The Little Zeide

The following story took place in the time of the Ba'al Shem Tov, in a town called Uman. There was a yid named Reb Boruch who lived there. Reb Baruch had a mitzvah that he liked to do very much, and that was the mitzvah of hachnosas orchim, having guests.

Reb Boruch fulfilled the mitzvah of hachnosas orchim in a very special way. Reb Boruch was B”H a wealthy man. He would assign his guests to one of the beautiful rooms in his home. If his guests consisted of an entire family, he would give them one of the separate houses that were in his courtyard.

Of course, Reb Baruch’s guests could stay as long as they wanted. Not only that, but Reb Baruch would give clothes to his poor guests, and to those in need, a horse and wagon!

As we said, Reb Boruch lived in the time of the Ba'al Shem Tov. But, this was before the Ba'al Shem Tov was known as a tzaddik. The Ba'al Shem Tov just seemed to be a simple yid, and he made a meager living by bringing cement into the town, to sell to builders.

The Ba'al Shem Tov’s horses were getting weak from so much hard work. One day, when the Ba'al Shem Tov was getting to work, he discovered that his horses could no longer handle the load that they had been given.

The Ba'al Shem Tov had to get new horses, because he could not continue working without them. Horses were very expensive. The Ba'al Shem Tov could not afford to buy them with the little money that he had.

Well, that day, the Ba'al Shem Tov heard about a person who could help him. His name was Reb Boruch, and he lived in Uman. The Ba'al Shem Tov had heard many good things about this man, and he wanted to visit him.

So, the Ba'al Shem Tov went with his weak horses to visit Reb Boruch. Although the horses could not carry the load that the Ba'al Shem Tov worked with, they could take the Ba'al Shem Tov and his wife, ever so slowly.

The Ba'al Shem Tov and his wife arrived in Uman. They found Reb Boruch’s house, and knocked on the door. A servant greeted them, and took them straight to Reb Boruch.

Reb Boruch was so happy to see that he had guests, and gave them one of the beautiful houses that were in his courtyard. Reb Boruch asked them how they came; did they have a horse and wagon, or did they travel by foot?

The Ba'al Shem Tov told Reb Boruch that they came with a horse and wagon. “Okay,” Reb Boruch said. “Let me take your horse into the barn so that it can eat and rest.”

When Reb Boruch saw the wagon, he noticed that it was very dirty. He asked the Ba'al Shem Tov: “What do you do with your wagon? It seems to be so dirty.”

The Ba'al Shem Tov responded: “To make a living, I use my horse and wagon to bring cement into the city. That is why my wagon is so dirty.”

“Oh,” Reb Boruch said, “your horses are much too weak for such work.”

“Yes,” the Ba'al Shem Tov replied. “It is even difficult for them to carry an empty load.”

Reb Boruch, as was his custom, did not leave the Ba'al Shem Tov with his old horse. Instead, he said: “Why don’t you come to the barn with me and I will give you new horses. Your old horses can stay here with me and I will take care of them.”

The Ba'al Shem Tov and his wife were so thankful to Hashem for Reb Boruch’s help. They stayed at the house that Reb Boruch had given them for a few days.

Soon it was Shabbos, and Reb Boruch invited them to stay for Shabbos. The Ba'al Shem Tov accepted the invitation, and had a wonderful Shabbos at Reb Boruch’s home.

Reb Boruch had other guests as well, so there were enough people to have their own minyan. After davening, they all enjoyed the Shabbos meal together at Reb Boruch’s house, in his humongous dining room. There was singing, divrei Torah, and of course, delicious food.

On Shabbos day, after the meal, Reb Boruch took a big nap. Later he woke up, and after Shabbos, after mariv and after havdala, there was a melava malka.

After the melava malka, everyone went to sleep. But not Reb Boruch, he was not tired, because he had rested during the day. As Reb Boruch was walking around his house, he saw a strong light coming from the window.

That surprised him very much. It was not something you would expect to see in middle of the night in a town like Reb Boruch’s. Reb Bourch thought that it must be morning already, and the sun was rising.

Reb Boruch looked at his watch, and saw that it was around one o’clock. He knew that the sun did not rise at one o’clock at night, so he thought that the bright light must be from the moon.

Reb Boruch just ignored the light, but then he realized that it was close to the end of the month, and the moon does not shine brightly at that time. At the end of the month, the moon looks like a thin banana—not bright at all!

Since Reb Boruch knew that the light was not from the sun, and not from the moon, he got worried. He thought that maybe the light was coming from a fire! Reb Boruch quickly looked out the window, and saw that the light was coming from one of the houses in his courtyard. This light was not a light from a candle. It was very bright!

Reb Boruch ran out of his house, to see what was wrong. He was sure the light was coming from a fire!

He went over to the house where the light was coming from. He looked though the window, and there he saw the Ba'al Shem Tov, sitting on floor, with his hands stretched upwards. Reb Boruch thought that the Ba'al Shem Tov was just an ordinary man, but the Ba'al Shem Tov was saying special teffilos that only tzaddikim say in middle of the night, called Tikun Chatzos.

Next to the Ba'al Shem Tov, there was standing a tall man, who looked like a holy tzaddik, and was made out of light! When Reb Boruch saw that, he let out a shriek and fainted!

The Ba'al Shem Tov heard the noise, and came outside. There, he saw Reb Boruch, and tried to revive him. The Ba'al Shem Tov was successful, and Reb Boruch was revived.

Reb Boruch asked the Ba'al Shem Tov about the man who was made of light. The Ba'al Shem Tov said: “If Hashem let you see that, then I will tell you what that was about, but you are not allowed to tell anyone.”

Reb Boruch agreed to keep it a secret, but then he said: “I did not know that you were a tzaddik. I thought that you were a simple worker. I would be most happy if you would stay here with me and I will take care of your every need."

The Ba'al Shem Tov said: “No, I cannot. Nobody is supposed to know anything about me. Since you saw what you saw, I will tell you what it was all about.”

The Ba'al Shem Tov continued: “That man you saw was the Maharal of Prague. He was sent from the shomayim to come down here. He came to go into the body of a new baby boy, not as the Maharal, but as someone else, to help yidden in need.

“You, Reb Boruch, are a great-grandchild of the Maharal, and in one year, you will have a baby with the neshoma of the Maharal.”

When Reb Boruch heard that, he was shocked! He said to the Ba'al Shem Tov: “Please let me take care of you. I will give you everything you need. You don’t need to work so hard like a simple man.”

Once again, the Ba'al Shem Tov refused, and said: “Remember, this is a secret, and you are not allowed to tell anyone about it. Treat me like a simple guest, because this is what Hashem wants.”

The next morning, the Ba'al Shem Tov and his wife left Reb Boruch.

A year later, Reb Boruch’s wife gave birth to a baby boy.

The bris took place on the eighth day. Reb Boruch notified everyone about the bris. There was a very nice seudah, and of course, Reb Boruch did not forget to set aside tables for poor people.

Reb Boruch named the baby Aryeh Leib, similar to the name of the Maharal, Yehuda Leib. (It seems that Reb Boruch could not name his son Yehuda Leib, because he already had a son with that name.)

They had a minhag of people coming up and giving brochos to the baby. Many of Reb Boruch’s friends gave brochos to the baby.

As Reb Boruch was greeting his many guests, he noticed that the Ba'al Shem Tov was among the. He wanted the Ba'al Shem Tov to bentch the baby, just as others had.

Reb Boruch knew that nobody was supposed to think that the Ba'al Shem Tov was anyone special, so he had a little problem. How was he going to ask the Ba'al Shem Tov to give the baby a brocha without anybody noticing? He wanted to walk straight over to the Ba'al Shem Tov, but the Ba'al Shem Tov signaled him not to.

So, Reb Boruch decided to go around the room with the baby, so that anyone would be able to give a brocha to the baby. He pretended that he came over to the Ba'al Shem Tov “by chance,” and asked him to give a brocha just like everyone else.

The Ba'al Shem Tov refused, saying: “I don’t know how to give a brocha. I never learnt how to do that.”

But Reb Boruch persisted and said: “Just say something to the baby.”

So, the Ba'al Shem Tov said: “I learnt in cheder, when I was a little boy, about Avrohom. I went to cheder for only a short while, but I remember my Rebbi teaching me about Avrohom. He said that Avrohom was the zeide of all the yidden.”

The Torah only says that Avrohom was the father of the yidden, but the Ba'al Shem Tov wanted to pretend as if he did not know much.

“So,” the Ba'al Shem Tov continued. “I want to give a brocha that this baby should also be a zeide.” People laughed, thinking that this man was just a simple beggar who gave a silly brocha.

Well, after the seuda, everyone left. Those who came to the bris, remembered what the Ba'al Shem Tov had said, and as a joke, would ask: “How is the little zeide doing today?”

When the baby grew up, he became a great talmid chochom, but the name still stuck—“The Little Zeide.”

Later on, he moved to a place called Shpole and became known as “The Shpole Zeide.”