Where is your mishloach monos?

Stories of Tzadikim

A gut Voch everybody, it’s almost Purim so I’ll tell you a Purimdik mayseh. The minhag of the Chozh was, on Purim everyone would come to theRebb, there was a big tish and there was a certain section off to the side where people would leave mishloach manos. No one ever thought that the Rebbe was paying attention to who gives shaloach manos or not.

There was a particular year that Moishele came to the Tish, this guy was a little bit of a schlepper, a shlamazel. Never really had hatzlacha, never was matzliach in business he was always a little tzebruchen. With a complaint, things could be better. Moishele comes to the tish, the rebbe looks at him and says where’s the Shaloach manos? Everyone’s surprised the rebbe realized and Moishe shrugs his shoulders, why should I give shaloach manos? I can’t afford anything.

The Rebbe says it’s Purim, you have to give. Now the Rebbe is personally asking for shaloach manos. I can’t give a can of corn, a can of peas. I have to do something nice. But he doesn’t have money to get it. So Moshe goes into the store, one of the nicer grocery stores in the area and he says I need the best packaged mishloach manos. The guy looks at him and he’s indicating, you Moishele want the nicest shaloach manos, how will you pay for it? He says today is Purim, give me what I need and I'll pay tomorrow.

This was the first time the store-owner saw Moshe had a bit of an edge, a back-bone. He gives and he goes to the rebbe, he says yasher koach, you should have a freilichen Purim. Moshe leaves, he says to himself, you know I just gave the rebbe such a nice shaloach manos, my wife and kids are gonna have a shvach meal at home. So he goes back to the store, takes a whole meal, chicken, meat and the owner says how will you pay for it? He says it’s purim, i’ll deal with it tomorrow.

Then he says look at how i’m dressed, how my wife and kids are dressed he goes into the clothing store with the same spiel and asks for the best stuff and we’ll work it out tomorrow. With every addition he’s standing taller, a little more confident, becoming more of a respectable person within himself.

Slowly but surely, he gets home and his rebbetzin asks where’d you get all this stuff? He says it’s Purim today we’ll talk about it tomorrow. Slowly but surely the confidence that Moishy built on Purim itself, even after Purim he felt why can’t I start my own business?

He goes to a friend of his and he asks for a loan in order to start this new business. His friend is a little confused and he says listen we’ll make it work and he sells the idea. Slowly but surely he builds his business and he becomes one of the wealthier people in the are, all because of the Rebbe’s Mishloach Manos.

Sometimes we define ourselves as shlemazals and it’s a self-fulfilling promise. What the rebbe was saying is that you're a somebody, and you have a responsibility to live up as somebody. You have the responsibility and the right to give me mishloach manos, and through that he pulled him out of being a schlemazel. To give him the confidence to become the person he was supposed to become.

Hashem should bless us, that we should walk taller with confidence, and strength. To recognize what we have to offer for the world, not to be entitled by that but to be filled with a sense of responsibility, mission and drive in order to accomplish what he has to accomplish.

We should have a mazaldik voch, a simchadik voch. We should have a week filled with simcha, b’vias goel tzedek, amen.