The Bed in Ostila

Rav Pinchos of Ostila told that his father, Rav Yosef of Ostila, once learned that the Chozeh of Lublin would be passing through Ostila. Rav Yosef wished very much that the Chozeh would stay at his home, and he began to prepare. He knew that the Chozeh's custom was to lie down as soon as he arrived, to recover from the journey, so he hired a God-fearing carpenter to make a new bed for the purpose.

He explained his intention to the carpenter. "When the holy Chozeh lies down on another person's bed, his holy senses are attuned to the spiritual impressions it holds. If he finds a flaw in the impression left by earlier occupants, he will say that the bed is stabbing him like spikes. So I ask you to immerse in the mikveh every day before you begin your work, and to think clean and pure thoughts as you work." At first the carpenter was afraid to take on so delicate a task and feared he was not up to it, but Rav Yosef persuaded him. As he worked, the carpenter was constantly distracted by the thought, "What a holy tzaddik will rest on this bed."

At last the bed was finished. Rav Yosef was overjoyed. He made it up with new linens, pillows and blankets, and locked the room so that no one would touch the bed or lie on it even by accident. After a few days the long-awaited moment came, and the Chozeh accepted the invitation to rest at Rav Yosef's home. "Please, Rebbe, come. I have prepared a room and a bed for you to rest from the long, tiring trip."

But as soon as the Chozeh lay down, he jumped up and cried, "Gevald. Es shtecht mich. Oy, the bed is stabbing me." Rav Yosef was astonished. Seeking a solution, he said, "Please, Rebbe, rest in my own bed." The Chozeh lay down in Rav Yosef's bed with a sigh of satisfaction. "Ahh. Now that is better. This bed is soothing all my tired limbs. I can feel purity and holiness seeping through me." Soon he was fast asleep.

When the Chozeh woke, Rav Yosef put his question to him. "Rebbe, I assure you that I had this bed made new, just for you, and the room was locked. No one has ever used this bed. I even hired a God-fearing Jewish carpenter to build it with the best of intentions. What could have gone wrong?"

"No, no, Heaven forbid," answered the Chozeh. "The bed is certainly kosher. But each time I lay down, sadness came over me and it pained me as if I were being poked. The carpenter is indeed a God-fearing Jew, but he worked on it during the Nine Days, between Rosh Chodesh Av and Tisha B'Av. As he mourned the churban, his dark thoughts left their mark on the bed. That is what I cannot bear. I sense pain and suffering on it."