There was once a certain tzaddik (righteous man) who decided to look around in his town, which was full of Jews, for just one of them who was truly a sincere Jew in his every action!

He looked around and watched his neighbors and how they acted, but he did not find one whose service of G-d fit what he was looking for. But then one night, it happened: he found a simple Jew whose service of G-d was totally genuine. How did the tzaddik come to this conclusion? 

It turned out that the simple Jew he found was a water-drawer by profession. When the tzaddik passed, late one night, by the old dilapidated shack in which the simple Jew lived, he was astonished to see a bunch of poor Jews from the village joyously dancing and drinking a l'chaim to each other with cups of water. The tzaddik came in and said, "Please answer me: What is it that you're so happy about?"

The water-drawer explained: "As you see, I am very poor, and though I work very hard all day, I still barely make a living. It's quite difficult for me, as can be imagined, and I always prayed to G-d that He would send me a nice sum of money so that I could open a business and make some money in a dignified and relatively easy manner."

"And precisely today, my request was answered! I was walking along the street, and suddenly I found a bag – and inside was a large sum of money! I thanked G-d for His nice gift, hid the money at home, and went to the synagogue for the afternoon prayer. All of sudden, a woman bursts in and starts crying that her purse was stolen with all the money that she had been saving up for years for her only daughter's wedding – and then she fainted in her sorrow."

The man continued his story, which took a surprising turn: "I ran home, lied down in my bed, and wallowed in my sorrow – and anger. I was angry at G-d, and I said to Him in my heart: 'That's it, I'm not praying to You anymore! You wanted to help me, and for that You took money from a poor widow saving up for her daughter's wedding?! I don't want any further connection with You!' And with that, I fell asleep."

"In the middle of the night, I woke up, and I heard my soul crying out within me and saying, 'What?! You're forgetting Hashem? The G-d of compassion? You're willing to give up all your ties with Hashem? You won't pray to Him anymore?'

"I immediately jumped out of bed, ran to the woman's house, and gave her back her money. And now, my friends and I are dancing and singing in joy that I once again have the chance to be connected to G-d and to pray to him!"

The tzaddik finished: "That's a true Jew!" 

At first blush, the water-drawer seems a bit strange and even foolish. To react in such a way when finding money that he knows is not his? To be angry at G-d under such circumstances? But if we delve deeper, we realize that it is precisely because of those thoughts, those sincere feelings, that he ends up praying with such depth to Hashem. It was davka because he was so truthful and genuine with himself, even in a manner that appears illogical and even chutzpah-like, that he merited later to reveal the depth of his ties with G-d and how important they are to him. He was finally able to affirm that his most important goal was to be able to have a link with, and pray to, Hashem!

This story brings us to the sharp exchange between Moshe Rabbeinu and G-d at the end of last week's Torah portion, which continues in this week's portion as well. Moshe complains sharply to G-d: "Why have you sent me? Ever since you sent me, the Jews' situation in Egypt has worsened!"

And then, in the beginning of Parashat Va'era that we read this week (Sh'mot 6,2-9,46), G-d answers him and says, in effect: "If you will trust in Me, and look at the situation with Divine eyes and not with mortal eyes, you will understand that the Divine processes are long but exact, and that everything in the end will lead to a happy ending and Redemption itself." G-d also adds (as Rashi explains): "The Patriarchs recognized this, and even though they didn't merit to see the fulfillment of the promises I made to them, they did not complain."

Yes, G-d has criticism of Moshe here. But we note that because Moshe was genuine, and cried out his sincere feelings from the depths of his heart, it was precisely from this truth that he merited to have G-d explain to him the proper way to approach the situation, and thus become G-d's loyal servant – "throughout My house he is trusted."

What is the proper way? Sometimes, when a person views a grave problem from the Divine perspective, it actually takes away his ability to pray to G-d – for, he feels, everything leads to the ultimate goodness, meaning that even now, everything is already good – so why pray? It is precisely when one looks at things with mortal eyeglasses, and does not see the greatness in the current situation, that he can then cry out to G-d with truth and real closeness.

It is told about one of the great tzaddikim who told his students, before his death, that he would not agree to enter the Gates of Paradise until the Complete Redemption comes. After he died, they all waited for the Redemption, assuming that his demand would be met – but alas, it continued to tarry.

What happened was that when the deceased reached the Heavens, he no longer saw things with earthly eyes, but rather from the Divine perspective – and therefore he recognized that all the suffering was ultimately leading to good, which meant that everything is good already now, and it is as if the Redemption has come. 

But we, who are still on earth, must continue to pray for G-d's salvation. May we merit to express true prayers from the depths of our hearts!


Translated by Hillel Fendel