Voices in the Tavern

by Dovid Zaklikowski for Hasidic Archives

Once, the owner of a tavern went to Rabbi Yisroel Baal Shem Tov with a complaint: all day he found himself in the company of a bunch of drunkards. “The entire time I have to listen to their foul mouths,” he told the Rebbe. “I want to move and find a new occupation.”

Rabbi Yisroel told him not to move: “G-d fills the entire world. Even from the drunkards and their conversations, one can learn in their service of G-d.”

He returned to his tavern, and that night he sat down at a table to rest a little from his journey. Two drunks sat next to him, vodka in their hands, and began to discuss one of their neighbors.

Ivan told his friend that the man was poor; he had nothing besides a pillow to rest his head on. The day before, the tax collector had come to his home. When the poor man had nothing to give, the official confiscated his pillow.

“Does the governor really need the poor man’s pillow?” Ivan asked.

His friend explained that it was the job of the tax collector to remind everyone that there is a governor. “Anyone who pays their taxes remembers him well. Since the poor man has nothing, if he does not take away his last possession, he could forget the governor. This must never be allowed to happen!”

The tavern owner recalled what Rabbi Yisroel had said: “Yes, I can never forget that there is no place where G-d does not exist.”

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