The Lottery Ticket

There was once a chosid of Reb Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev. This chosid was a very wealthy man. He owned many different businesses, and he did good things with his money.

One day, this chosid went to see Reb Levi Yitzchok. When he entered his Rebbe’s room, he started to cry.

The chosid said: “Rebbe, nobody knows about it, but my business is going down. Not only don’t I have money, but I also owe a lot of money!

“Rebbe, what should I do?” the chosid asked.

Reb Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev lowered his head in deep thought. He then answered: “Go into town, and buy a lottery ticket. Hashem will help, and everything will be fine.”

The chosid still felt a bit uncomfortable. He said: “Rebbe, I trust your words that everything will be fine. However, it might take years until I win any money from the lottery. What will be until then? I have a daughter who is about to get married, and I do not have enough money for the chassunah!”

“Do not worry,” said Reb Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev. “Even before you win the lottery, you will have enouhg money to marry off your daughter.”

The chosid left the room of Reb Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev feeling better. He went to buy a lottery ticket, and set out on his way home.

At the end of the day, the chosid needed to stop at a hotel or inn to sleep over. He found a hotel where he decided to spend the night.

One of the other guests at the hotel, was a high ranking officer of the king.

That night, the officer had a dream. In his dream, he heard someone ask him if he had a lottery ticket. It so happened, that this officer also had a lottery ticket.

“Well,” the person in his dream said, “your lottery ticket will not win. But, there is someone in this hotel who has the winning ticket. This man is a Jew.”

The officer woke up, but he did not believe his dream. He fell back asleep, and had the same dream, again!

The next morning, the officer remembered the dream. He thought to himself: “That dream that I had must be true. After all, I had the same exact dream twice!”

The officer summoned one of his assistants, and told him to look for a yid who was staying at the hotel. The assistant left, and soon returned with the chosid who we were talking about, trailing behind him.

The officer said to the chosid: “Hi there! Do you by any chance have a lottery ticket?”

The chosid felt a little strange. Why was this officer asking him if he had a lottery ticket? “Yes, I do have a lottery ticket. Why do you ask?”

“Oh,” the officer replied, “I wanted to know if you were interested in trading lottery tickets. I just bought mine yesterday.”

“That’s interesting,” said the chosid, “so did I. Still, I don’t think that I am interesting in trading lottery tickets.”

The officer wanted the lottery ticket very badly. He thought of giving money to the chosid to get the lottery ticket.

“How about this,” said the officer. “I will pay you for your lottery ticket. How about 25 rubles?”

“No, officer,” the chosid answered. “I will not sell my lottery ticket to you.”

“Okay,” the officer said. “Twenty-five rubles is a joke. How about 250 rubles?”

Of course, the chosid did not want to sell his lottery ticket that had bought with a brocha from Reb Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev.

The officer continued haggling with the chosid, but the chosid would not give in. The officer was getting impatient. He wanted the ticket very badly, so he just took it from the chosid.

The officer did not want anyone to say that he stole the ticket, so he gave the chosid his ticket, plus a large sum of money.

Soon the officer left the hotel, and so did the chosid, who was on his way home.

Now the chosid had enough money for his daughter’s chassunah, since the officer gave him a lot of money for his ticket.

The second part of Reb Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev’s brocha was fulfilled, but will the first one also be fulfilled? Maybe the brocha was only for the original ticket that the chosid had bought!

Well, the day of the grand drawing arrived, and guess which ticket won! The officer didn’t win, but the chosid of Reb Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev did!

The chosid claimed his reward, which was one million rubles. He had won enough money to get his business up and running again.

What do we learn from this story?

Tzaddik Goizer, V’Hakodosh Boruch Hu M’kayem — A tzaddik decrees and Hashem fulfills.