{"id":12138,"date":"2009-10-15T23:55:25","date_gmt":"2009-10-15T23:55:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/production.ou.org\/life\/other\/shapiro_the_fifth_glass_of_vodka\/"},"modified":"2015-11-01T08:57:30","modified_gmt":"2015-11-01T13:57:30","slug":"shapiro_the_fifth_glass_of_vodka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/growth\/shapiro_the_fifth_glass_of_vodka\/","title":{"rendered":"The Fifth Glass of Vodka"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/div>\n

As a young scholar, the great Chassidic Rebbe R\u2019 Bunim traveled extensively on business throughout Eastern Europe. In his own mind, however, his real occupation was not the pursuit of wealth but the opening of souls.<\/p>\n

One rainy winter night, R\u2019 Bunim happily found shelter from a frigid downpour at an inn along his route. As the innkeeper welcomed him in and served him a hot drink, R\u2019 Bunim glanced around and noticed that the place was bereft of customers. \u201cHow\u2019s business these days?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cSee for yourself,\u201d came the reply, \u201cit\u2019s not so easy. The peasants aren\u2019t coming around anymore \u2013 who knows why. The landlord\u2019s threatening to throw me out for late payment. And to top it off, I\u2019ve got a year\u2019s worth of fine whiskey sitting down in the cellar, untouched. I invested a fortune in that stuff, believe me, and I\u2019m lucky if I can sell one glass a night.\u201d<\/p>\n

The conversation moved on to other things. After a while, the innkeeper bid his customer good evening, retired to his quarters, and R\u2019 Bunim sat down with a book of Talmud in one of the empty chairs.<\/p>\n

Aside from the wind, and the crackling flames in the fireplace, all was quiet. A few hours had passed when all of a sudden the silence was smashed by a tremendous racket of pounding and banging. Rav Bumim watched in alarm as the innkeeper came rushing downstairs in his nightclothes, removed the beam from across the entrance, and opened up.<\/p>\n

There on the doorstop, drenched and dripping in the darkness, stood a miserably bedraggled Jewish wayfarer. \u201cLet me in!\u201d the man said tearfully. \u201cI beg of you! I don\u2019t have any money on me, but please! All I need is a dry corner. I\u2019ll catch my death if I spend the night out here! I won\u2019t last till morning!\u201d<\/p>\n

The innkeeper invited the man in, brought him a change of clothes, then showed him a place by the fire, for which the traveler, still shivering uncontrollably, thanked him profusely. \u201cLike I said,\u201d the man apologized, \u201cI can\u2019t pay, I hope you forgive me. I\u2019ve run into hard times.\u201d<\/p>\n

The innkeeper said it was all right. Nothing to forgive.<\/p>\n

\u201cWould you mind doing me one more small favor, then?\u201d<\/p>\n

The innkeeper regarded his guest with a level gaze.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan you spare a small shot of vodka to warm me up a bit?\u201d<\/p>\n

The innkeeper nodded politely and descended to the basement, and Rav Bumim returned to his learning. A few minutes later, up came the innkeeper with a large jug. He poured out a drink, set it on a tray, and was taking it over to the fireside when Rav Bunim was startled by the sound of glass breaking on the stone floor.<\/p>\n

That precious whiskey of his<\/i>, thought Rav Bumim to himself. Poor fellow must be exhausted. <\/i><\/p>\n

The rabbi had just gone back to his sefer<\/i> when again came the sound of shattering glass.<\/p>\n

Strange<\/i>, thought Rav Bunim. He watched out the corner of his eye as the innkeeper went back behind the counter and poured another glass. He\u2019d just started off towards his guest when, to R\u2019Bunim\u2019s astonishment, the innkeeper gave what appeared to be an intentional swipe of his hand across the tray. That made three.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s going on here?<\/i> thought Rav Bumim. Does he get rid of the dregs this way, or are my eyes playing tricks on me? Should I say something about b\u2019al tashchlis<\/u>?<\/i> [the Torah prohibition against the unnecessary destruction of valuable objects.]<\/p>\n

Rav Bunim kept quiet.<\/p>\n

Now the innkeeper poured a fourth time. He set the brimming glass carefully on the tray, paused, took a few steps, then knocked it brusquely off. No question this time. He\u2019d done it on purpose.<\/p>\n

The innkeeper stood there with an inward-looking gaze, seemingly unperturbed by the mess around his feet, and was mumbling unintelligibly. Is he crazy?<\/i> wondered Rav Bumim. He seemed sane enough before!<\/i><\/p>\n

The innkeeper was pouring a fifth glass. He set it on the tray, paused, muttered something under his breath, and then, with a grimly satisfied smile, crossed the room to serve his guest. The bedraggled traveler, who had dozed off, roused himself long enough to down the drink, then his head dropped. In a few seconds he was snoring noisily.<\/p>\n

R\u2019 Bunim sat there, mystified, and felt he must understand what was going on. \u201cExcuse me, my friend,\u201d he began carefully, with a casual air, not knowing what to expect. \u201cSorry if I\u2019m intruding, but I couldn\u2019t help noticing what\u2019s been going on here. If you wouldn\u2019t mind telling me, what in the world –\u201d<\/p>\n

The innkeeper stopped his cleaning and eyed the Rebbe shrewdly. \u201cSo,\u201d he said, leaning on his mop, \u201cyou were looking on? Is that it? Wondering if I\u2019ve lost my mind?\u201d<\/p>\n

R\u2019 Bunim nodded.<\/p>\n

\u201cAch<\/i>, dear Rebbe.\u201d He gave a wry, bitter little laugh. \u201cNot totally mad, at least not yet. What you see is just what happens when a man stands by like an idiot as his family goes hungry. I see my wife turning gray from worry, the kindele getting thinner before my eyes. When I heard that banging on the door, you think I jumped out of bed because I hoped for some long lost relatives? Ha! Running down here half asleep, I was already counting the travelers, and the coins, and thanking the Almighty for inclement weather! Maybe it\u2019s a few<\/i>, I was thinking. Maybe a whole wagonload out there in the rain, and on a night like this, who knows, they\u2019ll be wanting a few nips!<\/i> In my mind\u2019s eye I was already in my hat and coat handing over three months\u2019 rent! Eich veis<\/i>, so what did blessed G-d in His wisdom send me instead? That poor devil of a Yid without a penny to his name. So I say to myself, all right, what\u2019s it to me if I give him a dry bed and a shirt \u2018till morning. No skin off my back. What kind of wickedness could prompt me to say no? Thank Heaven, I haven\u2019t drifted that far from my holy roots!<\/p>\n

\u201cBut when he asked for my vodka, Rebbe, that\u2019s when I complained! The hours I spend in this cold shack like a spider waiting for a fly, and when somebody finally comes my way, I have to give him my whiskey on the house! What can you do, I had no choice! But as I was pouring it out, all of a sudden I was just disgusted. Not at him, poor Yid, but at myself! Here\u2019s a fellow Jew almost freezing to death and I begrudge him a nip of whiskey to revive his spirits? What have my troubles done to me? Oi! Has the hospitality of Avraham Aveinu<\/i> so departed from my soul that I can\u2019t even do a little act of kindness anymore — maybe to save a life — without a shvere hartz<\/i> [a depressed heart]? This is the only inn for miles around. It\u2019s I who\u2019s been sent to rescue him, but I don\u2019t deserve the privilege! So when I poured that first glass, all I felt was my selfishness and I said to myself, that\u2019s not how it should be! So I poured again, and again, and it looked to my eyes like some poison brew. So I whispered, \u2018Father in Heaven, are You going to take everything? Give me back my Jewish heart!\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s when I felt a little different. It was a glass of kindness I poured, at last. That fellow didn\u2019t know the difference — he drank it in his sleep — but my Father in Heaven knows, and He knows I know. I could have danced for joy.\u201d<\/p>\n

———————————————————–<\/center>The Prophet Micha instructed us that what Hashem wants from us is justice and ahavas chesed<\/i>. The Chofetz Chaim told us to take careful note: the Prophet isn\u2019t saying that what He wants from us is justice and chesed<\/i>, but rather, justice and ahavas chesed<\/i>. Not just kindness, but love of kindness.<\/p>\n

Most of us engage in acts of kindness. We give charity, we do good deeds. We fulfill our obligations. But much of the time, says the Chofetz Chaim, our kindness falls into the category of good deeds performed because there\u2019s no good way out.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s say somebody calls and asks if we can host so-and-so for Shobbos. We say yes because we\u2019d be embarrassed not to. Or a fund-raising appeal is made in shul<\/i> and we automatically raise our hand along with everyone else; to do otherwise would be noticeable.<\/p>\n

Or let\u2019s say someone comes to our office asking for charity. We recognize that this person is in need, we have no reason to doubt it. But something inside us, something we ourselves don\u2019t bother to identify, prompts us to say, \u201cOh, I\u2019m so sorry. I left my wallet at home.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s true. The wallet\u2019s at home. But the fact is, if we really wanted to, we could find a way to give anyway. We could borrow from someone, or write a check. But that hidden part of us which finds it easier not to give than to give; the part, when it comes right down to it, which is somewhat annoyed by the person\u2019s intrusiveness, and thinks he\u2019s a little too aggressive, inconveniencing people at their workplace like this; something within us which isn\u2019t inclined to give in the first place (I work hard for my money, can\u2019t he get a job?<\/i>) prompts us to put this matter off a little. Of course I\u2019ll give him something! I\u2019m generous, more than most. But nothing terrible will happen if he has to wait a little bit. <\/i><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s say the same individual shows up again a few days later, this time at our home, and our first reaction is, \u201cExcuse me, but didn\u2019t I already give you something at the office?\u201d The person, ashamed, reminds us what happened, and immediately we remember, and say, \u201cOh excuse me, of course! You\u2019re absolutely right.\u201d And we do give him something, a very nice amount.<\/p>\n

Such kindness merits a reward.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not love of kindness.<\/p>\n

Ahavas chesed<\/i> means giving of ourselves eagerly. The more we let go of, the more we have. The more we give, the more we\u2019ve got left. That kind of real happiness can be ours every single day.<\/p>\n

———————————————————–<\/center>We read in\u00a0Bereishit<\/i>\u00a0that man was created in the image of Hashem. This doesn\u2019t refer to our physical selves, because Hashem has no physical existence, but rather, our inner selves. When we emulate G-d\u2019s \u201cbehavior pattern\u201d by emulating His limitless, extravagant kindness, we bring our own Divine image to life.<\/p>\n

A person who refrains from doing acts of kindness because he \u201chas more important things to do,\u201d is thereby distancing himself from his own essential self. If his own well-being as his only real responsibility, he\u2019s not emulating G-d. He becomes an intelligent animal out for its own survival and comfort.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s how a person can lose his essential self, the divine quality that makes a human being human.<\/p>\n

Based in part on a lecture given by Rav Fischel Schacter. With the kind permission of Michael Rothschild, Director of the Chofetz Chaim Foundation<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Sarah Shapiro is the author most recently of Wish I Were Here: Finding My Way in the Promised Land, and editor of All of Our Lives: An Anthology of Contemporary Jewish Writing, published this year.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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