PART I
Shortly after the Arizal, Rabbi Yitzchok Luria, became famous in the Jewish world, he sent two of his illustrious students on a journey. They later became famous too as master kabbalists – Rabbi Chaim Vital and Rabbi Yisroel Srug. He wanted them to dispel negative rumors about him issuing from the beis midrash of the Maharshal who lived in Lublin. Defamers had made serious accusations to the Maharshal about the kabbalist of Tzfas and he had nearly decided to excommunicate him.
Before the students left, he said to them, “Go in peace and do your mission faithfully and as a reward, I advise you to go to Tyszowce (Tisovtze) which is nine miles from Lublin, where you will find someone by the name of Elyakim the son of Shmuel. You should know that he was chosen as Moshiach ben Dovid of this generation. If the Jewish people merit it, he will bring the complete Geula, will build the Beis HaMikdash, and gather all the Jewish people.”
The two were excited and a tremor of holiness and anticipation took hold of them. They prepared for their trip in awe.
We will not dwell on their mission which was crowned with great success, but on what happened next. They traveled to Tyszowce where they hoped to meet with Moshiach ben Dovid who appeared as Elyakim ben Shmuel. They were intensely moved and prepared for this meeting in purity and exaltation.
PART II
When they arrived in Tyszowce, they first went to the rav of the town to find out where Elyakim ben Shmuel lived. The rabbi received them with great honor and asked them who they were looking for.
“We are looking for a Jew who lives in your town whose name is Elyakim the son of Shmuel. We do not know anything more about him but we must meet with him.”
The rav’s brow furrowed as he tried to think of the honored people in the community, but that name did not ring a bell. He tried to go through other congregation members in his mind, but again came up empty.
The gabbai was called for and together they went through the list of names of the people in the community, but did not come up with that name. Since the rav wanted to fulfill the request of these students of the Arizal, he announced on Shabbos that whoever knew anyone by the name of Elyakim ben Shmuel should come immediately and tell him.
After Shabbos, a merchant knocked on the door of the rav’s house and said, “I know someone by the name of Elyakim and he lives on the edge of town. He is sickly, thin, pale, and always lies in bed. He and his wife support themselves just barely from the wife’s work digging mud outside the town, which she sells for pennies to merchants of lime and bricks. I am almost certain that he is not the man you are looking for but since the rav asked, here I am to say that I know someone by that name.”
“Let us go to his house and we shall see.”
PART III
The students went to the edge of the town where there was a small, derelict house, half of which was buried in the hillside. Black smoke rose lazily through the broken chimney.
The two students of the realm of the concealed knew well that such poverty and decrepitude could conceal a lofty secret. They knocked at the door, went down two steps and looked into the gloom. They could see a narrow room in the middle of which stood a rickety box that served as a table and opposite them was a large oven which also served as a bed. They could just barely make out a person ensconced in another bed on the side of the room.
“Who are you?” a hoarse voice suddenly called out.
The two men approached the man in bed, gazed at him for a long time, and saw what ordinary eyes had not seen. “We are students of the holy Rabbeinu Yitzchok Luria and he sent us to you. We order you with the power of the holy Torah to reveal yourself to us.”
A deep and tense silence prevailed in the room for a long time. The man lifted his head, gave them a long look, and then exclaimed sadly, “What should be done with the Ari and the revelations he reveals? He does no favor to himself by revealing himself to people and he did me no favor by revealing my secret.”
There was another tense silence. A kind of new light suddenly appeared before the two guests who stood there in astonishment, finding it hard to digest the lofty G-dly revelation.
The sick man raised his emaciated hand toward them and said, “The secret is out and I must leave the world. I ask only this of you, that the two of you take care of my body, not the members of the chevra kadisha. I also request that on the gravestone you put on my grave just write this, ‘Here lies a straight, faithful man, Elyakim ben Shmuel, Motzaei Shabbos Kodesh 12 Elul 5332.’”
The two nodded their agreement knowing they could not turn the clock back and the decree was promulgated. And just as the man said, so it was. A short while later he returned his soul to the Creator.
PART IV
Very few knew about the sudden passing of the anonymous Elyakim who lived on the edge of town, and even fewer went to the pathetic house to console his widow. She sat alone on the floor, brokenhearted.
The two students, R’ Chaim Vital and R’ Yisroel Srug, went to comfort her and to hear about her great husband, although they wondered whether she knew her husband’s true identity.
She felt comfortable sharing what was in her heart and said, “I was young when I married him. He was much older than me. We had no children and were alone all the years. Although he was a healthy person when we married, a short while later he fell ill and since then he was sickly and suffered. Throughout the week he lay in bed and when I tried to convince him to visit a doctor he dismissed the idea and I respected his wishes. That is how the entire week went by except for Shabbos.”
The two students sat up expectantly and listened closely to what she said next.
“On Shabbos our home was completely different. I don’t know how (she shrugged), but it was like our house expanded and in the middle was a long table with many fine chairs around it. On the table were all kinds of food and drink. We had many guests who davened with us and had the three meals. Each meal was fit for a king. My husband would sit at the head of the table, perfectly healthy, like on the day we wed and his face shone. The people listened to the divrei Torah he said throughout the meal and it was apparent that they enjoyed what he had to say very much.
“When Shabbos was over, after Maariv and Havdala, the house would revert to what it was. The house shrank, the guests left, the magnificent table and chairs disappeared, and the darkness and gloom returned. My husband would become sick and weak again and return to bed. This happened every Shabbos and also on Jewish holidays.”
The widow finished her story and wiped her tears. She sighed mightily and looked at the two tzaddikim with a look of awe on her face.
PART V
“Did you ever tell anyone what Shabbos was like in your house?” R’ Chaim Vital finally asked when he could open his mouth.
The woman said, “No. I married my husband when I was young. On our first Shabbos, when the guests came, I thought that since a chassan is compared to a king, and a kalla to a queen, this is what happened to all grooms and brides who build a home, since this magnificence and wealth suit a king and queen. It never occurred to me that it was unusual.”