The CMJ Experience

ONE DAY, AFTER HE HAD GONE BLIND, RABBI BUNAM VISITED RABBI FISHEL. RABBI FISHEL WAS FAMOUS THROUGHOUT THE LAND FOR HIS MIRACLE CURES.  'ENTRUST YOURSELF TO MY CARE,' SAID HIS HOST, 'I SHALL RESTORE YOUR LIGHT.'  'THAT IS NOT NECESSARY,' ANSWERED BUNAM 'I SEE WHAT I NEED TO SEE.'

A Child on the Seashore of Time

RABBI BUNAM USED TO TELL YOUNG MEN WHO CAME TO HIM FOR THE FIRST TIME THE STORY OF RABBI EISIK SON OF RABBI YEKEL IN CRACOW...  'AFTER MANY YEARS OF GREAT POVERTY WHICH HAD NEVER SHAKEN HIS FAITH IN GOD HE DREAMED THAT SOMEONE BADE HIM LOOK FOR TREASURE UNDER THE BRIDGE WHICH LEADS TO THE KING'S PALACE IN PRAGUE. WHEN THE DREAM RECURRED THE THIRD TIME HE SET OUT FOR PRAGUE. BUT THE BRIDGE WAS GUARDED DAY AND NIGHT AND HE DID NOT DARE START DIGGING. NEVERTHELESS HE WENT TO THE BRIDGE EVERY MORNING AND KEPT WALKING AROUND IT UNTIL EVENING. FINALLY THE CAPTAIN OF THE GUARDS WHO HAD BEEN WATCHING HIM ASKED IN A KINDLY WAY WHETHER HE WAS LOOKING FOR SOMETHING OR WAITING FOR SOMEONE. RABBI EISIK TOLD HIM OF THE DREAM WHICH HAD BROUGHT HIM FROM A FAR AWAY COUNTRY. THE CAPTAIN LAUGHED 'AND SO TO PLEASE YOUR DREAM YOU WORE OUT YOUR SHOES TO COME HERE YOU POOR FELLOW. AND AS FAR AS HAVING FAITH IN DREAMS IF I HAD HAD IT I SHOULD HAVE HAD TO GO TO CRACOW AND DIG FOR TREASURE UNDER THE STOVE IN THE ROOM OF A JEW-EISIK SON OF YEKEL! THAT'S WHAT THE DREAM TOLD ME. AND IMAGINE WHAT IT WOULD HAVE BEEN LIKE; ONE HALF OF THE JEWS OVER THERE ARE CALLED EISIK AND THE OTHER HALF YEKEL! AND HE LAUGHED AGAIN. RABBI EISIK BOWED TRAVELED HOME DUG UP THE TREASURE FROM UNDER HIS STOVE, AND BUILT THE HOUSE OF PRAYER WHICH IS CALLED REB EISIK'S SHUL.' RABBI BUNAM USED TO ADD 'TAKE THIS STORY TO HEART AND MAKE WHAT IT SAYS YOUR OWN. THERE IS SOMETHING YOU CANNOT FIND ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD NOT EVEN AT THE ZADDIK'S AND THERE IS NEVERTHELESS A PLACE WHERE YOU CAN FIND IT.'

Why No Women?

RABBI VISAKHAR BAER MET AN OLD PEASANT FROM THE VILLAGE OF OLESHNYA WHO HAD KNOW HIM WHEN HE WAS YOUNG. NOT BEING AWARE OF HIS RISE IN THE WORLD THE PEASANT CALLED TO HIM, 'BAER, WHAT'S NEW WITH YOU?'  'AND WHAT'S NEW WITH YOU?' ASKED THE RABBI.  'WELL,' ANSWERED THE OTHER, 'I SHALL TELL YOU. WHAT YOU DON'T GET BY YOUR OWN WORK, YOU DON'T HAVE.' FROM THAT TIME ON, WHENEVER RABBI BAER SPOKE OF THE PROPER WAY TO CONDUCT ONE'S LIFE, HE ADDED, 'AND THE OLD MAN OF OLESHNYA SAID: "WHAT YOU DON'T GET BY YOUR OWN WORK, YOU DON'T HAVE."'

Let It Be So

ONCE, WHEN THE HASIDIM WERE SEATED TOGETHER IN ALL BROTHERLINESS, PIPE IN HAND, RABBI ISRAEL JOINED THEM. BECAUSE HE WAS SO FRIENDLY THEY ASKED HIM, 'TELL US, DEAR RABBI, HOW SHOULD WE SERVE GOD?' HE WAS SURPRISED AT THE QUESTION, AND REPLIED, 'HOW SHOULD I KNOW?' BUT THEN HE WENT ON TO TELL THEM THIS STORY.. THERE WERE TWO FRIENDS OF THE KING, AND BOTH WERE PROVED GUILTY OF A CRIME. SINCE HE LOVED THEM THE KING WANTED TO SHOW THEM MERCY, BUT HE COULD NOT ACQUIT THEM BECAUSE EVEN A KING'S WORD CANNOT PREVAIL OVER THE LAW. SO HE GAVE THIS VERDICT: A ROPE WAS TO BE STRETCHED OVER A DEEP CHASM, AND, ONE AFTER ANOTHER, THE TWO WERE TO WALK ACROSS IT. WHOEVER REACHED TO THE OTHER SIDE WAS TO BE GRANTED HIS LIFE. IT WAS DONE AS THE KING ORDERED, AND THE FIRST OF THE FRIENDS GOT SAFELY ACROSS. THE OTHER, STILL STANDING ON THE SAME SPOT, CRIED TO HIM, 'TELL ME, FRIEND, HOW DID YOU MANAGE TO CROSS?' THE FIRST CALLED BACK, 'I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING BUT THIS: WHENEVER I FELT MYSELF TOPPLING OVER TO ONE SIDE, I LEANED TO THE OTHER.'

Confusion Is My Method

The Art of Dying

WHEN RABBI BIRNHAM LAY DYING, HIS WIFE BURST INTO TEARS. HE SAID, 'WHAT ARE YOU CRYING FOR? MY WHOLE LIFE WAS ONLY THAT I MIGHT LEARN HOW TO DIE.'