The Baal Shem Tov zy"a and his students once arrived at the home of a poor couple. The Baal Shem Tov sent his students to ask the baalabuste for something to eat. She replied, "All I have is a bit of cheese and some dry bread. I'm saving it for my husband. He works hard, chopping wood in the forest."
The Baal Shem Tov told his students, "Tell her that I'm hungry, and I want her to give me this food." When the baalabuste heard the request, she couldn’t say no. She gave the stale bread and cheese to the Baal Shem Tov.
After eating this meal, the Baal Shem Tov asked for a place to sleep. She said, "All I have is a little straw, and it's for my husband." The Baal Shem Tov replied that he was exhausted and needed to sleep, so the baalabuste gave him the straw.
Later that night, her husband came home, tired and hungry. "I’m sorry," his wife said. "The Rebbe asked for your supper, and I had to give it to him." Since there was nothing to eat, he figured he might as well go to sleep. His wife told him that she had given away the straw as well.
The husband walked outside, raised his tearful eyes to heaven, and said, "Father in Heaven! I have no food to eat or a place to sleep. I don’t have anything. Please have mercy on me! Support me! I can't handle this poverty any longer..."
Later that night, the Baal Shem Tov and his students continued on their way.
A few months later, the Baal Shem Tov and his students returned to this couple's home. It looked very different. Previously, their home was nothing more than a broken shack; now, it was a beautiful house. The Baal Shem Tov asked his students whether they recognized the owner of this house. They recognized him, but now he was wealthy and well-dressed. The baal habayis was very happy with the Baal Shem Tov's visit, and he honored him immensely. This time he prepared a table filled with good food for the Baal Shem Tov and his students.
The Baal Shem Tov told him, "Tell us your story, how you became rich, and then I will tell you my version of what happened."
The man said, "A few years ago, I used to sell wine and earned a fine reputation. But times changed, and I wasn't making a living through my wine business, so I began chopping wood for a few pennies instead. At least there would be food on the table.
"On the day, everything turned around. It happened shortly after you came to visit our home. The poritz's servant came to my house and requested wine. He said the poritz was throwing a huge party and needed a barrel of wine.
"I told the butler, 'You know I don’t make wine anymore. I closed down the wine business long ago.' But the butler didn’t let up. He wanted me to sell him wine. I took him to my cellar and showed him that all the wine barrels were empty. The butler noticed that one of the barrels was half full, and he wanted to buy it.
"I told him that it wasn't for sale. I needed this wine for Kiddush and Havdalah. The butler begged for even just a drop of wine. So, I poured a little wine into one of the empty barrels, then filled it with water, and the butler took it. It seems that Hashem placed the scent of Gan Eden into the barrel because the poritz loved it, and he ordered many more barrels of this wine. I put a few more drops of wine into several barrels, filled them with water, and sold them for an exaggerated price. The poritz paid the price in full because he loved the wine so much.
"People heard that the poritz was buying my wine, so many people began to come. In a short while, I became very wealthy," the man concluded.
"Now I will tell you my version of the story," the Baal Shem Tov told him. "A few years ago, Heaven decreed that you should become wealthy. However, there was a condition; you needed to daven sincerely for it to occur, but you weren't davening. You were managing more or less with your meager portion and never asked Hashem for more. But without tefillos, you wouldn't get the brachah that Hashem wanted to give you. Two Rosh Hashanahs passed, and you weren't asking for wealth. The Satan said to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, 'Since he isn't davening for the wealth, it is time to take this gift away from him.'
"But I [the Baal Shem Tov] said, 'I will make him daven for parnassah.' I came to your home, ate up your food, and took away your straw, hoping to get you to daven, and I succeeded. You went outside and davened from the depths of your heart. Immediately afterward, your mazal changed, and you received the wealth due to you."
