Welcome to the Daily Holy Story. Rabbi David Bechar was one of the great rabbis of his time who lived in Turkey. He was so great that the Holy Gaon (great sage) Noda BiYehuda, Rabbi Yechezkel Landau, wrote about him that he was so great that when he wrote to him, his knees would shake from fear of Rabbi David Bechar’s greatness.
One day, Rabbi David Bechar’s son was getting married, and the wedding was a couple of hours from where Rabbi David Bechar lived. So he hired a wagon driver to take him to the wedding. As the trip proceeded, it was getting late, and Rabbi David Bechar felt that all the guests were waiting for him at the wedding. It wasn’t proper that he should get there late. Because the trip was taking its time, he asked the wagon driver to hasten up and make the horses go quicker. The wagon driver did what he could and whipped the horses to try to go faster. But the trip was taking a long time, and Rabbi David Bechar was losing his patience because he didn’t want to belabor all the people, to wait for him. So he turned to the wagon driver, and he told them, “Dumb wagon driver, can’t you go faster?” The wagon driver tried to go faster and faster, and it took a long time. They finally got to the wedding. Rabbi David Bechar got off the wagon, paid the wagon driver, and entered the wedding. They had the chuppah (wedding canopy). The minute the chuppah was over, Rabbi David Bechar was looking for the wagon driver. He felt bad that he had said words that weren’t nice to him, but he couldn’t find him. So he hired another wagon driver to go find the first wagon driver who had brought him and whom he had spoken to not so nicely.
After a few hours, they caught up to the first wagon driver. Rabbi David Bechar got off the wagon, went over to him, and said, “Please forgive me for not speaking to you.” The wagon driver told Rabbi David Bechar, “I don’t forgive you.”
“Why not?” said Rabbi David. “I said it because I wanted to get to the wedding quickly. I didn’t want the people to wait. But I’m sorry. I apologize to you. Please forgive me.”
“I don’t forgive you,” said the wagon driver.
Rabbi David Bechar said, “You know what? I’ll pay you any money you want. Tell me how much money you want.” The wagon driver said, “Nope, no money. I don’t forgive you.” Rabbi David Bechar didn’t know what to do. He turned to the wagon driver and asked him, “Tell me, what do you want? What can I give you for you to forgive me?” The wagon driver turned to Rabbi David Bechar and told him, “If you want me to forgive you, you have to give me half of your Olam Haba. Half of your Olam Haba. Half of the reward of your world to come.” Without hesitation, Rabbi David Bechar told the wagon driver, “You got it. I will give you half my Olam Haba.” The wagon driver turned to Rabbi David Bechar and told him, “Now I forgive you.” And they departed in peace. Thank you for listening, and have a lovely, lovely day.