The Goat

Once, Chassidim were farbrenging in the house of the Rashbatz. After some time they ran out of farbeissen, and they were trying to find a way to obtain some more.

The Rashbatz owned a goat, that provided him with milk, and was a source of livelihood for the family. However, recognizing that provisions for a farbrengen take precedence over anything else, when the Chassidim were unsuccessful in replenishing the supplies, the Rashbatz brought his goat and slaughtered it, providing ample farbeisen for the remainder of the farbrengen.

In the morning, the wife of the Rashbatz came screaming that their goat was stolen. But he calmed her down. She, however, would not calm down, insisting that they must take immediate action, and all the while the Rashbatz told her not to worry, that he knew its whereabouts.   

Finally, he couldn’t put her off any more, so he explained to her: “The goat is still here as before; the difference is only that until now it was saying “baaaaah baaaaaaah”, and now, instead, it is saying “Hashem Echad”!