An Interesting Recipe

Many years ago, there lived a talmid chochom whose name was Reb Dovid. Although Reb Dovid was a great talmid chochom, he also had a Rebbe. Reb Dovid’s Rebbe was the Chozeh of Lublin.

Occasionally, Reb Dovid would visit his Rebbe. When Reb Dovid would travel to his Rebbe, he could not afford to hire a coachman. He had to go by foot.

Since it was dangerous to travel alone, Reb Dovid would travel with one of his friends, Reb Chaim. Reb Chaim was also very poor.

One time, Reb Dovid and Reb Chaim went together to the Chozeh of Lublin, who was also Reb Chaim’s Rebbe.

As usual, Reb Dovid stopped by at Reb Chaim’s house, and together they continued on their way.

When Reb Dovid returned home, he told his family all that he had learned by his Rebbe. But, this time, he also told his family about something he would never talk about…food!

“When I went to Reb Chaim’s house, his wife served the most delicious food. We have to find out the recipe,” said Reb Dovid.

Reb Dovid's wife, Devorah Leah, knew that her husband was a tzaddik, and he did not care about what he ate, as long as it was kosher. This was the first time that he had ever spoken about food!

Devorah Leah knew that if her husband was speaking about food, it must have been a very special food. When she had a chance, Devorah Leah went to visit Reb Chaim’s wife. Of course, she wanted to know the recipe for the food that she had cooked for Reb Dovid.

Devorah Leah went to Reb Chaim's house. Reb Chaim's wife, Rochel, opened the door.

“Sholom Aleichem!” Rochel said. “What brings you here?”

“Oh,” Devorah Leah said. “My husband was interested in knowing the recipe for the delicious food that you cooked when he was at your house.

“My husband hardly ever mentioned food in his life and now, when he came back from the Chozeh of Lublin, he started talking about the food that you prepared! There must be something special about that food."

Rochel said: “I really don’t know what was so special about the food that I prepared, but I will tell you how I prepared it:

“When your husband came over, my husband sat down and started to learn with him. It got late and I knew that they would be hungry. I went in the kitchen to see what I could prepare for them.

“I knew that I would be lucky to find enough food for one person, but still, I started looking. I looked in all the cupboards and drawers, but I could not find anything.

“Then, I remembered that I had a bag of flour on the top shelf. I thought to myself: 'What am I going to do with a little bag of flour?' But then I got an idea.

“I went out of the house, through the backyard and into the forest. I picked all kinds of things from the ground, like twigs, seeds, leaves, and so on. I put them all in my apron pocket, and then took them inside the house.

“I put everything in a pot and I sprinkled the flour over it. I poured water into the pot, and lit the stove.”

Rochel continued: “As the ‘food’ was cooking, I was daavening to Hashem that the ‘food’ should taste like something and that it should be edible.

“When the ‘food’ was cooked, I poured in into two bowls and put it on the table. Somehow my husband and your husband both ate it,” concluded Rochel.

“You should know,” said Devorah Leah, “that my husband hardly ever mentioned food in his life, but he said that the food he ate in your house had the taste of Gan Eden!”

What do we learn from this story?

The ko'ach of tefilah could take anything and totally turn it around.