One Wish

A Chassidic tale ...

A long time ago, in a small village of eastern Russia lived a simple Jewish man by the name of Itzik. Itzik feared God and spent his entire life devoted to the town’s synagogue. After his early morning work as a baker, and after some time with his wife and five children in the afternoon, and after studying some Jewish texts at dusk, Itzik would go to the synagogue to clean up, dust some shelves, straighten the books, and clear away papers. It was dark by the time he got there, but he lit some candles and went about his business. He wanted his synagogue - his shul - to be properly cleaned and looking nice - for it was God’s house.

One evening, when the sky was clear and the moon shone brightly, Itzik went over to the shul for some housekeeping. But on this night, he kept hearing a noise - it sounded like a moan or a faint cry - but he could not place where the sound was coming from. So he kept on working, and soon enough, he heard it again - a crying moan - only this time it was a little louder. Itzik looked around and saw nothing. Every few minutes the sound would come back and grow a little bit louder until during one particular cry - Itzik looked over at the ark - the holy ark - and he stepped closer and closer - and the sound grew louder and louder - and then Itzik saw a light appear from the cracks of the ark. And in a moment of panic, he rushed over and opened the ark doors, and there before him was a beaming white light - radiating from Torah scrolls - hovering in mid-air. And Itzik yelled out, “Who’s there? Who is this?” And just then, a soft voice came out from the ark, and said, “I am an angel, a messenger from God, the God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob. I have come to offer you, Itzik, one wish.”

“A wish? What kind of wish? Why me?” And the angel responded softly, “the heavens have noticed how clean you keep the shul - you have made it your practice to keep the house of study and prayer so clean - and now, Itzik, you are being given one wish and one wish only - as a reward for your good heart. You may wish for anything you want - the choice is yours. I shall return tomorrow night, and you will tell me what you desire.” Poof - and just like that, the light disappeared and the noise went away. Itzik thought it might be some kind of dream, and he ran home to his wife and children - but he told no one of the encounter.

The rest of the night, he lay awake in bed deciding what his wish should be - he laid out the pros and the cons of each option. And all during the next day at work baking, while he was with his family, while he was studying text, he pondered his choices. When the sun went down, Itzik closed his books of study, picked up a broom, and began to clean the shul. Right on schedule, the moaning and crying began again - building to a fevered pitch - and when the light came forth form the cracks of the ark, Itzik opened the doors, and the angel again spoke forth from the light.

“Itzik,” said the angel, “what is your wish - what is it that you want for your reward?” And with a quivering voice, Itzik responded. “I have been thinking about this all night and all day and let me tell you - it has not been an easy choice. At first, I wanted to asked for money - lots of it - I could buy fancy clothes and donate a large sum to tzedakah. But then I thought about it, and I realized that although I am a simple baker, I have enough money to buy clothes and food for my family, we have a small but loving house, and I give to tzedakah anyway. I then realized that I should not ask for money, because although I am not rich, I am comfortable.

And then I was going to ask for fame. It would be nice to be famous - everyone would know who I am - and everyone would respect me. But fame is fleeting - and why do I need to be famous? I am needed here in this town, for my family, for the bakery, for the shul. I am happy being simple Itzik. And although no one knows me outside of this village, I am comfortable with that.

And then, I was thinking about asking for wisdom, but I spend every day reading the texts of our tradition. I grow in wisdom with every word on every page. And I love to study. If I was wise all of the sudden from this wish, what need would I have to study? I would miss that. And although I am not the smartest person in this village, I am comfortable with that.

And so, dear angel, I wish for nothing. I do not need money, or fame, or wisdom. I am comfortable with who I am and what I do. Since I do not need anything, I will not wish for anything. God has blessed me with all that I need. Thank you, but no thank you.”

At that very second, the angel went away, the light went out in the ark, and the moaning stopped. Itzik was proud of his decision. But as soon as he picked up his broom and began to sweep the floor, he heard another voice crying. But this time it was loud and it was not coming from the ark. He lit some candles in the sanctuary to give him more visibility, and he saw sitting in the back row was the rabbi - the wonderful rebbe - and he was crying. Startled, Itzik asked what the rabbi was doing there at this hour. The rabbi told him that he had witnessed the whole encounter Itzik had with the angel. Itzik stood upright, ready to be praised by the rebbe for his humility, but the rabbi kept on crying. Itzik asked the rabbi why he continued to cry, and the rabbi said, “Itzik, you were given a gift - any wish that you wanted - and it would be fulfilled from the high heavens - you could have wished for anything, and yet you refused and said you need nothing.” As the rabbis tears fell down his cheek, Itzik asked, “What was wrong with what I said?”

At that moment, the rabbi stood up and said, “Itzik, you could have wished for an end to hunger - and no one on this planet would go to bed without food tonight. You could have wished for an end to war - and it would have been granted - and nations would have beat their spears into pruning-hooks, they would have beat their swords into plow-shares - no one would ever die in a senseless war again. You could have wished for an end to all disease - no one would ever again die before their time. Itzik, you could have changed the world with your wish, and yet you only thought of yourself. So long as you were comfortable, you squandered a gift for all humanity. That is why I am crying. We lost a chance at improving our world because you were too comfortable. My heart is broken. I can only hope and pray that we have this kind of chance again.” And with that, the rabbi left the shul. Itzik thought about the rabbi’s words began to cry. And as the angels in heaven witnessed this, they too, began to cry, and their tears came down as rain upon the little village.

And so the angel, sensing the humility of the moment, called down once again. This time Itzik responded with his wish and all became right with the world. But you know the story. For what did he wish?