Treasure

There is a hassidic story that has come down to us in two versions; one from Tabbi Nachman of Breslov, and one from Rabbi Simcha Bunim of Pashyscho. A very poor Jew had a dream one night, that in a far away city (in one version it's Vienna, in the other ,Prague) under a bridge there is a great treasure waiting to be found.He got up, traveled to that city, found the bridge, but, alas, there was a guard stationed near it. Seeing no alternative, he told the guard about his dream, and asked permission to dig, splitting the treasure with the guard. The guard laughed "a Jew is concerned with dreams! I, too, had a dream. I was in Poland, in a particular town, a particular house. I dug under the stove and found a treasure! Do you think I'll go there? I'm not crazy!" The Jew immediately recognized the guard's description as his own house! He went home, dug under his house, and found the treasure! In the Pashyscho version, he goes to his rabbi and says" I'm most grateful for the treasure, but did it have to be in such a round about way?" The rabbi answered: "It was to teach you a lesson. Everyone has the treasure. One only has to dig!" In the Breslov version, upon finding the treasure, he proclaims "now I know that I had the treasure all along. I just needed to meet the man in Vienna who could teach me that!" I think both versions are beautiful. We look all over the world for meaning and happiness. It's right there all along. But we must dig. And sometimes, we need to meet the right person who can tell us what we have.