One of the sons of the Chozeh of Lublin was once traveling and stopped at an inn overnight. The next morning, before he paid the innkeeper, intending to continue his travel, the skies opened up and it started to pour. He realized he could not continue his journey until the storm passed, so he was forced to extend his trip by another few days until this massive storm passed through.
When he was finally able to leave, the innkeeper demanded payment for all the nights he had stayed there. The Chozeh’s son did not know what to do, because he had only brought enough money to pay for the single night he had originally intended to stay there for! The innkeeper was not willing to let him get off scot-free and said if he did not have enough cash, he must compensate him by allowing him to choose some items from the suitcase he was traveling with. The man agreed, and the innkeeper began to look through his suitcase, which happened to have had several of the items he had inherited from his father, the holy Chozeh of Lublin, who had recently passed away. He didn’t really see anything that he wanted, until he got to the bottom of the suitcase where he found the Chozeh’s clock. The innkeeper liked the clock, and, being that he needed one for the inn, he said he was willing to take this clock as payment for those extra few nights. With that, the two settled their account and the man continued his travels.
A number of years later, one of the students of the Chozeh, known as the Radoshitzer, was traveling through this area, and he happened to stay in that same inn. Throughout the night, the holy Radoshitzer was making a lot of noise in his room. The people in the nearby rooms complained to the innkeeper that this person was jumping up and down, screaming and praying, laughing and dancing, and disturbing everyone’s sleep!
The next day, before he left, the innkeeper rebuked him, telling him that he should charge him extra for disturbing the other guests! The Rebbe apologized, and he told him that all of his excitement came from the clock that was hanging in the room he was assigned. He just had to know: “Where did you get that clock from?!” Thinking back, he remembered and told the Rebbe that it had come from the son of the Chozeh, who had inherited it from his father.
“Ah, now it all makes sense,” the Rebbe explained. “Every clock that I hear ticking makes me feel sad, as I realize that I am one second closer to death. This is the first clock that I ever heard, that every second that passed by reminded me that we are one second closer to the arrival of Moshiach, giving me an intense joy and longing that I could not contain!” Now I understand that this was the clock of the Chozeh, who saw every moment as being one exciting and happy moment closer to Moshaich!
The people in the nearby rooms complained to the innkeeper that the Radoshitzer was jumping up and down, screaming and praying, laughing and dancing, and disturbing everyone’s sleep!
Take It To Go!
The Chozeh of Lublin taught us that we can rejoice in the fact that every passing moment brings us one step closer to the arrival of Moshiach. Instead of looking at the world as getting “worse and worse” because of the challenges of exile, let’s look at the world as getting “closer and closer,” to the greatest of times! Moshiach is coming!
This article was found in Nekuda Tova Issue 31 Special Pesach.