The Sealed Note

In the city of Uman, Ukraine there lived a well-respected Jew. As he was getting on in years, he sold all of his belongings and decided to settle in the holy Land of Israel. His desire was to spend the remainder of his days there and be buried there.

 Initially, all went as planned. Yet a short while later, the man suddenly returned to his hometown Uman. All the people in the city were duly surprised by his appearance. Yet when asked why he left and returned, he simply shrugged his shoulders and did not answer. The whole episode remained a riddle to all. A while passed, and the man became ill. He called the Chevra Kadisha, the men of the Burial Society, to come to him because he had something of importance to tell them. When they came, he began to speak to them about regular things, the weather and such, until they decided to leave.

The next day he asked them to come again. At first, they did not want to but decided to go. Once again as soon as they arrived, he spoke to them of regular mundane things. The men became angry that he was wasting their time with nonsense and said so. On the third day, when he requested that they come again, they refused. He sent a messenger to tell them that this time, he would explain why he had invited them, and he asks that despite their misgivings they should please come.

 The men came and sat down close to the dying man. This time he opened and told them the following: “The time has come for me to share with you something which happened to me during my sojourn on this earth. As a young man I would travel to different fairs to purchase merchandise for resale. This was my business. Most of the time, my travel took me to the area in the vicinity of Berditchev. While there I would spend a day or two in the company of the holy Reb Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev.

One time I finished my business dealings early and before heading home, stopped in Berditchev to greet the holy rabbi. When I came, I saw that he was preparing for morning prayers. He was walking back and forth in the room, his shoulders draped with a Tallit as he began to say the verses in the Siddur (prayer book) which precede the morning prayers with great concentration. I did not dare enter the room at such a time and instead waited in an adjoining room, listening to the heartfelt and pleasant words of prayer emanating from the holy man. Suddenly there was a big commotion. A group came into the house and with loud voices and headed straight for the Tzadik’s (righteous and holy person) room. They were arguing and shouting at each other, blaming one another. They came to Reb Levi Yitzchak for a din Torah – a Jewish arbitration court to adjudicate their quarrel. I could hear them telling the Tzadik about their case.

 The gentleman had a business where he bought and sold merchandise. He did not have enough money of his own and would borrow money from his acquaintances. After successfully selling his merchandise, he would return the loans. Last night he lost 300 rubles and try as he might he could not find them anywhere. He was distraught. Not only would he be unable to earn a living, but he could not pay back his creditors and their trust in him would be affected as well.

 The suspicion fell upon the servant girl living at his house that she stole the money. The poor girl claimed innocence and said that she never touched his money. The more she denied it, the angrier he became and even hit her to confess. The girl ran away to her parents and told them what happened. Now the parents of the girl came shouting at her boss, how dare he lay a hand on their daughter.

The man continued shouting at the parents and the girl together until it was decided to come to the rabbi. Rabbi Levi Yitzchak listened to the arguments of each side and said: “’I see that the servant girl is innocent. On the other hand, I also see that the Jew really did lose his money and is not making this up. Where the lost money is, unfortunately I do not see.’” The Tzadik began to pace the room back and forth trying to figure out a way out of this difficult situation. Suddenly he stopped in his tracks and announced: “’If there is a person who is ready to give me 300 rubles to return the loss to this Jew, I will promise him a Share in the World to Come!’” All this time I was standing outside the door. When I heard what the Tzadik said, I opened the door to the room and entered. Turning to the Tzadik I inquired: “’Will the Rebbe be willing to give this promise in writing?’” “’Yes!’” he replied. Immediately I removed 300 rubles from my pocket and handed them to the Tzadik. The Tzadik gave the man the money.

 Turning to the young girl he said: “’Since you were innocently accused, I bless you that you should find a good shidduch – match soon.’” And to the Jew he said: “’I bless you that from now on you should not have any losses.’” The people left the house of the Tzadik happy and satisfied; and the Tzadik continued with his prayers. When the Tzadik finished praying, I went over to him to remind him about his promise to have his blessing in writing. He called over his gabbai – his attendant and asked for paper and ink, on which he wrote a few words. He then folded the paper and handed it to me saying: “’Here is your note. Be careful not to open it and not to read what is written on it while you are alive. When your time will come, and you will feel that it is the last day of your life, give this note to the members of the Chevra Kadisha, and request that they place this note inside your casket.’” I took the note very happily. Understandably I was very careful never to open it nor to read it. To make sure that it would remain in good condition, I decided to hide it in a very special place. I gave my siddur – prayer book to a book binder to rebind it and put the note inside the binding. When I was preparing to go to the Land of Israel, with all the things I needed to do, I totally forgot about the siddur. When I got to Israel, I realized that I did not have my precious siddur with me! Without giving it another thought, I immediately booked a trip to return to my hometown to Uman. Now you surely understand that my coming back so soon after leaving was not done without consideration. When I fell ill and thought my end was nearing, I called you to come. However, when you came, I started to feel a bit better and realized that this was not my last day. So, I had to distract you with other things.

 And the same happened the second day. Today I feel that indeed this is my last day on earth, and therefore I am giving you this note, and requesting that you place it in my coffin just as the Tzadik instructed.’” The men accepted the note and promised him to do as he asked. A few hours later the man passed away. After his passing, the men of the Burial Society looked at each other and said: “’The Tzadik warned the man not to look at the note, however, this warning was not intended for us. Now that he passed, we can read it.’” They opened the note and saw that on it was written: “Open for him the gates of the Garden of Eden. Levi Yitzchak ben Sara Sosha.” The men of the Burial Society kept their word and did as they were requested. They placed the note inside the man’s casket, and he was buried with great honor.