Another story from Rabbi Nachman:
There was a wealthy shop keeper, who dealt in many kinds of merchandise. One day, thieves came and robbed everything. He gathered the few items they had missed, and set up a little booth as a store. He began, little by little, to gather money. Again thieves came. He now sold his wife's jewelry and began over. Again, thieves came. He now collected together a paltry sum, and bought small items such as pins. He wandered from village to village, selling the household items, or bartering them for food. When he had collected enough to sustain his family for a while, he trudged home on foot. On the way, he encountered an armed bandit on horseback, who demanded whatever he had. He pleaded for mercy, but to no avail. The man was left penniless, crying out to G-d. Suddenly, he saw that the bandit's horse bolted, casting the bandit to the ground. He began to arise, when the horse trampled his head. The man who had been robbed approached, and saw that the highwayman was dead, his head crushed. He looked in the thief's saddle bags and found...everything that had been stolen from him from the beginning.
Rabbi Nachman's student, Rabbi Natan, remarked:
I wasn't present when this story was told. I don't claim to understand it completely. However, it is clear to me that this story contains great encouragement. We struggle, we think we're getting ahead, and we lose everything. We start over...and over..we don't give up despite the failures. We ask G-d to see our suffering. If we are patient, and keep praying, relying on G-d's mercy, in the end, evil is destroyed, and that which is ours comes to us.
No comments:
Post a Comment