Hidden Souls in Simple Places

by Dovid Zaklikowski for Hasidic Archives

The rabbi of Homyel, at the time part of the Russian Empire, was the scholar Rabbi Isaac Epstein. His teachings were renowned, and so too were his emotional connection to those in need and his legendary kindness of heart.

At the age of twenty, he became a disciple of Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, who appreciated his contributions to society and once told him, “You have much to accomplish and need to live a long life.” The Rebbe explained that a long life means living without wasting it on unnecessary obligations or painful entanglements.

Despite all his virtues, he lacked patience for the unintelligent. On one occasion, while conversing with someone, a wagon driver approached and said something to him. Rabbi Isaac dismissed the remark and referred to the driver as a chatterbox.

The incident was later related to Rabbi Schneur Zalman, who summoned Rabbi Isaac. “If you knew the secrets of souls,” the Rebbe told him, “you would know that your own soul is that of an ignoramus. By contrast, the wagon driver not only has a soul whose essence is on a higher level than yours, but even the revealed part of his soul surpasses yours. When he recites the Shema, the angels fall silent.

The Rebbe concluded, we can learn from a robber. He does not hide the wheat he has stolen in obvious places, nor behind locked doors. Rather, he buries it in a pile of dirt, and over time it sprouts.

The message was clear: G-d does not hide special souls in obvious places, but within simple people, where they may later sprout. This lesson was a difficult one for Rabbi Isaac. He later said that he immediately stopped mocking others, but it took more than six decades before he fully rid himself of feelings of disdain toward those he considered intellectually lesser.

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