Stories of Tzadikim 93 | Getting across the lake

[Music] You know one of the great students of the mag of miserich was of Nicholsburg the rebel of Nicholsburg. So he was one of the great great teachers of and the great teachers of Torah in truth in that generation. He led a yeshiva in Nicholsburg, Germany. And uh some of the greatest minds of the time were his students and studied under him. And some of the great masters of the next generation were students of the rebel. So one of those students of the rebel was a great master in his own right. So there's a story that once it became clear somehow to uh the rebel that there was some sort of decree that was being uh toyed with in the local government. Some sort of decree against the Jewish communities and against the Jewish people. It's going to cause sorrows. It's going to cause problems. So the rebel with his kaidesh understood that if he knows about this decree it means that it's his responsibility to try to do something about it. So for whatever reason he picked one of his students of Saser to come with him to the capital uh in order to find the right people to talk to in order to uh somehow figure out a way to enol this decree. So this was happening during the dead of winter. So the ma goes that the rebel and sass are traveling together and at some point in the journey turns to his student and says we have to hurry up. I I can I can tell again he knew withd that the decree is almost going to be passed. We have to get there very very quickly. Okay. So they they start moving faster. The problem is that eventually in their travels they get to a frozen lake. There's a lake there and it's frozen. Solid frozen solid ice and uh it's an impossibility to pass. There's no there's no safe way to get across that thing. So turns to he says we have to get across this. says, "What should we do?" So, he says, "Let's look. Let's look for maybe uh maybe there's some sort of ferry or something that can get across." So, they see, you know, in the distance there's something that looks like a ferry, someone that you would hire, you know, to for him to use his boat to get you across. And they go over to this person. They say, "Whatever money it is, we'll pay it to get to the other side of this lake." And the person says to him, "Listen, rabbis, nothing doing. Can't get across this lake now. It's frozen. And even the parts that you know are not fully solid frozen yet. The sheets of ice that are, you know, sort of next to those passageways are it's so narrow, there's no way a boat can get through. It's it's an impossibility. So, I'm not doing it. So, Schnelka says to the guy, he says, "Listen, fine. If you're not willing to take this trip, how about this? We'll pay whatever you want. Just give us a little canoe. Like a canoe that just fits two people, and we'll do our thing." The guy said, "Listen, you want to do such a thing?" Like, you know, maybe you have to sign a waiver. I don't know you know whatever it is. So fine you want to do that. So the guy gets a canoe gives it tomela and says you know do what you want see what you can do. Meanwhile thinking that there's no way they're even going to be able to get you know past 5t into the lake. So Rashela and Ramshe get in the canoe and Mishl is thinking the same thing as the uh the captain is as the other as the the the ferryman is which is how are we doing this so Rashel knows his student is a little bit worried so meanwhile this is happening in front of many eyewitnesses this is happening in front of all the non-Jews that are over there the businessmen everyone so turns to and he says just like crossed through the yams And as a result of that they sang. So that's what we're going to do now. We're going to sing and began to say and with every stanza every of would repeat and so on and so forth. While they were singing together, the canoe that they're on begins to move forward. they're, you know, uh, pushing the canoe along. And despite the fact that the sheets of ice are coming closer and closer and it's becoming narrower and narrower as they move towards these narrow passageways, the sheets of ice spread apart and they make a path for and to get to the other side. Now, meanwhile, the people are watching this going on, this open miracle, and they're they're shocked by it. When they get to the other side, there's eyewitnesses on the other side seeing this whole scenario. And they come and they see these two rabbis come out of out of a canoe singing their song, witnessing this open miracle. And they ask them like, "What are you here for?" So they said, "We're here to uh we have to get to the capital. We have to get to the, you know, a certain politician to be able to speak to him." And these people, these locals are so amazed and so shocked by the wonders that they just saw. They said, "No problem. We'll we'll take you we'll take you there right away." They take a horse and wagon, whatever it is, and they get all the way to where the capital is, to where the the location where this politician is. They tell the what went on, eyewitnesses, and the politician says, "Listen, for rabbis like that, I I'll listen to what you have to say." They have a meeting with them and so on and so forth, and eventually they're able to figure out a way to know the decree. That's a story with. So listen, miracles like that is not something that uh you know your average person uh you know is able to perform. But whenever you hear a story of you always have to ask yourselves and therefore what does it mean for me? What could I take out of it? So one of the most amazing things that that you see in this story is is how and the perform this miracle. They didn't perform this miracle with like some divine name. They didn't perform this miracle with like sort of you know meditating on something and somehow uh you know connecting to some higher space. They performed this miracle by believing that Hashem will perform the miracle for them to such a degree that they were singing thanking Hashem as a response for this miracle. Just like the Jewish people sang a song when they got to the other side of their sea. So, so too said we're going to just assume God's going to take care of us to such a degree that we're going to we're going to celebrate it. And that's how the miracle was uh experienced. And so that's the we have to do not to to assume it will be good. So much so to even celebrate how it was good already. And when we have such confidence in Hashem's love for us and such fortitude in thinking positively and knowing that God has our back and he's only going to take care of us and it's only going to be even better tomorrow. That itself is what brings a better tomorrow should help us. We should have such a confidence for this coming week and from there we should draw down