You Do Not See Whom You Address

When Rav Yaakov Kopel Chassid entered a small shul in a town that was not his own, the regulars wondered who he was and why he had come. He was in a great hurry, and he was relieved to find a minyan already assembled for Shacharis. There was no rav present, and not wishing to wait, he went up to the bima to lead the davening.

The regulars were surprised and offended that an unknown man would presume to lead the prayers. He had already begun when the president of the shul arrived. Seeing a stranger at the bima, the president rushed up to him and said, "What chutzpah. Who do you think you are, to begin before the rav or I have arrived?" He kept berating the man, and Rav Yaakov only stayed silent.

His silence angered the president even more, and he burst out, "Don't you see who is speaking to you?" At last Rav Yaakov answered in a quiet voice, "You also do not see to whom you are speaking."

No sooner were the words spoken than everything went dark before the president's eyes. He rushed to a doctor, then to a specialist, then to several specialists, and none could find a cause for his sudden blindness. He tried every treatment he was advised to try, and nothing helped.

Then it dawned on him that his blindness had begun right after his angry words with the stranger in the shul. Surely he had offended a hidden tzaddik, and this was the result of his anger. In despair he traveled to the Baal Shem Tov, whose fame he had heard. "Rebbe, I have heard that you can perform miracles," he said. "I have been blind since I angered a certain hidden tzaddik. My problem is that I do not know who he is or where to find him."

The Baal Shem Tov answered, "The man is my talmid, Reb Yaakov Kopel, and you sinned against him with your angry speech. Go to him and beg his forgiveness. If he forgives you, your blindness will be cured." The president traveled to Rav Yaakov and asked his forgiveness, and Rav Yaakov forgave him. His sight returned as quickly as it had gone.