a very random story I once heard
from the Talmud, but I would take that with a grain of salt.
There was once an extremely wise and beloved rabbi. People came to his village from miles
around to seek his counsel. It happened that he became very sick and was near death. People
heard this and many people came to his house to wish him well, to express their love and to
pray for him.
The rabbi was sick and in pain, but he felt the prayers of those outside his house. He lingered.
He did not die. The prayers of the people who cared for him bound him to his life and made it
impossible for him to die. Many days passed and the crowd outside the rabbi's house got
bigger and more passionate in their prayers.
The rabbi had an assistant who lived with him and helped him with his studies and his
writing. The assistant also respected and loved the rabbi and knew how many people the
rabbi helped every day, and how much wisdom and love he spread. But he knew the rabbi
was in pain and that there was no chance that he would recover from his illness.
The assistant emptied a ceramic barrel from the kitchen and dragged it up to the roof of the
house. He brought the barrel to the edge of the roof and pushed it over. The barrel fell down
and smashed on the stones in front of the house with a loud crash. Everything stopped.
Everybody stopped what they were doing and looked up in surprise. The prayers ceased, for
just a moment, and in that moment the rabbi died.
posted by Tau Central @ 12:26 PM
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