The Shpola Zeide Takes Heaven to Court

It is told that a terrible famine struck the Shpola region in the 1780s. The rabbinate of the Russian communities wrote to the Shpola Zeide, asking him to plead on behalf of the Jews of the area. The Zeide did not only daven. He sent word to ten leading Rebbes, asking them to come to Shpola and sit as a beis din (court), because he intended to bring the Master of the World Himself to judgment.

On the appointed day the Rebbes arrived, having fasted for three days and kept their minds fixed on tefillah. The Zeide presented his claim. If the Jewish people are Hashem's children, he said, a father must provide for his children. If they are His servants, a master must feed his servants. The Master may say that the servants are not doing their tasks, but that does not release Him from caring for them. "I demand that the Almighty fulfill His obligation."

The Rebbes deliberated and ruled that Heaven was at fault and must begin to look after the Jewish people. Three days later word came that many tons of wheat were on their way from the Siberian steppes. The price of grain dropped at once in anticipation of the shipment, and before long the famine was only a bitter memory.