PART I
Shaintzy the pious stood behind the counter and took care of customers who came to the tavern. She had taken on this position a few years earlier upon being left a childless widow with the passing of her husband Abish’l. The great wealth that became hers did not cause her to become haughty. On the contrary, she used her money to help young Torah scholars, primarily amongst the Chassidim and the talmidim of the holy Baal Shem Tov, who would often sit in the nearby beis midrash and occasionally send someone to buy mashke.
She hardly took any money from them for the mashke they took. She considered it a privilege to help these members of the Holy Brotherhood. She always generously added a fifth and more to the amount they asked for.
Often it was one of the people who davened in the beis midrash that was sent to buy mashke, but it was usually R’ Dovid Leikes himself, one of the dear students of the Baal Shem Tov, who would be sent to the tavern and who would carry the bottles of mashke with him to the beis midrash. R’ Dovid did not stand on ceremony and would often honor his compatriots with mashke, and he cherished this mitzva of bringing it in person.
They say that one time, as the Chassidim sat together and began talking, there was a need for mashke. R’ Dovid said to one of the Chassidim who stood nearby, “Yitzchok, contribute money towards buying mashke.”
The Chassid shrugged and motioned that he didn’t have a cent in his pockets. R’ Dovid pondered this and then said, “Ah, are you Chassidim? Do you have faith? I will tell you a story about truth faith.
“I was sitting with my friends at the table of my master, the Baal Shem Tov, and drinking mead. Mead was expensive and one bottle cost two gold coins, a fortune. When the mead on the table was finished, our master turned to me and said lovingly, ‘Dovid’l, give money to buy mead.’ I knew that I had not had a cent in my pockets for over six weeks, but without hesitation, I put my hand in my pocket, knowing that if the master said I should give money, then I had money to give. I found two gold coins in my pocket. That’s emuna!”
PART II
R’ Dovid Leikes was a tzaddik. At the Baal Shem Tov’s table he would sit humbly, like anybody else. Even when the talmidim of the Holy Brotherhood sat amongst themselves, he would sit humbly.
R’ Dovid always looked joyous. He sang a lot and danced in G-d’s honor. He excelled in the attributes of joy and trust in G-d. Often, his joy overflowed and he would burst into song and get up and caper about. Chassidim would say, “Fortunate is the one who saw R’ Dovid go forth in dance.”
He once said that if had the ability to do so, he would annul the days of fasting and tears except for Yom Kippur and Tisha B’Av. Even on the Yomim Nora’im, when Jewish people led by the disciples of the tzaddik were somber in their service of G-d, his face shone.
R’ Dovid internalized, more than others, the path of simcha in the service of Hashem which he learned from the Baal Shem Tov. Thanks to his simcha, he even saved the Jewish people from a terrible decree. This is what happened:
A proclamation was issued that the volumes of Talmud would be burned and none would be left. The cursed evildoers wanted us to forget our Torah.
People tried to intervene and have the decree annulled, but it seemed that the gates of mercy had been locked and all pleading and bribes did not help. On a certain day, at twelve noon, the police were supposed to descend upon the Jews and confiscate the s’farim.
On the official bonfire day, the Baal Shem Tov suddenly arrived at R’ Dovid’s home. The Jews had been warned that morning that they had better not have any more Gemaras in their homes. R’ Dovid took a Gemara and hid under the hot water urn in his house and sat and learned with great fervor, as though he was in his usual spot in the beis midrash.
At precisely twelve noon, the church bells began to peal. Wild voices began to be heard in the streets. R’ Dovid emerged from his hiding place and ran over to the Baal Shem Tov who was pacing back and forth.
Pale and trembling, R’ Dovid stood before his master and in a broken voice he said, “Rebbe, why are you silent? The evil decree is descending upon us. Pour forth supplications, bang down the gates of heaven!”
All at once, the Baal Shem Tov emerged from his thoughts and faced his talmid with a joyous countenance. “Dovid’l, with your fire and enthusiasm you quenched their fire.”
The decree was suddenly annulled without anyone knowing why.
PART III
R’ Dovid did not have an easy life. Terrible tragedies were the lot of this great man. Within a few years all seven of his children died – four boys and three girls. He did not attend the wedding of a single one of them.
Even during these awful years, his spirit remained unbroken. His faith and trust stood by him during these most difficult moments as he stood at the open graves of his children. The same glow that always graced his face was still there. All were astonished to see how powerful his spirit was.
Even after these tragic events, R’ Dovid continued his avodas Hashem. The day after Shiva was over he would get up and return to the beis midrash, to daven and learn in joy. He spent the rest of his days with his righteous wife, who drew strength from her husband’s simcha.
There was only one time that R’ Dovid burst into tears. It was when he carried the coffin of his dear master, the Baal Shem Tov, and saw the masses walking behind the departed and sobbing. At that moment, there emerged a small crack in his simcha. He was affected by the sight of all those people, orphans all, without a leader. He wasn’t crying over the passing of his Rebbe. He knew that the Baal Shem Tov had not departed and was still with them, but he cried over the bereft people who had lost their captain in the stormy sea.
However, he quickly recovered and returned to his usual state of faith. His face shone and the sadness was gone. At the conclusion of the Shiva and Shloshim, R’ Dovid went off to Shaintzy’s store and took a large bottle of mashke. He shared it with his fellow Chassidim as is customary among the Chassidim of Poland.
After the passing of the Baal Shem Tov, R’ Dovid packed his bags and became a Dayan in Bahr. Here too, he continued his davening and learning with simcha and bitachon. The people of the community greatly admired their esteemed rav.
PART IV
When R’ Dovid was 73, he experienced yet another tragedy. His devoted wife passed away. R’ Dovid remained alone, widowed and childless.
He sat Shiva according to Halacha. Although all knew that R’ Dovid was never sad, his colleagues came to visit and console him. They saw that he was still joyous. When he davened for the amud, he continued davening with the same sweet tune that he always used.
The people who went to console the tzaddik knew that R’ Dovid did not want them to talk about death, the World to Come and reward and punishment. R’ Dovid spoke about the Baal Shem Tov and his ways in fear of Heaven and Chassidus. He told stories about the life of his Rebbe and spiced them with Torah lessons, as much as the Halacha would allow. All knew that more than they had come to console him, R’ Dovid had comforted them.
Word of the passing of R’ Dovid’s wife spread far and wide. There were two Maggidim who would go from town to town in order to inspire Jews to t’shuva. They heard the news and felt they should go and comfort R’ Dovid, even though they had never met him and had only heard about him.
They traveled to Bahr and arrived on the final day of Shiva. As soon as they put down their belongings, they hurried over to R’ Dovid’s house. The house was full of people, members of the Holy Brotherhood and others.
They were unfamiliar with R’ Dovid’s ways. They shared in his sorrow and spoke words of consolation, sadness and mourning. They discussed Midrashim about this world and the next and spent a long time on man’s worthlessness.
R’ Dovid listened attentively to what they said and it was as though all the pain and sorrow he had experienced came to a head. A crack gaped in the wall of his fortitude and joy and he burst into tears. All joined him and wondered at the unusual sight of R’ Dovid crying.
At some point he recovered and stopped crying, and quickly returned to his usual happy state. He began humming a niggun which turned into a loud song as people joined in. The Maggidim gazed upon this peculiar sight, tears followed by joyful song in the midst of Shiva. It was beyond their understanding.
When R’ Dovid saw their surprise, he paused and exclaimed, “Listen my dear brothers. Our holy Rebbe did not teach us sadness and tears. A Jew is a precious vessel in which resides the G-dly light; he is more precious than an angel. A Jew’s neshama is hewn from under the Throne of Glory and the Sh’china shines upon his head in this world and the next. In order to approach the Creator, we need to rejoice over being His children. Fortunate are we to be Jews! Rejoice because we are royal children!”
PART V
Days and weeks passed. R’ Dovid went back to his place in the beis midrash. Even when he was a distinguished Dayan in Bahr he still brought mashke on festive days, and even on ordinary days, when he would sit with Chassidim and the members of his community.
His joyous learning and davening, along with the drinking of mashke, were the weapons he employed in his battle with Satan who tried to topple him into despair because of his tragic life.
After the passing of his wife, R’ Dovid knew that Satan was exerting his force upon him and he knew a tough battle would be taking place between the forces of holiness and the “other side.” He was nervous about being enticed by the wiles of Satan and he decided to take action.
PART VI
Notke, a learned and pleasant Jew, showed up at Shaintzy’s tavern and conveyed R’ Dovid’s wish to marry her. Shaintzy wiped her hands on her stained apron and looked wide-eyed at Notke. Was he serious or having a good laugh at her expense? When she saw how serious he was, she blushed.
A day later she sent her answer to Notke. “I don’t know how I merited having an outstanding tzaddik interested in marrying me. I am a simple woman who pours drinks, a widow. I have no children and R’ Dovid is quite an old man …”
The shadchan conveyed her response to R’ Dovid who was sitting in the beis midrash wrapped in his tallis and wearing his t’fillin and learning. R’ Dovid thought for a while and then his face brightened. He got up and said to Notke, “Tell her that I believe with complete faith that we will have children and will bring them to Torah, chuppa and good deeds.”
Notke was taken aback. He was not used to hearing clear guarantees such as this. He hurried back to the tavern and told Shaintzy what R’ Dovid had said. She shrugged and smiled and dismissed Notke. She wasn’t interested.
Customers left for home and the last of the drinkers also left the tavern. Shaintzy cleaned up and then sat down to recite T’hillim as she did every night. She fought off the sleep that threatened to overtake her.
Not many minutes later, she was surprised to hear the sound of music and rejoicing. She looked about and saw people dancing but did not know the cause for the joy. As she looked about her, she suddenly noticed a chuppa over her head and members of the Holy Brotherhood dancing around. In the center stood a venerable man whose face shone like the sun. Considering the honor they gave him, she concluded that it was none other than the Baal Shem Tov.
She looked around and wondered who the groom was, but could not identify him. Then the venerable man came forth from the dancers and pointed to the groom. She looked and saw a man whose face shone like the primordial light, and who danced with a holy fire about him and angels standing above him. She took a good look and saw that it was R’ Dovid Leikes.
The Baal Shem Tov came over to her and said, “I promise that you will have children and will derive much nachas from them.”
Shaintzy awoke from her deep sleep. It was nighttime and she was bent over her T’hillim. She realized that she had just had a powerful dream.
In the morning, she sent for Notke and gave her consent to the shidduch. Before the shidduch was closed, she and R’ Dovid met and R’ Dovid told her about the dream he had of his Rebbe and the Holy Brotherhood dancing at their wedding and the Baal Shem Tov promising him he would have children.
PART VII
The wedding took place. R’ Dovid and Shaintzy had three sons and one daughter. The daughter married the tzaddik R’ Mordechai of Chernobyl.
R’ Dovid lived to be over 100. Until his final day he continued adjudicating Dinei Torah with all parties concerned leaving with smiles on their faces.