True Friendship
March 20, 2026
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A chassidic master finds an unexpected lesson in love from an unlikely source.
A chassidic master finds an unexpected lesson in love from an unlikely source.
The community eagerly gathered to ask the rabbe their questions. Instead, he started singing a melody, slowly drawing everyone into song and dance, transforming the moment into something unexpected.
In a moment ripe with anticipation, the Baal Shem Tov transcends expectation, offering his disciples not a story, but a profound revelation: “Salvation lies in remembrance.”
On Yom Kippur, the Kedushat Levi, Reb Levi Yitzchak of Berdichev, observes Yankel the tailor’s fervent prayer, leading to a conversation where Yankel boldly proposes forgiving each other’s sins with God, prompting the Rebbe’s reflection on a missed chance for redemption.
In Ropchitz, Rabbi Naftali encounters a night watchman and, upon being asked whom he serves, is struck by the profoundness of the question, leading him to hire the watchman to constantly remind him of his service to God.
Martin Buber recounts the story of Rabbi Eizik, who, after a recurring dream, travels to Prague to find a treasure but instead learns from a guard’s own dream that the treasure is actually buried in his home in Cracow, leading to a profound realization about finding what one seeks within oneself.
R’ Zalman tz’l teaches that a good maisa – a good story – is one where the heart surprises the mind.
Please feel free to use these stories in your teaching and in your holy conversations. I welcome your gentle comments.
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