The Rebbetzin was clearing off the table when she realized that a silver spoon was missing. She stopped and counted them again, and then a third time, but it was gone. The only logical conclusion was that someone who had eaten with them had stolen it.
Her husband, the Chief Rabbi of Frankfurt, Rabbi Yeshayahu Halevi Hurwitz (known as "the Holy Shaloh"), was distressed by the news. As head of Frankfurt's yeshiva, his guests had been a handpicked group of students.
Suspicion fell on a particular bachur (young man) who had been acting strangely throughout the meal. The Rebbetzin was convinced that he was responsible, and the Rabbi conceded that it was at least a possibility. A surreptitious search of the young man's belongings was conducted. To everyone's great disappointment, the silver spoon was found.
The bachur was summoned before the Rabbi and declared that he was innocent; indeed, he was willing to swear to it. He had no idea how the spoon had gotten into his belongings and was deeply offended by the accusation.
The Shaloh decided to forget the incident and declared that he would never repeat what had happened. But "the walls have ears," and soon everyone in the yeshiva was talking about it. The young man found himself in a very uncomfortable situation, and one day just disappeared.
The Shaloh was very saddened by his departure. But there was nothing he could do about it, as the young man had left no forwarding address.
Years passed, and the Shaloh was appointed Chief Rabbi of Prague. In his old age he decided to move to the Holy Land, the fulfillment of his lifelong dream.
After a long and arduous journey the Shaloh arrived at the port of Jaffa, and after disembarking from the ship, bent down to kiss the holy soil. When he regained his feet he noticed that there was someone standing next to him regarding him intently. The man appeared to be a high-ranking official, and turned out to be the pasha (governor) of Jaffa himself.
The pasha explained that he always greeted all the ships when they arrived in port. If there were any distinguished personages on board, he would invite them home. "I would be very honored," the pasha said, "to have you as my guest."
Indeed, the pasha entertained the Shaloh royally, providing him with kosher food and many comforts. The next morning the Shaloh was about to leave for Jerusalem when the pasha insisted on giving him a tour of the premises. He led him into a grand hall, where he proudly showed him his collection of knives, bayonets, daggers and other weapons. Pointing to one of the swords, he told the Shaloh that it had the sharpest blade in the world.
Removing it from the wall, the pasha unsheathed it from its scabbard. The Shaloh, who hadn't understood at first why the pasha was showing him his weapons, was now frightened. The pasha's face, which until now had been friendly and affable, took on a threatening cast. Intense hatred seeped out of every pore. "Your last hour on earth has arrived," he announced to the elderly Rabbi. "You may recite a prayer before I cut off your head."
The Shaloh broke out in a cold sweat. He looked at the pasha and then, in the space of a split second, realized that he had seen those eyes before. Yes, they were the eyes of the young man who had left the yeshiva many years before after being accused of theft.
"It was all your fault -I was innocent!" the pasha cried, realizing that he had been recognized. "Because of you I had to leave the yeshiva. And now I will exact my revenge!"
The Rabbi apologized profusely and tried to placate him, but his words had no effect. "Lie down on the floor!" the pasha ordered.
The Shaloh obeyed his former student. Closing his eyes, he recited the "Shema Yisrael" with great intention and waited for the end.
Instead, he felt a light kiss on his brow. He opened his eyes and saw that the pasha was smiling.
"Rabbi," the pasha said as he helped the Rabbi to his feet. "Please forgive me for having frightened you. But I did it for your benefit.
"Many things have happened to me since I left the yeshiva," he explained. "As you can see, I became estranged from Judaism. But in my heart of hearts I could never forget the happy days I spent learning Torah as your student.
"When I saw you get off the boat," he continued, "I controlled my urge to reveal my identity to you and invited you home. Last night I couldn't sleep. I was overcome with regret over how my life had turned out. In the end I decided that if you would agree to take me with you and show me how to repent, I would become a baal teshuva.
"With that thought in mind I fell asleep, and had the most peculiar dream, which involved you. In the dream I was shown from Above that you had one small spiritual blemish that was keeping you from perfection: the sin of having inadvertently offended one of your students. I was also shown exactly what to do to remove the stain, which I did today."
The Shaloh hugged his former pupil gratefully. His joy was double: not only had a spiritual flaw been fixed, but a promising student had returned to him after so many years.
No one ever knew where the pasha of Jaffa went; he simply dropped out of sight and was never heard from again.
