Sukkot Story

This is a Reb Shlomo story (with a few minor changes) that I found someone else wrote the whole thing online and I did the old copy and paste.  So, if you want a hassidic tale and have never heard it before, here it is. 

 It has been told that Reb Zusha was a very humble man. So much so that he never referred to himself in the first person so as not to say the words “I” or “Me”.

Zusha and his brother Rebb Elimelech were merchants for a living, and not very successful ones at that. They were both so poor that while one taught at the Beit Midrash, the other had to travel from one town to the next just to make ends meet.

It was on the eve of Sukkot one year that Reb Zusha found himself in a small town in the north-eastern regions of Russia. With no money for a place to stay, Rebb Zusha made his way to the local shul, hoping to find some kind Jews. When he walked in to shul, a murmur passed through out the synagogue, “could it be? Is that Rebb Zusha?? It is, isn’t it?”

His great name in Torah and good deeds had gone before him and it wasn’t long before the Rabbi of the shul invited him to sit by his side and asked that he stay by him for the holiday. Rebb Zusha was thankful for his lot.

They sat in the Sukkah for hours after dinner, singing, learning Torah and telling stories. Finally it was time for bed and the Rabbi ordered his servants to prepare the Sukkah for sleep, since it is a great Mitzvah to sleep in the Sukkah. When they asked Rebb Zusha how many blankets he would need, he answered “none”, he had all that he could ever want. At this the Rabbi looked up perplexed.. “Rebb Zusha, we are pretty far north. It gets very cold at night, please take some blankets. But Zusha refused “You have already given Zusha more than he could dream of, Zusha will be fine” Zusha said adamantly.

“But…” stuttered the Rabbi, he did not continue, he realized that Zusha was not going to budge. “Put the blankets on the edge of his bed” he said to the servant, “I am sure that when it gets cold enough he will give in and take a blanket.” The servant did as the Rabbi requested and left the Sukkah.

As they lay in their beds, The Rabbi under dozens of blankets and Rebb Zusha still in the clothes of his travels, The Rabbi thought he heard a whisper. Listening carefully he became aware that it was coming from Rebb Zusha. First it sounded like a prayer, but as his ears grew accustomed to the sounds of the night, he understood that a conversation was taking place.

“God..? This is your humble servant Zusha. You have done great things for your servant today as you do everyday in his life, much that he does not deserve. Tonight you gave him a warm community, a meal, a bed to sleep in… he should not ask you for any more.. but.. but.. it’s a little cold in this Sukkah. Would it be a terrible inconvenience for you blessed father to make it a little warmer?”

When the Rabbi, pretending to sleep in the bed near by heard this he couldn’t help but smile to himself. “Soon he will reach for the Blankets”, He thought.

He hardly had time to amuse himself with this thought when he realized that it seemed a little warmer in the Sukkah. He removed a few blankets in disbelief.

Moments later the Rabbi heard the whispers again. “God..? This is your humble servant Zusha again, Zusha knows you are very busy and thanks you. Zusha knows that he does not deserve any of this… but… Could you… would you make it a little warmer? It still quite cold here.”

The Sukkah now got considerably warmer and the Rabbi removed all of his blankets and lay sweating in his bed, amazed by the miracle he had just witnessed.

A few moments went by, and Zusha was at it again… “God..?, it’s Zusha.. Could you..”

“STOP!” The Rabbi yelled, interrupting Zusha. “Stop, Stop right now. If you make it any warmer in here, the Sukkah will burn down…!” So Zusha stopped, and no more miracles happened that night.

In the Sukkah at the time was also a student of Zusha’s, who had accompanied him on his travels. Once they were back home, the student ran to the Beit Midrash to recount to Rebb Elimelech and the students of this wonderful miracle.

“Can you believe it?” He asked Elimelech? A miracle, a real miracle happened to your own brother.” Elimelech did not respond, he simply looked away and began to cry. The other students around Rebb Elimelech who had heard the story stood in disbelief and did not know what to do.

“Rebbi, why are you crying??

It’s a festive moment, your brother just experienced a wonderful miracle.”

“I am not crying for the miracle that happened” Reb Elimelech finally responded, “but rather for all that could have happened, but did not”

Rebb Elimelech turned to walk away and as he did, his students could almost hear him mumble.

“If only that Rabbi had not stopped Zusha, my brother could have warmed up this entire world…”עכ"ל.

The lesson Rav Zusha was teaching was that one can isolate themselves from the cold and bitterness in the world by hiding under covers, but that is not out mission.  It is our job to warm up the world with light.  Sometimes though, we add light, but after doing a little, we feel content and stop.  But that is not enough, we must not stop until the world is illuminated.