He was a skeptic. To be sure, he lived punctiliously according to the commandments, and made sure to study Torah regularly, but tales of miracle-working rabbis were foreign to him. Even when some of his own The apple of his eye was sticken with paralysisrelatives traveled to the Baal Shem Tov to receive his blessings, he remained behind, cold and unbelieving.

So things would have remained indefinitely, if not for his daughter. The sweet, beloved girl, the apple of his eye and the joy of his old age, was stricken with paralysis. The village healer tried all her remedies, the big-city doctor prescribed a regimen of healthy foods, but the poor girl remained unable to move.

Time passed, and the girl’s situation did not improve. “Why don’t you travel to the Baal Shem Tov?” his friends asked. “You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.”

Finally, he conceded.

One sunny summer day, he took a small bundle of money and gently packed his daughter into his cart, and the two set off together.

Upon arrival, the father left his daughter in the wagon and went directly to the rabbi’s study.

“Rebbe,” he blurted out, proffering his gift. “They say you can heal people. Here, take this, and make my daughter healthy again. She is outside in the wagon.”

“Go in peace. I have no need for your money,” said the Baal Shem Tov curtly. He then took the man’s offering and flung it out the open window.

Landing in the courtyard, the pouch burst open, and “I have no need for your money!”coins scattered in all directions. From her perch on the wagon, the girl saw the money flying about. Instinctively, she jumped down to gather the coins into her skirt.

When the father came out and saw what had happened, he said to his daughter: “Quick, get into the wagon. Let’s get out of here before he claims to have healed you!”

Source: Shemuot V’Sippurim, vol. 1, p. 20.