Story #1 - The Needed Trip
It was in the late 1700’s and there lived a man, whom we’ll call Yeshaya, that suffered from his wife’s distresses. At a young age, his wife began losing her mind, and the household maintenance soon fell entirely on him. Within a few short months, his wife was completely dysfunctional, and the breadwinner was left to launder the clothes and supply supper. Yeshaya didn’t know how to cope with the situation, and the new stress was taking its toll.
Yeshaya visited his hometown to seek guidance and chizuk from his beloved rebbi, Reb Moshe Leib of Sassov. Besides for being his rebbi, the Sassover himself endured great yesurim, and Yeshaya was sure that he was the right one to guide him. Reb Moshe Leib’s body was covered with blisters to the point that even regular movement was bothersome. He davened that his blisters wouldn’t cover the three fingers of his right hand. He was a sough after mohel, and didn’t want the blisters to prevent him from fulfilling that special mitzva.
(Reb Moshe Leib not only had yesurim, but also brought them upon himself. Once, the Rebbe’s son overheard his father ask for the yesurim to disappear at a particular time and only return later.)
When Yeshaya arrived at R’ Moshe Leib’s home, though, he felt an aura of simcha and kedusha permeating through the air, as if the Rebbe had detached himself from the struggles he was facing.
Moshe Leib of Sassov, zt”l
Yeshaya asked the Rebbe, “How are you always b’simcha? You are also faced with many pressing challenges, and yet you are a perpetual source of happiness. A stranger would think that your life is filled with bliss, but I know that it’s not. How do you keep afloat?”
R’ Moshe Leib answered affectionately, “I awake to the struggles of my everyday life, but their weight lasts only until I say ‘Shelo Asani Goy.’ As I say the bracha, all my aches and pains disappear, as I’m filled with immense gratitude and joy, and that alone relieves my problems. I reflect how Hashem handpicked me out of the nearly one billion people on the planet [at that time], and that distracts me from my pain. The nisyonos then find no home in my heart. Ashreinu, ma tov chelkeinu.”
Hearing this, Yeshaya felt that he’d gotten the proper advice to prevent him from drowning in his challenge. He had learned to appreciate who he was and value his self-worth.
Story #2 - A Beating Doesn’t Last Forever
On other occasions, R’ Moshe Leib shared with those who sought his chizuk a personal experience:
R’ Moshe Leib was once walking from town to town collecting funds for hachnasas kallah when a band of robbers attacked him. The robbers surrounded him and wanted to kill him when, suddenly, their leader recognized him and prevented them.
“This is the holy Rabbi of Sassov!” he exclaimed. “I won’t allow anyone to harm him!”
That robber had once been a beggar. Together with other beggars, he came one day to the marketplace in the city of Brod very hungry with no means of buying food. Someone informed him that R’ Moshe Leib distributed food free-of-charge, and the entire group made their way to his house. Reb Moshe Leib welcomes them into his home and he personally served them a lavish meal. Now, that same beggar remembered the good R’ Moshe Leib had done way back when, and was sending it back.
The robbers treated R’ Moshe Leib with respect. “We have a Jewish boy with us who once learned Torah, but now he’s a member of our gang,” they told him. “Test him and see what he remembers.”
R’ Moshe Leib asked the boy a question in Gemara, but he couldn’t answer. He asked him a question on Chumash, but that, too, he couldn’t answer. When the robbers saw that the young robber failed the test, they started to lash him. When the Sassover saw that he begged the robbers to pity him, and the lashes stopped.
The gang agreed to allow the youngster to accompany R’ Moshe Leib to the next town. At one point, R’ Moshe Leib turned to the robber and asked, “How did you bear all those lashes?”
“We get used to them,” replied the robber. “We beat each other to build up our strength so that, if we’re ever caught by the police and tortured to reveal our secrets, we’ll endure the pain and remain quiet.”
“And how do you muster that strength?”
“I keep thinking that each lash is the last one. After all, a beating doesn’t last forever!”
As they walked, R’ Moshe Leib tried to convince him to do teshuvah, and indeed he left the gang and became a baal teshuvah.
And from this, Rav Moshe Leib learned an important lesson: a beating does not last forever. “The challenge that you face will one day leave!” This was the message he relayed when people requested his chizuk.
Reprinted from Issue #183 of The Zichru Toras Moshe.
