One day in the mid-16th century, one of the anusim (forced apostates) from Portugal moved to the holy city of Tzfas. He heard a talk by the rov of his local shul about the lechem hapanim which was offered in the Beis HaMikdash every Shabbos. The rov bemoaned the fact that we no longer have this means of receiving the G-dly energy.
Hearing these words, the man went home, and innocently asked his wife to prepare two special challos on Friday. He instructed her to sift the flour thirteen times, to knead it while in a state of purity, and to bake it very well in their oven. He explained that he wished to present those loaves as an offering to HaShem; hopefully He would accept their sacrifice and eat it.
His pious wife loyally fulfilled his request, and on Friday afternoon, before anyone else arrived in shul, he brought the loaves. He davened and pleaded that HaShem should look upon his offering with favor, and eat and enjoy the bread. He went on and on, like a wayward son begging his father for forgiveness. Finally, he placed the loaves in the Aron Kodesh, and went home.
The shamash of the shul arrived later that day to prepare the shul for Shabbos. When he opened the Aron, he was surprised to see two freshly-baked challos. He had no idea where they had come from, but he didn’t think too much about it; he simply took them home and ate them.
That evening, after Maariv, the other man ran to the Aron to check. Seeing that the loaves were not there, he was ecstatic. He ran home and shared with his wife his great thanks to HaShem for not having disdained their humble efforts: He had accepted their two loaves, and had eaten them while they were still warm...
“Therefore,” he exhorted her, “let us not be lazy. We have no other way to honor Him, and we see that He loves our bread. Every week we must try to give Him this pleasure with the same care and devotion that we did this first time.” This continued for a while.
One Friday, the rov was reviewing his sermon on the bimah, when the man entered with the challos as he did each week. He approached the Aron and began reciting his prayers with such excitement that he did not even notice the rov at all.
When he realized what the man was doing, the rov became upset and reprimanded him: “Fool! Do you really think that HaShem eats and drinks?! It is a terrible sin to ascribe any human or physical qualities to HaShem. You actually believe it is HaShem who takes them? Surely it's the shamash who eats them!”
Sure enough, the shamash soon entered the shul to pick up his home-baked challos, as usual. The rov called the shamash over. “Tell this man why you came here now, and who has been taking the two challos he has been bringing each week.” The shamash immediately admitted it.
The man who had brought the challos broke down crying. He apologized to the rabbi for having misunderstood his lesson. Not only had he not done a mitzva as he had thought, but he had sinned.
As they were speaking, a messenger from the AriZal entered and approached the rov. In the name of his master, he told the rov to go home and take leave of his family, since at the designated time for his sermon the next morning, he would leave This World. In fact, an announcement to this effect had already been made in Heaven.
The rov, shocked, rushed to the AriZal, who told him “I heard that this was decreed because you blocked HaShem’s pleasure. From the time the Beis HaMikdash was destroyed, He has never had such enjoyment as He did whenever this man innocently brought his two loaves and offered them to HaShem, believing that He had taken them. That is why the decree was sealed against you, and it cannot be changed.”
The rov went home, and at the time of the sermon the next morning, he passed away.
(משנת חכמים למהר"מ חגיז סי' רכ)
CONSIDER
How does the illiteracy of the simpletons allow for a deeper connection to HaShem?
What did the rov do wrong in educating the simpleton? What should he have done?
