The Chassid from Yanovitch

It is told that a chassid once said to Rav DovBer: "Considering who you are and how you have lived, what is the big deal? Your father, well, we all know who your father is. You were certainly conceived under the holiest of circumstances, and I am sure that your father secured a most lofty soul to bring down into the world. Then you were raised in a rebbe's home, and great care was taken to mold your character and safeguard you from any negative influences. All your life you have been exposed to scholarship and sanctity, and to this very day you are preoccupied only with the study of Torah and the teachings of Chassidus. So you have amassed a certain amount of knowledge, and you daven with fervor and devotion. Big deal.

"Now, take me, for example. My father was a simple man, and we can well imagine what was on his mind when he scraped out some dreg of a soul from the bottom of the barrel. My upbringing? I was raised like a goat and basically left to my own devices. And do you know what I do with my life? Let me tell you how I earn my living. I lend money to the peasants during the planting season, and then, during the winter months, I make my rounds of their villages and farms to collect the debts before they have a chance to squander their entire harvest on vodka. This means setting out several hours before sunrise, well before the permissible time for davening, equipped with a flask, for without a drink one cannot begin to talk business with a peasant. After drinking to his health, one must share a l'chayim with the woman in the house as well, otherwise she can ruin the whole deal for you. Only then can you sit down to settle part of the account.

"After three or four such stops I make my way home, immerse myself in the mikveh and prepare to daven. But after such preliminaries, what sort of davening would you expect?"

The words of this chassid, who was in truth renowned for his refined nature and his soulful davening, made a deep impression on Rav DovBer. The young man immediately traveled home to his father and poured out his heart. He bewailed his spiritual state, saying that his service of Hashem was worthless, falling so short of what was expected of him.

The next time the chassid from Yanovitch came to Rav Shneur Zalman, the Rebbe said to him: "I am most grateful to you. You have made a chassid out of my Berl."