When the Ruzhiner was still young – perhaps six or seven years old, he was returning from school and when he passed by a garden he suddenly took off his hat – wiped it with his sleeve, and began to laugh heartily. When the Ruzhiner began to laugh R. Shalom who witnessed the whole event also burst out laughing.
Hasidim asked the Ruzhiner why he was laughing – but he kept silent – so R. Shalom asked him: “Shushkini! (That is how R. Shalom used to refer to R. Israel Ruzhiner) What is this? Jews are asking you something and you do not reply?” The Ruzhiner told the following story: There was once a very poor man. When Passover arrived he alas had nothing for the holiday – so his wife told him to take the silver cup that he had for Kiddush – and he should pawn it with a gentile. He went to the gentile, pawned the cup, and received three rubbles.
He took the three rubles to town to buy things for Passover. On the way, there was a great snowstorm and he struggled through each meter of road. On the road, he met a gentile with a dead horse. The gentile called him over – and asked him if he would like to buy the hide of the horse and he offered to skin the hide for him as well. The snow was getting worse and he would surely have frozen had not a large carriage passed by and taken him and the hide, which was very heavy and full of ice.
When he arrived in town, he sold the hide for six rubles. So he bought all kinds of food for Passover and took along the three rubles that remained as profit. When he came home, his wife was overjoyed and when he told her that he still had with him three rubles profit she advised him to exchange it for the cup he had pawned with the gentile – so that he would be able to recite the Kiddush at the Seder. So he listened to her and did so.
When the Jew died and came to the other world it turned out that the Jew did not have any merits – he had never in his life fulfilled any commandments. They were about to lead him to Gehenna – when an advocate ran over and related the story of the pawned cup. But when they placed it on the scale his sins still outweighed [his merits]. The advocate said – “Well, throw the hide on the scale as well” – and when they threw the hide [on it] the collected water spilled over and fell to the ground. And the Ruzhiner felt it on his hat and that is why he laughed.
I.F.
Yirmiyahu Katz
