Today’s story is one of the most amazing stories I know! There was once a Jewish man, we’ll call him Chaim, who lived far away from Eretz Yisroel. But oh, how he dreamed of going there. He wanted to go so badly that one day he decided he just had to do it. He began to make plans to travel with a friend for the long, dangerous journey through the desert that would take them to the Holy Land.
At the edge of the desert, they met an Arab man named Mustafa, the caravan leader. Mustafa stood tall and proud and said, “I am the greatest caravan leader in all the land. Everyone knows that if you travel with Mustafa, you’ll be safe.” The Jewish man said, “That sounds great. But I have one condition. In two days, it will be Shabbos, and I don’t travel on Shabbos. Could we please stop from Friday night until Saturday night?” Mustafa laughed loudly. “Are you crazy? We never stop in the desert! That’s when the wild animals come!” But the Jewish man had an idea. He reached into his bag and offered Mustafa all the money he had. Mustafa’s eyes grew wide. “Well… I suppose we can stop for Shabbos,” he said.
The man was so happy. He joined the caravan with his friend, and they rode off toward Eretz Yisroel. But when Friday afternoon came, he noticed something was wrong. The sun was starting to set, but Mustafa wasn’t stopping. The man rode up to the front and said, “Excuse me, we had a deal. I gave you all my money so we could stop for Shabbos!” Mustafa just laughed a mean laugh and said, “What deal? What money? I don’t remember any deal. We’re not stopping!”
The man was shocked and upset, but he knew what he had to do. “Shabbos is Shabbos. We can’t go any further.” They got off their camels and found a little spot in the desert. They lit a small fire and began to sing beautiful Shabbos songs. They danced and spoke about Hashem and the parshah, and even in the desert, they had the most special and peaceful Shabbos.
But later that night, something scary happened. They heard a growl and saw two red eyes glowing in the dark. A big lion stepped out of the shadows! They were so scared, they couldn’t even move a muscle. But the lion didn’t attack! Instead, it just lay down next to them and went to sleep! The two men were amazed. They stayed quiet and soon fell asleep too.
In the morning, they woke up and saw the lion still lying peacefully beside them. But their camels were gone! The caravan had left them behind, and they were stranded on their own, in the middle of the desert. They had no way to try to catch up with their caravan. Just then, the lion kneeled down, like it was telling them to climb on. They couldn’t believe it! Carefully, they climbed onto the back of the lion. The lion immediately leapt forward and took off running, racing through the desert. Before long, it caught up with the caravan.
When Mustafa saw them riding a lion, his mouth dropped open. “Is that a real lion?!” he shouted. They told him the whole story. Mustafa was amazed. “This is a miracle! I’m so sorry for lying. Here’s your money back. You don’t have to pay for anything.”
And from that day on, people always remembered the story of the man who kept Shabbos in the desert and the lion who came to protect him.
This article was found in Nekuda Tova Issue 43.