By Yair Weinstock
Gimpel the Shadchan would not be put off. R’ Shlomo’s son, Yitzchak, was a very talented, handsome and brilliant talmid chachom, who was the pride of his father, the Rav of Vienna. R’ Shlomo insisted that his son was still young and not ready for marriage, but Gimpel was persistent. He was offering a match with the daughter of R’ Shimshon, one of Vienna’s wealthiest and most respected citizens. The persistence was driven by R’ Shimshon’s insistence on having the prized Yitzchak as his son-in-law, and it didn’t hurt matters that every month he raised the amount he was offering as a dowry for his daughter. Gimpel told R’ Yitzchak he could not refuse, for R’ Shimshon was offering as a dowry the estate that belonged to Prince Siegmund, which R’ Shimshon had purchased.
It was a beautiful building in the forest, surrounded by pools and gardens. Gimpel told R’ Shlomo that his brilliant son could sit and learn undisturbed there, with servants to attend to the house. R’ Shlomo promised to think it over, but because he was not quick to respond, R’ Shimshon assumed he was not interested, and married his daughter off to another talented young man.
Many Offers Had Been Made
Not long afterwards, Yitzchak turned 18, and his father decided that he would more carefully scrutinize the many offers that had been made, and choose the best from among them. One sunny day, after Yitzchak had participated in a lively Talmudic debate about a topic which his father had taught, he decided to take a walk in the large garden that bordered the palace near his neighborhood. He leaned his head on one of the tree branches and sank into thought about what they had just learned.
From one of the benches in the park, a pair of dark eyes gazed at him. Princess Wilhelmina, the king’s only daughter, had gone for a stroll and was struck by the image of the young Jewish lad walking back and forth. She was struck by his appearance and his apparent depth of thought. She tried to call him to engage him in conversation, but he did not hear her. She kept staring at him, until she was convinced that this young man would be the best husband she could hope to have. When he left, she had her servants follow him into the Jewish ghetto, until they found out who he was. They revealed that he was none other than the son of the city’s rabbi.
The Princess Wants to Marry the Rabbi’s Son
When the princess told her father that she wanted to marry the rabbi’s son, the king shuddered. Surely she must be joking! The king raged at her in anger and absolutely refused her. But she was determined, and had always been pampered and spoiled; when she did not get her way, she grew seriously ill. Her parents begged her to relent, but she would not listen. They could not understand how their daughter could humiliate them so dreadfully by choosing to marry a miserable Jew! Soon the threat of death hung over her, and it was then that the king grudgingly surrendered and agreed to offer Yitzchak her hand in marriage. (To be continued next week.)
Reprinted from the Parshas Vayakhel 5784 email of The Weekly Vort. Excerpted from the book “Tales for the Soul”
