Hashem had sent him at that very moment to teach them that there is much within ourselves that needs repair.
The Baal Shem Tov said, “This should be Mussar for us! Even a holy lesson can be presented in the form of a goy, to teach us to correct our ways and ‘utensils’ while we are still in this world. If we don’t work on improving ourselves, we should at least be honest and not say that we don’t need the improvement, but rather that we don’t want to improve!”
The Baal Shem Tov taught that nothing occurs in this world by chance, not even the tiniest movement. Anything that we see occur was arranged with amazing Providence from Hashem, and it is for the purpose to awaken us to recognize Hashem, even if the lesson comes from a goy!
Reprinted from the Parshas Nitzavim 5785 email of Rabbi Yehuda Winzelberg’s Torah U’Tefilah.
