By Dovid Zaklikowski for Hasidic Archives
The Maggid of Mezritch once sent one of his prized disciples, Reb Yisroel of Polotsk, to guide a man who was impatient and quick to anger.
On a particularly rainy day, Reb Yisroel slowly walked past this man’s home. Standing at the window, the man asked him why he was out during the downpour and invited him inside.
Reb Yisroel went up to the door, but stood there waiting.
The man thought he was out of his mind and angrily said, “Aren’t you tired from your long journey? Come inside and sit down.”
Reb Yisroel calmly replied, “So it will be,” and sat down, still carrying his bag over his shoulder.
“Why are you still holding your bag?” the man asked in annoyance. Reb Yisroel placed his belongings on the table.
“Why did you put your wet bag on the table? Place it in the corner.” Reb Yisroel went to the corner, placed the bag there, and stood waiting.
“Why are you just standing there? Go change your clothes and drink a cup of tea.”
As he did so, Reb Yisroel again said, “So it will be.”
And so it continued, day after day, while Reb Yisroel stayed in the man’s home. Eventually, the man realized that his constant anger at Reb Yisroel’s behavior was improper. In frustration, he exclaimed, “I feel like you were sent to me just to make me suffer over my imperfections!”
Reb Yisroel then revealed to him that the Maggid had sent him to help the man recognize his struggle with anger. “You must believe that everything comes from Hashem,” he told the man, “If you become angry, it shows you are lacking faith in divine providence.”
He then explained what it says in Tehillim (144:15): “Happy is the nation for whom this is so.” What does this mean?
When you believe that everything is as it should be, Reb Yisroel explained, that all is from the hand of Hashem, you will not fall into anger. Then indeed, as the verse ends: “Happy is the nation whose G-d is the L-rd.”
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