Reb Eliezer Lippa was a simple but devout Jew who lived in the town of
Taranow in Galicia. He was not well versed in Torah and didn't know the meaning of
most of his daily prayers, but he always prayed with the
minyan (prayer quorum) and he was scrupulous to say all the proper
responses to the prayer leader. He
never conversed about worldly matters in the Shul and he accorded the
Torah scholars and Rabbi their due honor.
Reb Eliezer Lippa was a laborer who knew many trades, but he was most well
known as a water carrier. He worked hard, and managed to make a decent
living, as he had four steady customers who were well-to-do merchants and
paid him above the average rate for his services.
One day, Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov arrived in Taranow. This was before the
Chassidic master had revealed himself to the world, and he
appeared as a simple itinerant, but with a gift for telling stories. He
used to congregate with the other laborers and tell them stories from the Talmud.
He would also speak to them about how much G-d was pleased with
the sincere prayers and straightforward faith of ordinary Jews.
Reb Eliezer Lippa was guiding his wagon with its full barrel of water through
the center of town when he spotted his friend and fellow water carrier Reb Zalman Dov along with some other men, gathered around a simply dressed itinerant and listening intently with heads inclined to catch his every word.
His interest sparked, Reb Eliezer Lippa went over to join the circle of
listeners. The Baal Shem Tov was telling the story related in the Talmud of a wealthy man who
lived in the days when the Holy Temple in Jerusalem still stood.
"The wealthy man was taking a fattened ox to the Temple for a sacrifice.
It was a massive beast, and when it decided, for reasons of its own, to
stop still in its tracks, nobody was able to convince it to walk further
towards their destination. No amount of pushing and prodding could make
that animal budge.
"A poor man who was on his way home was watching the scene. In his hand
was a bunch of freshly picked greens. These he now held to the muzzle of the ox, and when
the animal began to nibble, he drew them away and thereby led the animal to its
destination at the Holy Temple.
"That night the owner of the ox had a dream. In his dream he heard a
voice which called out, 'The sacrifice of the poor man, who gave up the
bundle of greens he was bringing to his impoverished family, was a more
desirable sacrifice than your fattened ox.'
"The wealthy man brought a large fattened ox for a burnt offering. He was
so joyful at being able to bring such an animal that he also brought a
sheep for a peace offering and made a huge feast for his family and
friends. He also distributed the proper gifts from his sacrifices to the
priests. His joy was so intense that he held back nothing. The
poor man, on the other hand, had only a bunch of greens to
bring home for his family. What were his few stalks compared to the fattened
animal of the wealthy man?
"Nevertheless," concluded the Baal Shem Tov, "G-d desires the heart.
Any mitzvah a person may do, whether great or small, simple or
difficult, is judged by how it is performed. A mitzvah done for G-d's sake,
with great joy and purity of heart, is very precious
to the Creator. G-d cries out to the angels, 'Look at the mitzvah
my son/daughter has done!' G-d, from his place in the heavens saw that
although the wealthy man had offered much, the poor man had offered much
more."
Reb Eliezer Lippa's mind knew no rest. How he longed to be able to do a mitzvah
like the poor man in the story, with pure intention and a joyful overflowing
heart! The weeks passed and still Reb Eliezer Lippa
knew no peace as his heart ached with the desire to be able to do such a mitzvah.
One day, as Reb Eliezer Lippa was delivering water to one of his wealthy
customers, he had an idea, an idea so perfect that his whole being became
flushed with a great sense of pleasure and relief. Reb Eliezer
Lippa's four wealthy customers provided him with half of his livelihood since
they paid him far more than the going rate for a barrel of water. On the other
hand, his friend Reb Zalman Dov supplied the town's four synagogues, which paid
him half price for their water. "I can exchange four of my customers for four of
his," thought Reb Eliezer Lippa. "Four
wealthy homes for four synagogues." He was anxious to serve G-d by
providing the water that the congregants would wash their hands with.
Certainly the mitzvah was of more value than the profits he would
give up.
He went home and told his wife about the story he heard from the visiting storyteller, and
how doing a mitzvah with joy is like bringing a sacrifice in the
Holy Temple even though it no longer stands. His wife readily agreed to
the idea, as did Reb Zalman Dov who sorely needed the extra income. The deal was
struck and the exchange of customers was made. No one but Reb Eliezer Lippa and
his wife knew what had happened and they were overjoyed at the prospects for
their new "business." There were days when Reb Eliezer Lippa's wife went to the river to participate in the mitzvah of drawing the water for the synagogues. As they hauled the water, they would concentrate on the mitzvah of preparing the water for
the congregants to wash their hands with before prayers, and their joy
was boundless. For they understood that G-d desires the heart.
Amongst Chassidim there is a tradition that it was in the merit of their
mitzvah, Reb Eliezer Lippa and his wife were
blessed with children, for she had formerly been barren. They gave birth to two sons,
who grew to be luminaries who lit up the Jewish world and inspired tens of
thousand to return to G-d and to serve Him with joy:
Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensc and
Rabbi Zusha of Anipoli, two
of the most illustrious disciples of the Baal Shem Tov's successor, Reb DovBer, the Maggid of Mezeritch.
