#388 (s5765-31/ 4 Nisan 5765)

A Lenient Passover

"Tell me the truth, please," Rabbi Avraham Yehoshua Heschel of Apta said to her.


A Lenient Passover

The rebbetzin was busy and flustered in the kitchen with all the last-minute bustle of preparations in the hours remaining before the Seder, so someone else answered the knock at the door.

Two of the local distributors of alms had come to the home of Rabbi Avraham Yehoshua Heschel of Apta with a request for matza to give to the township's needy families. Seeing a stack of matzot wrapped up in a napkin, the person who opened the door innocently gave them away and hurried back to work.

Puffing and steaming, the rebbetzin came along soon after and saw that the matzot had vanished. She was appalled: these were none other than the select matzot which had been baked that same day with devout intentions, and with all manner of meticulous precautions against chametz, especially for the Seder table -- the rebbe's own shemura matza!

She discovered soon enough what had happened, but it was too later to undo. She felt her heart sag within her: how could she tell her husband of the mishap and cause him spiritual anguish?

There was only one thing to do. She took a bundle of plain, ordinary matzot, deftly wrapped them up in the very same napkin, and pretended to know nothing of the whole affair.

That same evening, her husband conducted the Seder ceremony with the ordinary matzot.

Soon after the festival was over, the tzaddik was visited by a couple seeking a divorce. "What makes you want to divorce your wife?" he asked the husband.

The young man answered that his wife had refused his request to cook for him during Pesach in separate utensils without shruya -- for it is the custom of certain chassidim and pious folk to avoid allowing even baked matza to come in contact with water throughout the festival.

Hearing this, the rebbe called for his rebbetzin and said: "Tell me the truth, please. What kind of matzot were placed before me at the Seder table?"

The rebbetzin was afraid to speak up, so she held her peace.

"Do tell me, please," he reassured her; "have no fear."

The rebbetzin mumbles the truth: "Ordinary matzot…" And she proceeded to disclose the whole story.

The tzaddik now turned to the zealous young husband standing before him.

"Look here, my son," he said. "On the first night of Pesach I ate plain, ordinary matza and pretended not to know nor sense the difference, in order that I should not be brought to expressing hard feelings or harsh words, G-d forbid -- and you want to divorce your wife because of shruya?!"

The tzaddik then restored harmony between them, and they left him in peace.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Adapted by Yrachmiel Tilles from the rendition in A Treasury of Chassidic Tales (Artscroll), as translated by the incomparable Uri Kaploun.]

Biographical note:
Rabbi Avraham Yehoshua Heschel (?- 5 Nissan 1825) the Apter Rebbe, was a main disciple of the Rebbe Elimelech of Lizhinsk. He is also often referred to as "the Ohev Yisrael," both after the title of the famous book of his teachings, and also because its meaning ("Lover of Jews") fits him so aptly.


 

Yrachmiel Tilles is co-founder and associate director of Ascent-of-Safed, and editor of Ascent Quarterly and the AscentOfSafed.com and KabbalaOnline.org websites. He has hundreds of published stories to his credit.

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