Daniel Brenner

NiSh’ma

I once heard a Hasidic story about a rabbi who developed the spiritual ability to channel other people’s thoughts. One day, one of his students begged to learn the tricks to reading the minds of others. Reluctantly, the rabbi taught the young disciple. The next day, the rabbi overheard the disciple pointing people out to his fellows as they passed by the shul: “See him, all he thinks about all day is holy books, a real tzadik! But see him, all he thinks about is men and women engaging in sex! A shanda!” The rabbi grabbed the arm of his young disciple and scolded him: “That’s enough mind-reading.” “Why?” his student asked, “I am learning so much, now that I can understand the secret thoughts of men!” “Well,” the rabbi replied, “you just praised our town’s bookbinder, who is a thief, and you just cursed the town’s matchmaker, who is one of the holiest souls in our village!”