A poor עם הארץ, who used to sit in the back of his Shul, won the lottery and struck it rich. He made a generous donation to the Shul and made a side payment to the שמש to move his seat to the front, next to the רב. Seeking to make conversation, he asked the רב why the סידור says והיה עשב בשדך. “How did עשו הרשע get into קריאת שמע?” he asked. The רב answered: “In truth, his original place was in ברכת אשר יצר. But when he got wealthy, he paid off the שמש, who let him move to קריאת שמע.”
05/10/2021