\n\n
Yom Kippur sunset, September 17, 2010. Laguna Beach, CA.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p> \n<\/p>
The Yom Kippur<\/span><\/a> Drunk: A Story about the Day of Atonement, as told by Yanki Tauber at Chabad.org<\/span><\/a><\/h6>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Those who arrived early at the village synagogue onYom Kippur\u00a0eve could not but notice the man sleeping in a corner. His soiled clothes, and the strong scent of alcohol that hovered about him, attested to the cause of his slumber at this early hour. A Jew drunk on the eve of the Holy Day? Several of the congregants even suggested that the man be expelled from the synagogue.<\/p>\n
Soon the room filled to overflowing, mercifully concealing the sleeping drunk from all but those who stood in his immediate vicinity. As the sun made to dip below the horizon, a hush descended upon the crowd. The\u00a0Rebbe\u00a0entered the room and made his way to his place at the eastern wall. At a signal from the Rebbe, the ark was opened, and thegabbai<\/em> began taking out the\u00a0Torah\u00a0scrolls in preparation for the\u00a0Kol Nidrei<\/em> service.<\/p>\n
This was the moment that the drunk chose to rise from his slumber, climb the steps to the raised reading platform in the center of the room, pound on the reading table, and announce: \u201cNe\u2019um attah horeita!<\/em>\u201d Apparently, the crowded room, Torah scrolls being carried out of the open ark, seen through a drunken haze, appeared to the man as the beginning of\u00a0hakafot<\/em> on\u00a0Simchat Torah<\/a>! The drunk was confusing the most solemn moment of the year with its most joyous and high-spirited occasion.<\/p>\n
The scandalized crowd was about to eject the man from the room when the Rebbe turned from the wall and said: \u201cLet him be. For him, it\u2019s already time for\u00a0hakafot<\/em>. He\u2019s there already.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the following evening, as the Rebbe sat with his chassidim at the festive meal that follows the fast, he related to them the story of\u00a0RebShmuel, the\u00a0Kol Nidrei<\/em> drunk.\nOn the morning of the eve of the Holy Day, Reb Shmuel had heard of a Jew who, together with his wife and six small children, had been imprisoned for failing to pay the rent on the establishment he held on lease from the local nobleman. Reb Shmuel went to the nobleman to plead for their release, but the nobleman was adamant in his refusal. \u201cUntil I see every penny that is owed to me,\u201d he swore, \u201cthe Jew and his family stay where they are. Now get out of here before I unleash my dogs on you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI cannot allow a Jewish<\/a> family to languish in a dungeon on Yom Kippur,\u201d resolved Reb Shmuel and set out to raise the required sum, determined to achieve their release before sunset.<\/p>\n
All day, he went from door to door. People gave generously to a fellow Jew in need, but by late afternoon Reb Shmuel was still 300 rubles short of the required sum. Where would he find such a large sum of money at this late hour? Then he passed a tavern and saw a group of well-dressed young men sitting and drinking. A card-game was underway, and a sizable pile of banknotes and gold and silver coins had already accumulated on the table.<\/p>\n
At first he hesitated to approach them at all: what could one expect from Jews<\/a> who spend the eve of the Holy Day drinking and gambling in a tavern? But realizing that they were his only hope, he approached their table and told them of the plight of the imprisoned family.<\/p>\n
They were about to send him off empty-handed, when one of them had a jolly idea: wouldn\u2019t it be great fun to get a pious Jew drunk on Yom Kippur? Signaling to a waiter, the man ordered a large glass of vodka. \u201cDrink this down in one gulp,\u201d he said to the Reb Shmuel, \u201cand I\u2019ll give you 100 rubles.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reb Shmuel looked from the glass that had been set before him to the sheaf of banknotes that the man held under his nose. Other than a sip ofl\u2019chayim<\/em> on\u00a0Shabbat<\/a> and at weddings, Reb Shmuel drank only twice a year \u2014 on\u00a0Purim\u00a0and Simchat Torah, when every\u00a0chassid\u00a0fuels the holy joy of these days with generous helpings of inebriating drink so that the body should rejoice along with the soul. And the amount of vodka in this glass \u2014 actually, it more resembled a pitcher than a glass \u2014 was more than he would consume on both those occasions combined. Reb Shmuel lifted the glass and drank down its contents.<\/p>\n
\u201cBravo!\u201d cried the man, and handed him the 100 rubles. \u201cBut this is not enough,\u201d said Reb Shmuel, his head already reeling from the strong drink. \u201cI need another 200 rubles to get the poor family out of prison!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA deal\u2019s a deal!\u201d cried the merrymakers. \u201cOne hundred rubles per glass! Waiter! Please refill this glass for our drinking buddy!\u201d<\/p>\n
Two liters and two hundred rubles later, Reb Shmuel staggered out of the tavern. His alcohol-fogged mind was oblivious to all \u2014 the stares of his fellow villagers rushing about in their final preparations for the Holy Day, the ferocious barking of the nobleman\u2019s dogs, the joyous tears and profusions of gratitude of the ransomed family \u2014 except to the task of handing over the money to the nobleman and finding his way to the synagogue. For he knew that if he first went home for something to eat before the fast, he would never make it to\u00a0shul<\/em> for\u00a0Kol Nidrei<\/em>.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn\u00a0Rosh HaShanah<\/a>,\u201d the Rebbe concluded his story, \u201cwe submitted to the sovereignty of Heaven and proclaimed\u00a0G-d\u00a0king of the universe. Today, we fasted, prayed and repented, laboring to translate our commitment to G-d into a refined past and an improved future. Now we are heading towards\u00a0Sukkot<\/a>, in which we actualize and rejoice over the attainments of the \u2018Days of Awe<\/a>\u2018 through the special\u00a0mitzvot\u00a0of the festival \u2014 a joy that reaches its climax in the\u00a0hakafot<\/em> of Simchat Torah. But Reb Shmuel is already there. When he announced the beginning ofhakafot<\/em> at\u00a0Kol Nidrei<\/em> last night, this was no \u2018mistake.\u2019 For us, Yom Kippur was just beginning; for him, it was already Simchat Torah\u2026<\/p>\n
<\/h6>\n
May all our names be written in the Book of Life.<\/h6>\n
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