Weekly Chasidic Story #1442 (5785-44) 3 Menachem Av 5785 (July 28, 2025)

"The Desperate Sister of The Holy Ari"

She said, “Why is it that you can help everyone else but not your own sister?” The Arizal answered her that he tries as much as possible, but he sees that the gates of Heaven are closed.

Why this Week? The 5th of the Jewish month of Menachem-AV [this year: Tuesday sunset - Wednesday nightfall, July 29-30] is the Hilulah/yahrzeit of Rabbi Yitzchak Luria, the "Holy Ari" of Tsfat.

Story in PDF format for more convenient printing.

The Desperate Sister of The Holy Ari

Rabbi Yitzchak Luria, the "Holy Ari" of Tsfat, had a sister who did not have children for many years. She would beg her brother to bless her but he didn't respond to her. So, more years went by, childless. One day she decided she would go to her brother and not let up until he would promise her a child.

She said, "Why is it that you can help everyone else but not your own sister?" The Arizal answered her that he tries as much as possible, but he sees that the gates of Heaven are closed. "Perhaps you can increase to davven [pray] to Him directly," he suggested gently. This made her feel even more bitter.

Another few years passed by, and still no child. She went again to her brother and insisted that she would stay in his home until he helped her.

After a time he said to her, "You can return home, for you will be blessed with a son. But," he continued, "One thing I warn you. Never say 'this is my child!' 'This is the fruits of my pregnancy!' I am warning you that if you or your husband boast about the child, I then will release myself of all responsibility for any possible tragedy that may befall him."

He was an exceptional child and extremely gifted. Once, the father was sitting together with other parents and each one was boasting about the talents of their child. So the father spoke up, "True, your child is wonderful, but not even close to the specialness of mine."

Immediately as he completed these words, the child became blind. His mother was devastated. She brought the child to the Arizal and asked him to raise him.

The child was miserable. His blindness caused him to feel that the entire world was blackened. One day, the Arizal came to him in the middle of the night and put an amulet around his neck, saying to him, "This is food for the journey. Go to the place where your steps will be directed."

The boy knew that it is for his benefit, so he agreed. He felt his way through the dark city walking blindly, not really sure of where his goal is. When he felt a lot of trees in his path, he realized he had reached a forest and entered into it.

Suddenly he heard voices and realized that people were approaching him. When they came close to him they asked him if he would join them until the time will come for him to return home.

It turned out these people were the patriarchs and other tzadikim who had come to take him along with them. As soon as he agreed and joined them, his sight returned! He learned Torah from them, the revealed parts [Scripture, Mishna, Talmud] as well as the secrets of Torah [Kabbalah]. After a period of time, he became a young Torah genius.

He stayed with them until his 13th birthday. Then they told him, "The time has now come for you to go on your way. We have taught you all the Torah that we can. We will give you one set of clothes, but we warn you not to change these for any others until the day you see us again.

"When you will leave us, you will go to a certain place that we will tell you and there you will meet a man grinding wheat. You shall work for him but to all the questions he will ask you, answer 'I don't know.' All your actions of piety should be done is absolute secrecy so that everyone will think that you are a simpleton.

"After a while, a man will approach you and ask if you are willing to become his son-in-law. Agree. He will ask you if you will live on his property. Agree. But again, beware: never change your clothing until you see us again, even if people will beg you to do so."

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He met the wheat grinder and began working for him. The man noticed that the boy does not davven (pray) -- just responds when asked, "I don't know how."

Interestingly, from when the boy arrived at the windmill, the owner was blessed with an abundance of blessings. He, however, did not attribute it to the boy; rather, he simply dismissed it as coincidence.

In a city, not too far from the boy, lived a big Rav (Rabbi), who was quite famous for his greatness in Torah knowledge. He had an only daughter for whom he had not yet been able to find a suitable match. One night his deceased father came to him in a dream and told him that his daughter's soulmate is in such and such village where he works for the owner of the windmill. His wife had the same dream and his daughter, too! But to the daughter, the old man added: "Beware. If you won't take this man for a husband, you will die. His outer appearance might not be appealing at first, but don't pay attention to it. This person is the perfect match for you!"

In the morning, each one told the dream they dreamed to each other. When the three realized that they all had the same dream, they immediately agreed it was meant to be.

The Rav traveled to the village with his daughter. The owner of the factory prepared a luscious meal in their honor. The Rav was shocked when he saw the young man and tried his best do dissuade his wife and daughter from going ahead, especially considering his old ragged clothing. They, however, still trusted the dream, so they refused to listen and nothing he said could change their minds.

The Rav was not pleased at all with the circumstances, but realized there was nothing they could do to change the situation, given that they knew their daughter's life was at stake. They tried at various opportunities to talk to the young man about changing his clothes, but to no avail. He insisted that these clothes were dear to him and he will not change them. The daughter said, "If this is what is destined for me, then so be it."

They decided on a date for the wedding and began the preparations, hoping that at least for the wedding he would wear other clothing. The Shabbat before the wedding the Rav and the kallah (bride) too begged him to wear more presentable clothing, but he remained steadfast.

During the afternoon of the day of wedding, a shepherd walked into the home of the Rav and asked to speak with the chatan (bridegroom). They embraced each other warmly, which lifted the spirits of the kallah's family. May be this stranger will be able to have some influence on him.

He agreed to speak with the chatan, as they are old time friends. He reassured them that he will come to the wedding with other clothing, befitting for the occasion. In fact, right now he will change his under garments and shoes.

The day of the wedding came and the hour, but the chatan insisted that they wait until some more of his distinguished family members arrive. The guests waited and waited and still no one showed up. Night fell, and no one came. One by one, the guest got discouraged and left.

At midnight, the sounds of a chariot were heard. The Arizal and his sister were seated in it, along with other guests. The shepherd greeted each one - "Baruch haba" ("Welcome,"-lit. "blessed is the one who has come."), Father Avraham; Welcome, Father Yitzchak; Welcome, Father Yaakov; then continuing to welcome, Moshe, our Teacher, King David and Eliyahu ('Elijah') the Prophet. The shepherd honored each one to dress the chatan with new clothes, and King David to sing beautiful melodies while the chatan and kallah were being escorted to the chupah (wedding canopy).

At the meal, the chatan delivered an impressive and well-received speech that included deep insights in the revealed and hidden parts of Torah. The dancing continued till dawn, whereupon the heavenly guests disappeared. The Arizal stayed until after Shabbat. The mother of the chatan, the Arizal's sister, stayed to live with the blessed couple until the end of her life. She lived to enjoy much nachas (pleasure) from them and their children.

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Source: Revised and adapted by Yerachmiel Tilles from "The Life of the Arizal: True Stories from Tzefas's Golden Age" [translations from the Hebrew sefer, Shivchei HaAri] by Rabbi Boruch Twersky, as posted by Zlata Ehrenstein, long-time resident of Tsfat, on LinkedIN (July 26, 2017).

Why This Week? Tuesday night-Wednesday of this week is Hei Av, the hilula-yahrzeit of Rabbi Yitzchak Luria.

Yerachmiel Tilles is co-founder and associate director of Ascent-of-Safed, and chief editor of this website (and of KabbalaOnline.org). He has hundreds of published stories to his credit, and many have been translated into other languages. He tells them live at Ascent nearly every Saturday night.

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