Iskafia

Rabbi Mendel Aronow related the following story:
‘As a child in Russia, I had a friend, a very chassidisher boy, by the name of Leizer Mishulovin. One day, as I was returning to school after the afternoon break, I saw Leizer in a state of great excitement. ‘Mendel’, he called to me as soon as he saw me, ‘I just experienced a great miracle!’ And he proceeded to share with me the following:

In Russia, at that time, there were no refrigerators. They used an icebox, in which perishable foods could be kept fresh for a time. Not everyone was able to afford even those; - it was only the wealthier families that were able to have their own icebox. The Mishulovin family was one of these families.

On this particular day, young Leizer came home in the afternoon famished. He immediately went to the icebox, to see what he could find to sooth his hunger pangs. To his delight, he saw some fresh cutlett’en (chicken patties), with a mouth-watering aroma. Leizer took one in his hand, and prepared to make a brocho . . .

. . . when suddenly he recalled being taught that a chosid needs to subjugate his desires, and when he realizes that wants something very badly, then he shouldn’t do it. Leizer was in a quandary. On the one hand, the delicious-looking cutlets beckoned to him temptingly, but on the other hand his education and his desire to work on being a chosid drew him in the opposite direction.

Leizer fought a brief – but fierce – inner battle, and in the end his Chassidic upbringing prevailed, and he returned the cutlets to the icebox.

Just then his mother returned home. When she saw her son near the ice box, she became alarmed. “Leizer”, she called to him, “I hope you didn’t eat the cuttlett’en”

“Why not?” he asked his mother. So, she explained that their gentile neighbor, not being in possession of his own icebox, had asked her permission to store some food in hers, which she granted. The cutlets belonged to him, and they were, as you can understand, pure treif!!’