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Weekly Chasidic Story #932 (s5776-04 / `24
Tishrei 5776)
Full Cycles
After both men had finished speaking, Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin bent down
and put his ear to the ground.
Connection: Weekly reading -- Gen. 3:19
Full Cycles
The two neighbors, both of whom were wealthy landowners, had managed
to live in peace and harmony until one day one of them decided to do some improvements
on his land.
When the second man heard about the work his curiosity was aroused. He saddled
one of his fine horses and went out to the outer boundary of his land to see
what his neighbor was up to -- and what he saw made his blood boil. His neighbor's
workers were busily digging up a tract of land that was part of his property,
and they were doing it openly and in complete disregard of the law!
The second man, whose name was David, spotted his neighbor standing to one side
as he oversaw the work. David gave an angry crack of the whip, which sent his
horse into a gallop, and within seconds he was at his neighbor's side.
The neighbor was startled by the sight of the galloping horse that seemed to
be charging right at him. As he quickly jumped out of the horse's path, he started
to yell at the reckless horseman. But he was even more startled when he realized
who the rider was.
"David," the neighbor said. "Why did you charge at me like that?"
"What got into me?" David angrily replied. "What got into you?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," said the neighbor.
"Oh, really," David snarled. "I suppose these are not your workers."
"They are my workers," replied the neighbor, still perplexed.
"How could you give them permission to dig up my land?" demanded David.
"You are mistaken, my friend," said the neighbor, "this land
is mine."
"You are the one who is mistaken," said David. "It's mine."
The two men continued to argue along this line for quite some time, and the
longer they argued the more heated the argument became. When the first neighbor's
overseer saw that things were getting out of hand and the landowners were about
to come to blows, he stepped forward.
"Gentlemen, arguing will not resolve the issue," said the overseer.
"This is a legal dispute. Only a rabbi can decide who the land belongs
to."
The two landowners recognized the wisdom of the overseer's words, and they both
made an effort to calm down. However, when they tried to decide which rabbi
to turn to, they once again began to get into a fight. Each man wanted to go
to his own rabbi and refused to agree to present the case before the rabbi of
the other.
"Gentlemen," volunteered the overseer a second time, "why not
go to Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin. Surely neither one of you doubts his honesty
and fairness."
Since Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin was, without question, one of the leading rabbis
of the generation, the two landowners readily agreed to the overseer's suggestion.
And as they were both anxious to settle the matter, they set out for Volozhin
at once. When they stood before Rabbi Chaim they each presented their claims
to ownership of the property in dispute. Rabbi Chaim listened to the words of
each man intently, and then he sat in silent thought for several minutes.
"There is something about this case that still confuses me," Rabbi
Chaim said softly. "Perhaps if I see the land in question, I will better
understand your claims."
The two landowners were more than happy to escort Rabbi Chaim to the field.
Now that the land lay before them, Rabbi Chaim asked each man to once again
present his case. After both men had finished speaking, Rabbi Chaim suddenly
bent down and put his ear to the ground.
The two men didn't know what to make of this strange behavior, and so they glanced
uneasily at each other. Because neither one of the men wanted to show disrespect
to the distinguished rabbi, each one was hoping that the other would have the
courage to ask Rabbi Chaim what he was doing. Finally, David could contain his
curiosity no longer and so he spoke up.
"Rabbi Chaim," he called out, "what are you listening to down
there?"
"I have given the two of you the opportunity to state your claims to this
piece of land," Rabbi Chaim replied, still keeping his ear to the ground.
"Now I would like to hear what the ground has to say for itself."
The two men looked at each other and started to laugh. "Rabbi,
does the ground really talk?" asked David.
"Not only does this ground talk," replied Rabbi Chaim, "but it
also laughs. Do you know why it is laughing?" The two landowners shook
their heads.
"The ground finds it amusing that the two of you are having such a heated
argument over whom it belongs to," said Rabbi Chaim.
"It is telling me, 'This one says I belong to him, and that one says I
belong to him. But the truth is that eventually -- when they reach the age of
120 -- they will both belong to me.' "
Rabbi Chaim stood up and turned to the men, who had by now stopped laughing
and were regarding the land with a sober eye.
"My friends, life is too short and too precious to be spent in arguing
and harboring ill feelings toward one other," Rabbi Chaim said quietly.
"Perhaps we can find some way to resolve this dispute through peaceful
compromise."
Rabbi Chaim's words hit their mark and the two landowners wholeheartedly agreed
to make peace and abide by whatever decision the rabbi reached.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Source: Lightly edited by Yerachmiel Tilles from the rendition on //lchaimweekly.org
(#1038), with permission.
Biographical note:
Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin [8 Sivan 5509 - 14 Sivan 5581 (June 1749 - June
1821 c.e.)] was the main disciple of the Gaon of Vilna, who selected him to
establish a yeshiva in 1802. The Volozhin Yeshiva became the most important
and most influential in Lithuania. His major work is the Nefesh Ha-Chaim (perhaps
inspired, some say, by the popularity of Tanya), dealing with complex spiritual
issues.
Connection: Weekly reading - "You will return to the ground, for
from it you were taken." (Gen. 3:19)
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