The Blind Man and His Wife

During his years of self-imposed exile, the Vilna Gaon once entered a beis medrash and sat down to learn as an unknown guest. After a while he noticed an old woman bring a small afternoon meal to a holy-looking blind man who sat wrapped in tallis and tefillin. As the man ate, he remarked on the sweet voice of a stranger, one he did not recognize. “This traveler must be a righteous man,” he said. “Please invite him to eat. He must be hungry.”

The woman invited the Gaon, but he hesitated, worried that his hosts would not have enough for themselves. Seeing his reluctance, the old man explained, “My good wife works at the miller’s. The flour mill grinds wheat constantly, and as her payment the owner lets her collect all the flour that spills. So we have plenty and to spare.” He was filled with joy, and he ate the gruel of flour and water as though it were a great meal.

Afterward the blind man invited the Gaon to his home for Shabbos. Again the Gra hesitated, and again the man reassured him. “My wife also works at the slaughterhouse, helping the butcher pluck the fowl. For her pay he gives her the feet and the head, so we have plenty of meat for Shabbos, and all the poor are our guests.”

That Shabbos the Gaon saw how the old blind man and his elderly wife shared with their poor guests a Shabbos meal of watery flour gruel with chicken feet and heads, and to them it was a royal feast. All his life the Vilna Gaon said that he envied the good character of that couple and how happy they were with their lot, and he wished that he were as content as they were.