Menasheh the Informer

In the city of Ruzhin lived a great tzaddik named Rabbi Israel. So great was his holiness that to this very day he is called "The Holy Ruzhiner" throughout the Jewish world.

Ruzhin was a large city and like all large cities there were many different types of people and many types of Jews.

For instance one Jew was called Menasheh. He was the worst of the worst as far as the Jewish community was concerned. Whenever possible he would make trouble for any Jew he could. His favorite cruelty was to be a mosser, an informer to the Jew-hating government. He would even pay drunks from the barroom to testify against Jews, and when there were no drunks that were willing, he would testify himself. Menasheh was a real traitor to his people.

But on the other hand there was Beryl the simple shoemaker, who loved all G-d's creations. He was friendly with all the gentiles, even more so with all the Jews, and more yet his Chassidic compatriots. But nothing compared to his love for the Rebbe.

In fact, at times his desire to just see the Rebbe was so great that in the middle of the night he would run to the Rebbe's home or to the Rebbe's study room in the synagogue, stand outside the door and wait for hours, just so the Rebbe would open the door and he could get a glimpse of the Rebbe for a second.

Well, it so happened that one year Beryl had such an attack of longing an hour before Yom Kippur. This was particularly bad timing, since it was the Rebbe's custom to seclude himself several days before the holy day. No one was allowed to disturb him for any reason, even for matters of life and death. Requests would be slid under the Rebbe's door, but no more than that.

Beryl's wife tried to convince him not to go and his friends tried to discourage him but it didn't help. He ran to the Rebbe's room and began yelling outside the Rebbe's door. "Rebbe, Rebbe, Beryl needs to see you!" The Chassidim tried to drag him away but he fell to the ground, held on to a table leg, and refused to budge.

Suddenly the knob of the Rebbe's door turned. The Chassidim ran for cover. Only crazy Beryl didn't run away. He just lay there, eyes wide open staring at the door, waiting for the Rebbe to look out.

The Rebbe opened the door wide, looked warmly at Beryl and said:

"Bereleh, Bereleh, you really love me, don't you? Your love for me cannot be contained or measured. Right?

"Well, Bereleh, you should know that as great as your love is for me, I have ten times as much love for every Jew, for the worst Jew, for... Menasheh the mosser!

"And that's nothing. I am just a puny creation of G-d's. Just think about how much G-d loves Menasheh! Infinitely more... "

And with that the Rebbe closed the door.