Story of the week (By Yehuda Z. Klitnick)
From the degrading Reb Shayale of Kerestir, a Yid upgraded his Yiddishkeit
There was a secular Jew who resided in Budapest, Hungary who had an intense dislike the Rebbes. One day as he was traveling on the train, he noticed that the majority of the riders were chassidim. It was not the typical market day in Budapest, when crowded trains with chassidim were normal, so he wondered why such a large number of them were traveling. He was informed that a group of chassidim, including the renowned tzaddik Rav Shayala of Kerestir, were traveling on the same train.
The secular Jew decided to take a seat in the back of the train. Beside him sat one of the chassidim, and that secular Jew could not help but to let out his disdain of the Rebbe. "To be fair, of course, everyone knows that Reb Shayala gives a lot of tzedaka," he stated. But this is rarely unexpected. Given the chassidim, lavish him with wealth, why shouldn't he offer tzedaka? He has plenty of extras! After he finished his tirade, the chassid said, "You're playing with fire," in a cool, collected manner. Before we go too far, you had better ask the Rebbe for forgiveness. The Rebbe is an exceptionally kind and gentle individual. Things will get bitter for you, I promise, if you don't ask for forgiveness for your defamatory remarks about him.
The words of criticism, surprisingly, had the intended effect. With genuine embarrassment, he went to beg the Rebbe's pardon, appearing as a sheep. There was no way the Rebbe, seated at the opposite end of the train car, could have heard what the Yid had spoken. The Rebbe greeted him warmly and repeated what he had said about the Rebbe donating Tzedaka when he approached him to beg for forgiveness.
The Yid begged the Rebbe to forgive him, shocked to see that the Rebbe had read his mind. "Yes, I forgive you," the Rebbe replied, "but only if you commit to observing Shabbos." "I have a chain of stores and a lot of employees, Rebbe," was the response. I just can't possibly expect to shut everything down each Shabbos! “Have it your way, the Rebbe commanded roughly. However, if you refuse to stop your business on Shabbos, you will suffer the same fate as other willful Shabbos desecrators, in addition to not being pardoned for what you said on the train today. The Yid responded, "I swear to try and close on Shabbos." The Yid even assisted the Rebbe in descending the steep train steps, but not before the Rebbe repeated his severe warning.
When he reached home, he told his wife what had transpired on the train and what Rebbe had demanded from him. She said "We can’t survive if we close the business on Shabbos!” The woman had the last word on the subject. That Friday, the Yid was in his main store, and just as Shabbos arrived, he suddenly fainted straight away in front of his workers. The foreman called a doctor, who revived him and examined him but didn’t uncover any under lying conditions.
The Yid went home that night, fell asleep, and dreamt, clear as the day, that Reb Shayala came to him and warned him sternly: “If you don’t keep your word to observe Shabbos, you will not awaken from your sleep.” That’s all there is to it. It’s now or never for you, my friend. You merited an unmistakable sign from Heaven—as soon as Shabbos arrived with your stores still open, you fell in one stroke. You must promise me now that you will observe Shabbos, or else you will not wake up in the morning.” Still in the dream, this man solemnly promised the Rebbe to close all his stores on Shabbos and woke up shaken from the experience.
He awakened his wife. She was relieved to see that her husband had recovered, and before he could tell her about the dream, she asked for the keys to the business. After all, it was morning on Saturday, their busiest day. Her husband, visibly shaken from the dream, exclaimed, My life is on the line, and I wouldn’t be surprised about yours as well. "He related all that happened in his dream encounter with Rav Shayala Kerestirer, with his commitment that his stores were closed on Shabbos! His wife, trembling, agreed to the deal. That day, the Yid felt a sense of uplift and realized that Shemiras Shabbos was the key to his future.
Before long, the chassidim in Pest noticed that this Yid’s shops were closed every Shabbos. Word spread about Reb Shayala’s influence in action. A group of chassidim visited the Yid at his home, and they got a heartfelt reception, although they couldn’t even drink a glass of water there. The Yid asked chassidim to teach him how to daven. They then began to learn Torah with him. In a very short time, he became a G-d-fearing Jew and a devoted shomer mitzvos and loved Torah. Harav Shraga Shmuel Shnitzler, Tchaba Rav, summed up the story by saying, “From degrading a Tzaddik, he upgraded his Yiddishkeit."
