The Grave and the Cross
A man haunted by a dream found peace through Reb Zusha, who then answered the praise of a great scholar with modesty.
A story ofRav Meshulem Zusha Weissblum of Anipoliהרב משולם זוסיא בן אליעזר ליפמן ווייסבלוםProfile ›
A man in Reb Zusha’s time could no longer sleep. Night after night he dreamed that his recently departed father stood before him, demanding that he leave the Jewish people and threatening him if he refused. He went to Reb Zusha and poured out his distress.
Reb Zusha listened and said, “Your father’s grave must have something in it that does not belong there. Open it and look for a cross or a Christian symbol.” The man did so, and in the grave he found coins stamped with a cross. They had probably fallen from the pocket of a gravedigger. Once the coins were removed, the dreams ended.
The story spread, and it is told that it reached the Gaon of Vilna. The Gaon remarked that a similar case appears in the Yerushalmi, and that what surprised him more was that a chassid knew it.
When these words were brought back to Reb Zusha he did not take the honor. “I have never learned the Yerushalmi,” he said. “But I know the answer from the place where the Sages themselves found it.” He pointed no higher than to the source of truth, and he took nothing for himself.
Source: Told in Chassidic tradition; in English as adapted by Yrachmiel Tilles from Sipurei Chassidim (Rav S. Y. Zevin) together with oral traditions (Ascent of Safed weekly story 529), and also told by Rav Yitzchak Ginsburgh.
Someone may thank you this week for advice, a favor or something you taught. Notice the small pull to collect the credit. Try what Reb Zusha did: answer warmly and send it onward. You might say, “I am glad it helped, and thank Hashem, because the idea was not mine.” Say it only if it is true. You will feel lighter for not carrying a compliment around, and the other person will feel your sincerity.