There was once a famine...
Illustration
There was once a famine in Lithuania and the poor left the cities and swarmed over the countryside in search of food. Every day throngs of hungry people passed through the village where the rabbi's parents lived. His mother ground grain with a hand mill and every morning baked bread to distribute among the hungry.
One day more people came than usual and there was not enough bread to go around, but the oven was still hot and the bowls were full of dough. She quickly took some of the dough, formed loaves, and put them into the oven. Meanwhile the hungry people complained because they had to wait, and a few insolent among them even cursed her. At that, the charitable woman burst into tears. Her son tried to comfort her. "Do not cry, Mother. Let them curse. Just do your work and fulfill the commandment of God, for when you feed them, you are feeding Christ. If they praised you and showered blessings on you, it would not perhaps be fulfilled so well."
One day more people came than usual and there was not enough bread to go around, but the oven was still hot and the bowls were full of dough. She quickly took some of the dough, formed loaves, and put them into the oven. Meanwhile the hungry people complained because they had to wait, and a few insolent among them even cursed her. At that, the charitable woman burst into tears. Her son tried to comfort her. "Do not cry, Mother. Let them curse. Just do your work and fulfill the commandment of God, for when you feed them, you are feeding Christ. If they praised you and showered blessings on you, it would not perhaps be fulfilled so well."
