45 thecommunityconnections.com 845-371-2222 | January 8, ‘25 wealth every single day, and never stopped hoping for a miracle. Two months later, as the long and bitter winter slowly came to an end, the peaceful village was suddenly invaded, without warning, by a contingent of armed Polish soliders. The soldiers, headed to the Russian front, stopped to grab a quick meal and rest for the night. In those days, the Polish army, while not violent toward the Jews, acted as their masters. Any soldier had the right to enter a Jewish home and demand a hot meal and bed, without recompense. Thus, the noisy soldiers clattered through the town, barging into homes and taking up residence. Berel’s small cottage was not spared. Two burly soldiers, dragging a heavy metal chest, burst through the door, frightening the children into hysteria. They demanded a meal, and Berel’s wife gave them everything she had prepared for her family. They gobbled down the roast chicken and potatoes without comment, and quickly dropped into the two nearest beds. Soon their loud snores echoed through the rooms. Berel and his wife tried to calm the children, who were huddled on the floor, terrified of the soldiers. The frightened family had no idea how long the soldiers would be staying. However, they received a pleasant surprise: Well before dawn an alarm sounded in the town. The soldiers, who had been sleeping deeply, immediately bolted out of bed. From all sides, bleary eyed soldiers rushed to the town square to answer their general’s call. They abandoned their possessions and rushed after the general, who urged them onward to quash a rebellion in another city. Slowly the village recovered from their overnight invasion and breathed a sigh of relief. People put the soldiers’ possessions aside, certain they would return. And they were right. Several days later, the soldiers were back, demanding the items they had left behind. Yet they seemed to be searching for something else, without saying what it was. Soldiers in groups of two apiece fanned out into the village, bursting into homes at random and searching high and low. Inexplicably, Berel’s home was never searched, and thus the chest, lying undisturbed under a bed, was not discovered. When the soldiers realized that the item they were looking for was gone, they raged and cursed. Yet their time was up; they had to move onward. Soon they left the small village, never to return. Two weeks went by. Berel had forgotten about the chest, and it would have remained there, had not his young daughter been playing and banged her leg into the side of the box. She cried to her mother, who quickly went to investigate. The heavy metal chest was nailed shut, and she summoned her husband from the general store to pry it open. It took Berel the better part of two hours to force open the lid, but when he did, he cried out with shock: the box was filled with diamonds, jewels, and precious pearls. “Is…is ours?” asked Berel’s son. “Not yet, tzaddik’el,” Berel replied. “It really belongs to the soldiers. I have to find out if I may keep it.” Berel sent a message to the Maggid of Chernobyl, relating the entire tale and asking for advice. Within a short time, the message came back. “Berel, you may keep the money, for the soldiers will not return. Besides, the money does not belong to them; it is money stolen from poor, defenseless Jews many years ago.” His face shining with joy, Berel immediately traveled to Chernobyl with many of the precious pearls, whose value was far greater than 2,000 rubles. The Maggid was waiting for him, and thanked him for the ‘pidyon’ which would be distributed to tzedakah. “My dear, precious child,” said the Maggid with emotion. “No doubt you were disappointed and upset that I did not allow you to take part in the festivities when I visited your village.” Berel sat silently, waiting to hear an explanation. “Know then, that I had only your best interests in mind,” said the Maggid. “I saw that in Shomayim you were destined to inherit a great fortune, and to become a baal tzedokoh. However, there was only one problem: You had never davened for ashirus, for wealth, and the blessing cannot come to rest upon a person unless he desires it. Thus, by ordering you to bring me the sum of 2,000 gold rubles, which you had no chance of obtaining, I forced you to daven for wealth. And now the bracha has been fulfilled.” “But Rebbe, the nisayon of ashirus is very powerful,” said Berel. “How can I be sure that I will not transgress it?” “Always remember who you are and where you came from,” was the Maggid’s response. “I would advise you to sell your home and move to a large Jewish city, where you are unknown. There you will begin your life’s mission of being a baal tzedokoh, distributing vast sums to the poor. Remember, you are only an emissary of Hashem. The money is not really yours.” Berel thanked the Rebbe and headed back home, where he packed up his possessions and moved away with his family, starting anew. He later become renowned as a great baal tzedakah.
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