When רב נפתלי מרופשיץ taught his students the מדרש that הקדוש ברוך הוא showed אדם and משה רבינו all the coming generations, דור דור ודורשיו, דור דור ושופטיו, one of the students asked why did ה׳ first show him the generations, rather than first showing him the leaders of each generation? רב נפתלי answered: “We
There are times when, as we see with Bilam, a קללה can be turned around and explained as a ברכה. In פרשת כי תבוא, the תורה states והפיצך ה׳ בכל העמים מקצה הארץ ועד קצה. Once, ר׳ יעקב אריה מראדזמין traveled to a city where he was greeted by a huge crowd. There was
A חסיד complained to his רבי about the terrible suffering he endured. “The פריץ ordered me to come to his castle and when I entered, he instructed his servant to tie me to the bed, with my back facing up, and to whip me until I almost fainted.” The רבי responded: “You call yourself a
When רבי יעקב יוסף כ״ץ, a תלמיד of the בעל שם טוב, went to ברדיטשוב to sell one of his ספרים, there were few buyers. “Don’t be upset,” he was told. “די לעבד להיות כרבו. The רבונו של עולם בכבודו ובעצמו went with His תורה all around the world trying to find a buyer and
A גנב was asked what תפילה he says on יום כיפור. The גנב answered: "I pray: יהי רצון מלפניך, אלוקינו ואלקי אבותינו, שתזכני להיות עושה רצונך לכל מי שתחתום עליו גזר דין של גניבה." His son, also a גנב, said: "That's fine before חתימה, but what תפילה do you say after חתימה?" His
In an era when public gambling was prohibited, a police officer found a Russian, a Pole and a Jew in a public place sitting round a table holding playing cards. The officer wanted to arrest them but they all denied that they had been gambling. It never happened, they said. We weren't playing cards. The
A רב observed that the רבונו של עולם created man with feet so that he could stride ahead; but many men prefer to get ahead by using their elbows.
When a Jewish businessman in Berlin who represented himself as being משוגע was asked by an employee for an advance of the following month’s wages, he replied: “I’m משוגע but not that משוגע.”
A priest, an imam and a rabbi were discussing how they manage to make a living from the salaries they are paid. “I can’t get by from what the church pays,” the priest said. “I add to my income by drawing a circle in the center of the church and throwing the money in the
The mafia was looking for a new man to make weekly collections from the businesses they were "protecting." Feeling the heat from the police, they decided to use a deaf and dumb man for the job. If he got caught, he wouldn’t be able to communicate to the police what he was doing. On
