Rebbe Meir from Przemysl and Rebbe Israel from Ruzhin were bosom friends. At the same time, it was difficult to imagine people more different. Meir lived in poverty. He never allowed an extra penny to spend the night in his house - he immediately ran to share it with the poor. And Rabbi Israel lived like a king.
And then one day the friends met at a certain inn. Both were about to set off. Rebbe Meir sat in a simple cart drawn by one skinny filly. Rebbe Israel sat in a large lacquered carriage with four strong stallions.
Israel dismounted, approached Meir's horse and began to examine it with feigned sympathy. Then he turned to his friend and, barely hiding his mockery, said:
— I always travel with four strong horses. Therefore, when my crew gets into the mud, they pull it out without difficulty. And your filly, as I see it, is barely capable of dragging you and your cart even on a dry, well-trodden road. But along the way you inevitably encounter dirt. Why are you taking such risks?
Rebbe Meir got off the cart and approached his friend, who was still standing near his horse. Then he put his arm around the old favorite filly's neck and said softly:
- I think you're taking a risk. Traveling with this horse, which is obviously unable to pull the cart out of the mud, I watch the road very carefully and avoid dubious places. And you, my friend, are sure that you can get out of any quagmire, and therefore do not look where you are going.
Commentary by Rami Shapiro What to do with the dirt that comes our way every now and then?
Rebbe Meir believes that one should be careful and avoid it from the very beginning. Rebbe Yisrael argues that there is no escape from the mud on the roads, so you need to be prepared to go through it. Both are right, but even taken together their opinions do not fully explain the issue. Rebbe Meir says: not every dirt road should be traveled. If we are attentive and reasonable enough, we will see the mud before we get stuck in it, and we will try to avoid the dubious road. This advice is especially good in relation to what we are saying. If we think about the possible consequences of our words before we say anything, we can avoid some very unpleasant situations.
Rebbe Israel reminds us: despite any precautions, a person sometimes gets stuck in the mud. And that means you need to have the strength in such cases to get out to a dry place. This is especially true for financial issues. If, when you have money, you remember to put something aside in case of unforeseen difficulties, someday it will save you from very unpleasant moments in life.
So, both rabbis give us wise advice. However, despite all our caution, strength and preparedness, there are situations when a person still gets stuck on the road. In such cases, you have to go straight down into the mud and help the horse pull the cart.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru