From: murray.bbs@cybernet.cse.fau.edu
Newsgroups: soc.culture.jewish
Subject: L'Chaim
Date: 13 Aug 92 21:27:33 GMT
Organization: Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton

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L'CHAIM                    ISSUE #  227                     PART 7 OF 8
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                         IT  HAPPENED  ONCE
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          The  town was buzzing  with the great  news of the  impending
visit  of the  tzadik.  Reb  Yossele,  the  son  of  Reb  Mordechai  of
Neshchitz,  couldn't rest from the moment he  heard that the tzadik Reb
Yaakov  Yitzchak,  the famous  "Seer" or  "Chozeh"  of Lublin  would be
passing through his town. He had heard many  awesome reports about this
holy man  and he  burned with  the desire  to meet him  and glean  some
insight from him.     So intent was he to host the great tzadik that he
commissioned  a local  carpenter  to build  a  bed especially  for  the
Chozeh.  He undertook  this  extraordinary preparation  because he  had
heard it  said that when  the "Seer"  travelled and had  to sleep in  a
strange bed,  he would sometimes  be heard to  cry out,  "It's prickly!
It's prickly!" Wanting to avoid any possible discomfort for the tzadik,
he  decided to provide a brand-new bed  for him, and thus eliminate any
possible problem.     Reb Yossele was very exacting in his instructions
to the carpenter. First of all, he was careful  to choose a workman who
was known to be a G-d-fearing man; second,  he instructed the carpenter
to immerse himself in the mikva  before beginning his work, and to very
carefully guard himself from impure  thoughts while he was working.    
For his part,  the carpenter was not anxious to accept this complicated
assignment.  He was particularly unwilling since the work would have to
commence during the first week of the month of Av, the intense mourning
period  for the  Holy  Temple. However,  since his  rebbe had  made the
request of him,  he couldn't bring himself to  refuse. He undertook the
job in a depressed frame  of mind, feeling spiritually unworthy  of the
task ahead. Despite his unwillingness, he worked well and completed his
task successfully and in good time.     When the bed was  finished, Reb
Yossele placed it in a specially prepared room. He covered the bed with
fresh, new bedclothes, and put next  to it a small table, a lamp  and a
chair.  Satisfied that his preparations would ensure the comfort of the
Chozeh, he  then closed and locked  the door to guarantee  that the bed
would be untouched by anyone except the tzadik himself.      A few days
later, when  the Chozeh arrived  in the town,  Reb Yossele went  out to
meet him. His joy was complete when the tzadik  accepted the invitation
to be his guest.  Reb Yossele happily  escorted his honored guest  into
the  newly  appointed  room. He  proudly  showed  the  Chozeh the  bed,
explaining that a G-d- fearing carpenter constructed  it especially for
the  tzadik's use. Tired from his long  journey, the tzadik lay down to
rest.       After only a  few moments had passed  Reb Yossele heard the
Chozeh exclaiming, "Prickly, help, it's  prickly!"     Reb  Yossele was
astonished.  What  could  these cries  mean?  He  quickly  went to  the
tzadik's room and not knowing what  else to do, offered him the  use of
his own bed, hoping it would  prove more comfortable. The Chozeh gladly
accepted  Reb Yossele's offer, and all was quiet. Reb Yossele, however,
suffered  a sleepless  night wondering  if the  tzadik's rest  would be
disturbed  by some spiritual  unworthiness in  his house.  When morning
came the  Chozeh awoke refreshed and happy. He remarked to Reb Yossele,
"Thank  you so  much, I  had an  excellent rest.  Your  hospitality has
revived me!"      Reb Yossele was  gratified by the tzadik's words, but
still,  he couldn't understand the Chozeh's initial reaction to the new
bed, and he questioned him about it.      "Don't worry about it at all.
The bed  is perfect and  kosher in every  respect," the tzadik  assured
him. "The reason  I couldn't sleep in it  was because it had  a certain
smell  of sadness  about it  since it  was built  during the  Nine Days
preceding  Tisha B'Av. The carpenter,  being a pious  man, was mourning
the destruction  of the Holy Temple  while he was building  it, and the
spiritual residue of his grief adhered to the bed."  
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