Rabbi Biderman
It is known that Tsar Nicholas would occasionally dress as an “ordinary village lad” and mingle with the people to listen to conversations about how they lived and what they thought of the way the state was organized. One evening he met several peasants who were drinking in a tavern and talking “about life.” Sitting down with them, he asked: “What would each of them ask for if the tsar were among them?”
Each of the peasants answered differently. One wanted a new house, another an enormous field, and a third a large sum of money. The fourth laughed scornfully: “Why are you being foolish and dreaming in vain, as though the tsar were actually sitting among you?” They did not know that the tsar really was sitting among them and hearing everything.
The next day, each of the peasants received what he had asked for during the conversation. The first received a new house, the second an enormous field, and the third a large sum of money, while the fourth received a letter signed by the tsar himself. It is easy to understand how aggrieved the last man felt at having deprived himself of the chance to become wealthy.
Rav Biderman adds: “These days are so important and have such power to change reality that the Creator Himself has come out to us and is among us. That is why we can ask Him directly right now, during these 10 days, rather than being like that peasant who did not sense that the tsar was beside him.
And through the merit of prayer from the depths of the heart, it is in our power to annul (‘tear up’) a harsh decree and turn the attribute of judgment into the attribute of mercy.”
Amen, ken yehi ratzon!
Retold by Miriam Gilevich