Stories of Tzadikim / 20 My goy is bigger than yours

He had heard about the greatness of the Baal Hatanya and he wanted to come visit him. He traveled to the Baal Hatanya’s city of Liadi. But in those days, he didn’t know what the Baal Hatanya looked like he didn’t have an address. He shows up at 3 o’clock in the morning and he’s planning to find the Rebbe. He looks throughout the city and sees there’s only one house where the light is still on. So he assumed that’s got to be the Baal Hatanya sitting and learning. He knocks on the door, the Baal Hatanya comes and Reb Shmuel falls on the floor. He says Rebbe i’m here, take me in, turn me into a chassid.

So the Baal Hatanya stands up and says, how do you know that I’m the Rebbe. Reb Shmuel is taken aback by the question, and says you’re the only house still lit. The Rebbe says how do you know that the Rebbe’s house is filled with light? Reb Shmuel doesn’t know how to answer. After a minute, the Baal Hatanya says this place isn’t for you, get out. Reb Shmuel says no, I’m here. I want to be a chassid, I want to come in. The Baal Hatanya says no, this isn’t for you, I don’t know why you came here, go find some other Rabbi. Reb Shmuel says no, I’m staying, I'm going to learn by you, I’m not moving. So the Baal Hatanya says you’re not leaving from my house? This is trespassing, I’m going to get the goy and he’s going to pick you up and throw you out. At that moment, Reb Shmuel begins to cry and says, Rebbe, my goy is stronger than your goy. The Baal Hatanya smiles and says ahhh, then come in.

What does that mean? What’s the Maaseh? What the Baal Hatanya was trying to say was you came trying to find me because my house was lit up. In other words, You came with the assumption that by a tzadik everything is light. And a tzadik doesn’t have a goy. Doesn’t have a yetzer hara, everything is perfect and fine. By you connecting to a tzadik and trying to become one you’re goal is to become a person that’s full of light, and light alone.

But when Reb Shmuel said my goy is stronger, ah, now you have a goy inside, now you can serve Hashem. Without the fake face, pretending as if there’s just light. There’s choshech in the world, there’s choshech inside of us. And aderaba, with our choshech, with our darkness, with our goy inside of us that’s how we come to serve Hashem. We serve Hashem with everything we have, especially with honesty. That’s the ikkar avodah to become a chossid, to become a tzadik you come with you go, with everything you have that’s how you serve Hashem.

Hashem should help us that this week should be a week of light, of Ohr. But if we have choshech within ourselves, in those situations we serve Hashem with that choshech as well. We’re honest with ourselves, we admit it and we do our best with that choshech.

Hashem should bless us that it should be a lichtigeh voch, a mazaldik voch, a simchadik voch and with that we should be zoche to the great light of all lights b’vias goel tzedek, amen.