"I'm Hungry!"

B"H

In the middle of the 18th-century, in the small Eastern European village of Hanipol, there lived a special tzaddik (righteous person) by the name of Reb Zusha.

Every morning, R’ Zusha would awake well before dawn. After learning some Torah, he would head to the local synagogue to recite his morning prayers, which was at length. After he concluded, he would return to his home. Once there, he would open his window, lift his eyes to the heavens, and call out: "Master of the World, Zusha is very hungry and desires to eat something!" His attendant, waiting until he heard R' Zusha's appeal, would then immediately bring in breakfast.

One morning, the attendant thought to himself, "Why doesn't R' Zusha ask me directly for his meal? In fact, who does he think he’s fooling by calling out to G-d like that. He knows full well that I bring him his food everyday!"

So on the spot he decided that the next morning he would not bring R' Zusha's meal when he called out. He would just wait to see what would happen when R' Zusha didn’t receive his meal.
The next morning, R' Zusha awoke as usual, well before the light of day. The night had been a rainy one in Hanipol, and the streets of the town had already turned to rivers of mud. In order to get from one side of the street to another, one had to cross on narrow planks that were laid across the flowing mud. As R' Zusha was crossing in the direction of the synagogue, a man whom he didn't recognize, a guest in town, was coming towards R' Zusha from the other side. When he saw R' Zusha - gaunt, almost emaciated, dressed in rags without a tooth in his mouth, the stranger, with a hearty laugh, jumped up and down on the plank causing R' Zusha to tumble into the mud. But R' Zusha didn't say a word. He calmly picked himself up out of the mud and continued on his way to the synagogue, while the stranger sauntered off into the distance.

Chuckling merrily as he walked, the man arrived at a local pub. What are you so happy about?” The bartender asked curiously. The man couldn't help but brag to the bartender about his amusing prank. But the bartender wasn't laughing so quickly. He asked the guest to describe the “beggar” whom he had catapulted into the mud. Upon hearing his description, he clasped his hands to his head and cried out in anguish, "Oy! Oy vey! Do you know what you’ve done!? That was not just some beggar, that was the Holy Reb Zusha!"

Now it was the turn of the guest to cry out, for R' Zusha was known to all as a holy tzaddik.

Trembling, the guest asked: “What am I going to do now? What am I going to do!"

"Don't worry," exclaimed the bartender, regaining his composure. "Listen to me. I know what you should do. R' Zusha spends many hours every morning in prayer. When he is finished he returns home. There he opens his window, and anybody can see how he thrusts his head out, and calls toward the heavens, 'Master of the World, Zusha is very hungry and desires to eat something!'

So, I'll prepare some cakes and some schnapps for you to take to him. When you hear him call out to the Creator, you go in immediately with this gift, and offer it to him and beg his forgiveness. I'm certain that he will forgive you whole-heartedly."

That morning, like every morning, after the prayers, R' Zusha went into his room, opened the window and called out, "Master of the World, Zusha is very hungry and desires to eat something!"

This time, the attendant, upon hearing R' Zusha, held his ground and folded his arms tightly together, with a smirk on his face."Let the ‘Master of the World’ bring him his cake this morning", he huffed to himself.
Suddenly the door burst open and a man, holding a large plate of cakes and a bottle of schnapps, ran in and made his way to the room of R' Zusha. He went straight in, put the cakes on the table, and then fell to the floor in grief, begging the tzaddik for his forgiveness (which he was certainly granted).

The attendant suddenly came to understand that it really was the Master of the World who brought R' Zusha his breakfast every morning.

~~~~~~~

This story contains a very profound lesson for every one of us. It’s very easy to forget the source of all of the good we receive in our lives; whether we credit our boss for the checks we receive, or Costco for the food we buy, we mustn’t forget that G-d Has many messengers to carry out His Will of giving us something. What we receive ultimately comes from Him – the True Beneficiary. By remembering the true source of our blessings, we remove the false façade of the “independent” world, and we reveal the true nature of our existence. By simply doing what's right and honest, and realizing who our true beneficiary is - while putting our full trust in Him for our success - we make a vessel for all blessings to come forth to us in abundant measure. May all the blessings in everything we need come in abundance for every one of us!

Wishing you and yours a Shabbat Shalom!