Rabbi Zusha of Anipoli zt"l
Known as ‘The Rebbe, Reb Zushe’
2 Shevat 5560 (1800)
It was the custom of Reb Zusha, to recite his morning prayers at length. After he concluded, he would retire to his room next to the Shul. Once there, he would open the window and, lifting his eyes to the heavens, call out, "Ribbono shel Olam - Master of the World, Zusha (he always referred to himself in the third person) is very hungry and desires to eat something!"
Every morning, his attendant would wait until he heard Reb Zusha's appeal, then he would bring in the Rebbe’s morning meal of cake with a little schnapps.
One morning the attendant thought to himself, "Why doesn't the Rebbe ask me directly for his meal. In fact, who does he think he is fooling by calling out to Hashem like that? He knows full well that I bring him his food every day." So on the spot he decided that the next morning he would not bring the Rebbe his meal when he called out. He would just wait to see what would happen and where he would look for his meal.
The next morning, Reb Zusha awoke as usual, well before the light of day. As he did every morning, he first went to the town Mikveh to immerse himself in preparation for the day's holy work. The night had been a rainy one in Anipoli, and the streets of the town had already turned to rivers of mud. In order to get from one side of the street to another, one had to cross on narrow planks that were laid across the flowing mud.
As he was crossing in the direction of the Mikveh, a man whom he didn't recognize, a guest in town, was coming towards him from the other side. When he saw Reb Zusha, dressed in rags without a tooth in his mouth, the stranger yelled out, "Tramp!", and with a hearty laugh jumped up and down on the plank causing Reb Zusha to tumble into the mud.
Reb Zusha didn't say a word. He calmly picked himself out of the mud and continued on his way to the Mikveh, while the stranger walked off into the distance, chuckling merrily the whole way as he copied his clever maneuver over and over in his mind. When he arrived back at the inn where he was staying, he couldn't help but brag to the innkeeper about his amusing prank. The innkeeper didn't laugh so quickly he asked the guest to describe the tramp that he had catapulted into the mud. Upon hearing, he clapped his hands to his head and cried out in anguish, "Oy! Oy vey! Do you know what you did? That was not just some simple person that was the Rebbe Reb Zusha!"
Now it was the turn of the guest to cry out "Oy vey," for Reb Zusha was known to all as a holy Tzaddik. Trembling, the guest struck his breast, "Oy vey, Oy Vey! What am I going to do now? What am I going to do?"
"Don't worry," exclaimed the innkeeper, regaining his composure. "Listen to me. I know what you should do. Reb Zusha spends many hours every morning in prayer. When he is finished he goes into his private room next to the Shul. There he opens the window, and anybody can see how he thrusts his head out, and calls toward the heavens, 'Master of the World, Zusha is very hungry and desires to eat something!' So, I'll prepare some cakes and some schnapps for you to take to him. When you hear him call out to Hashem, you go in immediately with this gift, and offer it to him and beg his forgiveness. I'm certain that he will forgive you whole-heartedly."
That morning, like every morning, after the prayers, Reb Zusha went into his room, opened the window and called out, "Master of the World, Zusha is very hungry and desires to eat something!" The attendant, upon hearing his Rebbe, held his ground and clasped his folded arms together even tighter, waiting to see what the outcome would be. "Let Master of the World bring him his cake this morning", he huffed to himself.
Suddenly the door to the Shul opened and a man, holding a large plate of cakes and a bottle of schnapps came in and made his way to the Rebbe’s room. He went straight in, put the cakes on the table, and then fell to the floor in grief, begging the Tzaddik for his forgiveness (which he was certainly granted).
Then the attendant came to understand that it really was the Master of the World who brought Reb Zusha his breakfast every morning.
The Brothers in Prison
The two saintly brothers, Rebbe Zusha and his brother Rebbe Elimelech, wandered for years disguised as beggars, seeking to refine their characters and encourage their deprived brethren.
In one city, the two brothers, who later became mentors to many thousands of Jews, earned the wrath of a "real" beggar who informed the local police and had them cast into prison for the night.
As they awoke in their prison cell, Reb Zusha noticed his brother weeping silently. "Why are you crying," he asked?
Reb Elimelech pointed to the pail situated in the corner of the room which the inmates used for a toilet. "Jewish law forbids one to pray in a room that has such a repulsive odor," he told his brother. "This will be the first day in my life in which I will not have the opportunity to pray."
"And why are you upset about this?" asked Reb Zusha.
"What do you mean?" responded his brother. "How can I begin my day without connecting to Hashem?”
"But you are connecting to Hashem," insisted Reb Zusha. "The same Hashem who commanded you to pray each morning, also commanded you to abstain from prayer under such circumstances. In a location such as this, you connect to Hashem by the absence of prayer."
His brother's viewpoint, allowing him to view his problem as part and parcel of his relationship with Hashem, elated Reb Elimelech's heart. The awareness that the waste-filled pail in the corner of the room allowed him the opportunity to enjoy an intimate, though different, type of relationship with Hashem inspired him so deeply that he began to dance. The two brothers were now holding hands and dancing in celebration of their newly discovered relationship with their Father in Heaven.
The non-Jewish inmates imprisoned in the same cell were so moved by the sight, that they soon joined the dancing. It did not take long before the entire room was swept away by an electrifying energy of joy, as dozens of prisoners were dancing and jumping around ecstatically.
When the prison warden heard the commotion coming from the cell, he burst open the gate, only to be stunned by the inmates enjoying such a lively dance. In his fury, he attempted to stop the dancing, but to no avail. The prisoners were by now totally consumed by an awesome happiness, stemming from a very deep place within their souls.
Finally, the warden pulled aside one of the inmates, demanding from him an explanation for what was going on.
The frightened prisoner related that the outburst was not his fault, nor was it the fault of the other inmates. It was rather the two Jews dancing in the center of the circle who triggered the trouble.
"And what inspired the two Jews to go into such a dance?" thundered the warden.
The prisoner pointed to the pail in the corner of the room. "It is the pail, they claim, that brought about the joy in their heart; they discovered some new type of relationship through the pail."
"If that's the case, I will teach them a lesson that they will remember for a very long time," shouted the furious warden. He took the pail and threw it out of the cell.
Reb Zusha turned to his brother and said: "And now, my dear brother, you can begin your prayers."
