An old melamed lived in Helem. His wife was knitting stockings. And because of this melamed and his wife, the city of Helem received great honor: for all eternity, for the edification of posterity, four important decrees were passed there.
[Melamed is a teacher at a primary theological school.]
It was like this. One day melamed said to his wife:
“I have lived in the world for almost seventy years, and not once on the holiday of Shevuot have I had the opportunity to taste pancakes stuffed with cottage cheese and fried in butter.
[Shevuot is a religious spring Jewish holiday.]
The wife sighed and answered:
“And I’ve never had a chance to eat them.”
Melamed stroked his long beard and said:
- That's what I came up with. We have a large chest with a strong lock, in which your dowry was once delivered to me. Let's make two slits in its lid - one on the right, the other on the left. And let’s agree that every day I will put one rod from my earnings into the right slot, and every day you will put one rod from your earnings into the left slot. And on the eve of the holiday of Shevuot, with God’s help, we will open the chest, take out the money, buy flour, eggs, butter, cottage cheese and bake ourselves the kind of pancakes that only the rich eat.
[Pruta - small Israeli coin]
The wife nodded her head approvingly:
- Amen. May this be the will of the Lord!
But, getting up from the table where this conversation was taking place, the melamed thought: “Let the wife throw her coins alone, and I, who teach the children the word of God, have the right not to do this.” And Melamed’s wife, getting up from the table, also decided to cheat. “Let my husband throw his coins alone,” she thought, “and I’ll save my labor pennies, which I get so hard for, for another matter.”
Winter had passed, spring was drawing to a close, and the holiday of Shevuot was approaching. Melamed and his wife brought a large key to the chest, put it in the keyhole, turned it, lifted the lid and looked inside. Alas! The chest was empty. There wasn't a single coin in it.
The stocking woman got angry, grabbed her husband’s beard and shouted:
- Deceiver! Where is your money? Melamed also became angry; he grabbed his wife by the wig and screamed:
- Where is your money, witch?!
So, standing by the open chest, they tossed each other until they both fell into the chest. And then the lid on them slams shut.
Melamed's house stood on the same street as the synagogue, and the door in it was wide open, as has been the custom in Helem since time immemorial - on warm days, all the doors are wide open. And since the day it was born, that chest stood in the carpentry shop on four small wheels to make it easier to move. And since, having found themselves in the chest, Melamed and his wife began to push each other as hard as they could, the chest moved from its place and began to move around the room - from one wall to the other. And so he rolled up to the open door. There was no threshold in the house, and the chest rolled into the yard, and from the yard into the street. He rolled along the pavement and drove straight into the synagogue with a roar.
The residents of Helem, seeing a large chest rolling down the street by itself, were alarmed. Fearing that some kind of misfortune might happen, they did not even dare to touch him. And when the chest entered the synagogue and there continued to move from the wall to the pulpit, from the pulpit to the stove, everyone was seized with mortal fear.
The rabbi came, his assistant, the spiritual judge, came running, and after them all the experts in the Holy Scriptures appeared. After consulting, they ordered the synagogue servant to sacrifice himself for the glory of God and open the mysterious chest. The servant took on this high mission; He performed ablution, put on a shroud, put on a tallit and, loudly blessing the name of the Lord, approached the chest and lifted the lid. And what did he see? Melamed pulled his wife by the wig, and she pulled her husband’s beard with all her strength...
[A tallit is a special cape that Jewish believers wear during prayer]
And although this happened on the eve of the holiday and everyone was very busy preparing for it, an emergency meeting of the sages of Helem had to be convened with the participation of a rabbi, a spiritual judge and experts in the Holy Scriptures.
And the sages decreed:
Firstly, from now on, dowry chests will not be made on wheels.
Secondly, all external doors should have high thresholds.
Thirdly, melameds should never live on the street where the synagogue is located.
Fourthly, the old melamed and his wife should no longer even want to eat pancakes on Shevuot.
These decrees were recorded in a special memorial book so that they would be kept there for the edification of posterity, forever and ever, until the coming of the Messiah (the savior who must descend to earth).
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru