I Fear Hashem:
The Kedushas Tzion of Bobov zy”a hy”d related (Gilyon Pri Hakerem, Parshas Beshalach 5659) that when Rav Zushe went into self-imposed golus, and was traveling alone from place to place, he once stayed in the home of a wealthy man, who treated all his guests very kindly and served them very generously.
At night, after all the other guests had gone to bed, Rav Zushe remained awake. Quietly and unobtrusively, he engaged in his holy avodah of reciting Tikkun Chatzos and learning when no one was around to witness what he was doing.
One day, an expensive item went missing from the wealthy man’s home. Everyone searched for it, checking every nook and cranny, of the house, but it could not be found. This led the household members to assume that one of the guests must have stolen it. Since Rav Zushe was known to stay awake until late at night, when no one else was up, suspicion fell on him.
The homeowner approached Rav Zushe and asked him to return the item, but he said that he had not taken it. The man then demanded that he come with him to the Rov for a din Torah. The Rov was known as a great talmid chochom, as well as a tzadik and mekubal, and Rav Zushe agreed to go to him.
The Rov tried to convince Rav Zushe to admit that he took the item, telling him that if he didn’t give it back, the people of the town would be discouraged from inviting any poor people into their homes out of concern that they might steal from them. However, Rav Zushe insisted that he was being wrongly accused and that he hadn’t taken anything.
The Rov then walked over to his bookcase and picked up a Sefer Kabballah. He showed Rav Zushe several names of Hashem that were written in it and said, “You should know that there is a place called Gehenim where sinful people are burned. I warn you, if you don’t admit that you stole the item right now, I will use these names to send you to the lowest level of Gehenim.”
Rav Zushe responded, “Really! You seem to be an expert in the4se type of Sefarim but let me tell you something. I am more afraid of the prohibition of ‘Lo Signov’ than I am of you or of Gehenim. Transgressing ‘Lo Signov’ is much worse than going to Gehenim!”
When the Rov heard these words emanating from Rav Zushe’s heart, and uttered with such temimus and simplicity, he knew that he was saying the truth. He looked at Rav Zushe again and said, “Oy! I messed up! I was not seeing right! I falsely accused a righteous, upright man.”
The Rov asked Rav Zushe to forgive him and he told the wealthy man that he was innocent. He said, “This man isn’t afraid of me and he isn’t afraid of Gehenim. He is only afraid of Hashem!”
May the memory of the tzadik be a blessing for Klal Yisroel.
