“Wait, wait — before you brush that question off, just take a moment please… I want you to be honest with me”

T

he chassid leaned forward onto the countertop with a sigh.

“Reb Yid, there’s no question in my mind that you are a special, erlicher Yid. But there are many righteous men who work on this block, who share the same special qualities you just enumerated. This city is filled with Yidden who are honest in business, who try to utilize free moments from their busy day to serve their Creator through Torah and tefillah.”

“I agree 100 percent.” The butcher shrugged his large shoulders. “I know personally that the men who work here are all G-d fearing, upright men. I’ve known them for years. Like myself, they love Hashem, and serve Him to the best of their abilities. Like I said previously, if you are looking for something special about me, well, I don’t think you’re going to find it.”

At this point, the butcher chuckled heartily, his eyes sparkling.

“If you are searching for a hidden tzaddik, something out of the stories of the Baal Shem Tov where incredible talmidei chachamim were uncovered in the most unlikely of places, you are not going to find that here. Just me, a simple Jew — or as simple as a Jew can be, anyhow, as we are all royal sons of the Master of the World.”

The chassid did not budge. “Think back to the past… perhaps there is something you are forgetting about. When you were a youngster, perhaps? There must have been an act of chesed you did that surpassed normal human comprehension. Wait, wait — before you brush that question off, just take a moment please… I want you to be honest with me.”