Woken for Davening, and the Two Rolls

It is told that Rav Meir was orphaned of his father as a child and raised by his mother. One early morning, before daylight, he felt his mother gently waking him to rise for davening and Torah learning. Seeing that it was considerably earlier than usual, the young Meir turned over onto the other side to continue his sleep. After a few minutes, he felt again that he was being awoken. This time he got up, but was astonished to find his mother still asleep in bed. She had not woken him at all.

The realization struck him that he was being prodded from Heaven to rise and serve his Master. From that day on Rav Meir decided to devote his entire existence to avodas Hashem.

His mother earned a meager living by making and selling liquor. Every morning, after he finished davening, she gave her son two rolls.

One day she came to him at the usual time and said sadly, “Today you did not daven as well as usual, and you cannot have your rolls.” Her accuracy astonished him. He asked, “How do you know, dear mother, that today I did not daven with as much kavonoh as I should have?”

His mother then told him that every day, while he davened, she cooked the liquor, and in the merit of his tefillos it always came out excellent. “Today, however, everything burned, and I understood immediately that your tefillos did not rise straight to Heaven as usual.” He promised to invest greater effort in his tefillos, and then he received his rolls.