Part III. Many Pots of Gold
Suffering on the Trolley
Now this doesn't mean that some big catastrophe has to happen. It doesn’t mean you have to wait for fungi to grow on your walls. Because the wise man will use every opportunity he can, even the smallest things, the most minimal misfortunes.
There's a Gemara in Eirechin (16b) that asks a question: ןָיכ≈ה „ַﬠ יםƒרּוּסƒי ̇יƒל¿כַּ ̇ – How far is the limit of suffering? Now, what kind of question is that? There's no limit to suffering – some people suffer tremendously.
But the Gemara means this: It’s talking about the minimum. How much is already called suffering that you should take it as a hint to search out your ways? Does suffering have to be something big?
Let’s say you get on a bus – this happened to my relative – he got on the bus, it was the trolley in those days, and he couldn't find any money to pay the fare. So he lost his head; he wouldn’t get off. He didn't know what to do so he said to the conductor, “I'll write you a check.” The conductor took him by his neck and threw him off. That's a real misfortune. He got hurt.
Suffering on the Bus
But suppose it’s something much smaller than that. Suppose a man gets on the bus, and he has money. He has the 35 cents, only that he forgot in which pocket. And as he’s reaching into his pockets the passenger behind him says, “Mister, let’s go!” And he's a little bit embarrassed. So the Gemara in Eirechin says that even that is called yissurim. That little bit is called suffering. And if you look in the Gemara there you’ll see other things, even smaller things, that are called suffering.
Now, for what purpose does the Gemara tell us that? Just to know? Just to be able to say over a piece of Gemara? We’re taught this so that we should not regard even such minor incidents as accidents. Because יוָלָﬠ יןƒ‡ָּב יןƒרּוּסƒּי∆ׁ ̆ םָ„ָ‡ ה∆‡ֹרו םƒ‡ – if a man sees yissurim come upon him, יוָׂ ֲ̆ﬠַמּב ׁ ̆≈ּפ¿ׁ ַ̆פ¿י – he has to search out his ways; and he must know that these little things are included in the yissurim; they are prods to wake him up from his stupor.
You have to be a big man to take a hint like that. It says, “A word to the wise is sufficient.” Dai lechakima beremiza. Everybody knows what a Kapula untzuherenish is. Ever heard of a Kapula untzuherenish? It's called a Kapula hint.
Baffled in Kapula
A man in the city of Kapula once came to see a rich man and propose a business project. So the rich man said, “I'm not interested.” But this small minded fellow kept on talking. The rich man was giving hints that he should leave, but he didn’t listen.
Finally the rich man took him and threw him down the stairs. And as he's lying at the bottom of the stairs, he says “I think he wanted to get rid of me. I suppose he’s not so interested in my business”. That's called a Kapula hint. So if a man has to wait for a Kapula hint, it won't be good. But a chochom, a wise man, takes the very first hint. And that's what the Gemara in Eirechin wants to tell you.
Now there are many small things that happen to us – every thinking person will see them in his or her own life. But at least a few examples we can talk about together; that way we train ourselves to practice up finding them and utilizing them to improve. That’s how we're going to find the most important pot of gold.
