Reb Zalman Senders was one of the prominent chasidim of the Alter Rebbe, Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi. He was a very successful merchant who was openhanded in his philanthropy with both family and strangers. Then, suddenly his business dealings began to fail one after the other. Things finally came to such a terrible point that he became completely bankrupt.
His debtors swarmed around him demanding repayment, and his problems overwhelmed him. To complicate things further, he had two daughters of marriageable age as well as several poor relatives who also needed suitable matches. What could he do? He decided to take his problems to his rebbe, and so he set out for Liadi.
He arrived late in the evening, and after reciting the prayers with a minyan (prayer quorum), he sat down to wait his turn for a private reception with the Rebbe. When he was finally ushered into the Rebbe's study he poured out his heart, relating all that had befallen him, how all of his various business endeavors had failed and left him penniless.
"Rebbe," he said, "if it is will of Heaven that I be reduced to poverty, I am ready to accept the decree with love, but if I am unable to pay off my debts and marry off my daughter and the other young girls who are looking to me for their salvation, then I cannot accept it. For in that case it would be a desecration of the Divine Name (Chilul Hashem). It is one thing if G-d has decided to punish me in this manner, but why should He do it in a way that brings shame to His honor? The one thing that I ask is that I be allowed to pay all of my creditors and find suitable matches for my daughters and young relatives. After that, I am willing to live in poverty forever, if that is the will of G-d."
Rabbi Shneur Zalman was listening intently to Reb Zalman Senders' recitation of his terrible problems. When it had finished he looked deep into the eyes of his brokenhearted chasid and said: "You certainly know how to talk about all the things that you need, but you have no interest whatsoever in what you might be needed for!"
Poor Reb Zalman Senders felt as if he had been pierced through the heart by his Rebbe's words. He gasped inaudibly and fell down in a faint. Chasidim, hearing the thud on the floor, rushed over to him to try to revive him. One offered water, another, vodka, but when Reb Zalman regained consciousness he had no need for anything. When he rose to his feet he was radiant with joy and infused with a new approach to life.
His put all of his problems behind him and instead focused his energy into learning Torah, both the revealed and the mystical aspects. He attended every lecture that was given, prayed with great fervor. All of his actions were infused with the deep-felt happiness and contentment of a man who is at peace with his lot.
The following Shabbat, Rabbi Shneur Zalman delivered his lecture on Kabbalistic concepts. He also used the occasion to pray on behalf of his chasid, Zalman Senders who sat listening to the Rebbe's every word. It was as if the Rebbe's prayers entered Reb Zalman's heart even as they ascended to the higher realms, for in the course of his stay in Liadi, Reb Zalman attained the strength to overcome all of his difficulties.
It was one week later that the Rebbe blessed him and instructed Reb Zalman to return to his home. Upon his arrival he resumed his normal routine and sure enough, his business began to pick up. Within a relatively short length of time, he had rebuilt his life and was thriving even more so than before.
When word reached Rabbi Shneur Zalman about the good fortune his chasid was once again enjoying he quoted a passage from his masterwork, The Tanya, in reference to the subject of trials and tribulations: "When one is at any time bothered by mundane worries,...it is the appropriate time to transform the sadness by becoming a 'master of accounts' (spiritual 'accounts'),...and to act on the counsel of the Sages' to constantly excite the Good Inclination against the Evil Inclination. In that way he will eliminate the melancholy engendered by the mundane problems, and then, he will attain true joy."
