Chassidic Stories

"Quite a change, is it not?" said Abraham with a pleased smile on his face. "Yes, quite a change," the Rebbe sadly replied

I returned to my compartment in a state of confusion. The last thing I had expected from the Rebbe was a business tip

To my right sat my friend Berl, and to my left my friend Zalman. Yossel sat in front of me. The melamed was tall, with stern eyes, but with a warm and loving smile.

"Go in peace," said the Maggid to the destitute young scholar. "And remember: you must accept the very first marriage proposal that is suggested to you."

Their leader spotted a beautiful bird perched atop a tall tree. "Come," he said to his disciples, "I wish to capture this bird, so that we may delight in her song and gaze upon her wondrous hues"

"By the sanction of the Almighty," Rabbi Leib intoned, "and by the sanction of the congregation... we declare it permissible to pray with the sinners..."

The entire town would be paying attention to the new rabbi's first ruling. Everyone was sure to wonder: Why is the law of the Torah so opposite to common sense?

"We have many stories showing us the Baal Shem Tov's power to perform miracles," Rabbi DovBer pronounced. "For that, we don't need this story..."

Suddenly the front door rattled and thundered; someone was pounding and shouting outside. "Help! Help! Let me in!"

Reb Mendel couldn't imagine why a person would waste his time walking on a rope and risk falling on his head, when he could just walk on the ground like everyone else.

Zvi Elimelech's father pulled the boy aside and told him that he must promise never to tell anyone this story until the very last day of his life

The Rabbi found it hard to believe that Anschel Moses might be a thief. Perhaps he had merely borrowed the money...

Can a person be as grateful for his troubles as he is for his joys?

Angels don’t say l’chaim on Simchat Torah, so they arose to sing G-d’s praises in the heavens at the usual time. They found heaven littered with strange objects: torn slippers, broken heels. "Yes," admitted the angel Michoel, "this is my merchandise"

Reb Shmuel reputedly said to the Rebbe: "If you are a true Rebbe, you have nothing to fear by being arrested. If you are not, you deserve whatever they will do to you"

But now he was about to do the unthinkable. He was going to ask his Rebbe to bless him that G-d should send him a comfortable livelihood...

When the two neighbors would pass each other in the yard, the scholar would throw the crass materialist a look of contempt and hurry on to his holy pursuits

Finally, the great moment arrived. It was the morning of Rosh Hashanah, and Rabbi Ze'ev stood on the reading platform in the center of the Baal Shem Tov's synagogue amidst the Torah scrolls, surrounded by a sea of tallit-draped bodies.

The scandalized crowd was about to eject the man from the synagogue, when the Rebbe turned from the wall and said: "Let him be. For us, Yom Kippur is just beginning, but for him, it's already Simchat Torah He's there already"

The room fell utterly silent. All were caught in the thrall of the melody, a melody of yearning and resolve, of ascent and retreat...