Rabbi Schneur Zalman (the first Chabad Rebbe)
was once visited by a melamed (teacher) from Klimowitz.
"I have a small favor to ask of you," the Alter
Rebbe said. "On your way home, please go through the town of Yanowitz and
order for me mezuzot from Reb Reuven, the sofer [scribe]," he
said.
"I think I’ll ask Reb Reuven to write some mezuzot for me as well."
Delighted with the opportunity to fulfill his
Rebbe's request, the chassid departed immediately. Along the way he thought,
"I think I’ll ask Reb Reuven to write some mezuzot for me as well. Yes,
despite the high price, I’ll get a few. After all is there any greater proof of
their quality than that the Rebbe himself buys his mezuzot from
Reb Reuven?"
When the chassid arrived at the house of the scribe,
he ordered the mezuzot for both the Alter Rebbe and himself. Reb
Reuven told him he would have to wait several days. True to his word, a few days
later the mezuzot were ready.
"Be careful not to mix up your mezuzot with the
Rebbe's mezuzot," Reb Reuven cautioned, the melamed as he handed
them over, carefully indicating which package was which.
The melamed decided to intentionally give the
Alter Rebbe the wrong ones, and take the Rebbe's mezuzot
for himself. He rationalized: "What possible harm could come from substituting
one batch of mezuzot for the other? If the Rebbe notices the
change I can always apologize for having mixed them up."
When the melamed arrived in Lubavitch he rushed
to the Rebbe’s house to give him the mezuzot. The Rebbe
carefully examined the package and looked intently at each of the mezuzot.
Then he turned towards his chassid and said, "Are these the ones Reb Reuven sent
to me?"
The melamed became nervous and reluctantly
answered, "Perhaps I made a mistake and confused yours with the ones I bought
for myself."
So he took out the second parcel and handed them to
the Rebbe.
The Rebbe scrutinized them closely. Finally he
looked up and said, happily, "Ah, yes. These are the mezuzot I ordered."
"Why did you sell me
mezuzot that were not good?"
Upset and confused, the melamed went back to
Yanowitz to confront the sofer, Reb Reuven. "Why did you sell me
mezuzot that were not good?" he demanded in a loud voice.
He recounted to the scribe that he had mistakenly
given the Rebbe the wrong package. Then he described in detail the
Rebbe's reaction to the first set (the ones designated by Reb Reuven as the
melamed’s mezuzot) and then to the second (the ones designated by
Reb Reuven as the Rebbe’s mezuzot).
"It must be," he concluded, "that the first mezuzot
were no good."
Reb Reuven answered gently. "Rest assured that your
mezuzot were also written, as were the Rebbe’s, to the most stringent
specifications, with the same concentration of thought, and with all the
requirements set forth by the Holy Ari of Safed. The only
difference between the two sets is that I had prior instructions from the
Rebbe to write his only when the moon is full. That is why you had to wait
several days in Yanowitz - I could not begin to write the Rebbe's
mezuzot until the full moon. The Rebbe must have seen that the
mezuzot you gave him were written before the full moon and so suspected they
were the wrong ones."
[Adapted from besht.com and from
Sipurei Chasidim.
For the booklet of stories, of which the above is the
title story, go to our store site: KabbalaOnline-shop.com.]
Connection to the Weekly Torah Reading – one of the four
mentions of tefilin in the Torah is in verse 11:20 – the second
paragraph of Shema Yisrael.
Biographical note:
Rabbi Shneur Zalman [18 Elul 1745-24 Tevet 1812],
one of the main disciples of the Maggid of Mezritch, is the founder of
the Chabad-Chassidic movement. He is the author of Shulchan Aruch
HaRav and Tanya as well as many other major works in both Jewish law
and the mystical teachings.
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