How Pinchas learned to say “GOOD PURIM ! ! !
Once a poor shlepper, Pinchas, came to the Kozhnitzer Maggid on Purim, and said in a weak voice, “Good Purim”. So the Kozhnitzer said to him, “Pinchasl, you are my best friend in the whole city; how can you come to say Good Purim to me without bringing me a gift?” Pinchasel didn’t have a single cent; he didn’t have money for his feast at home. so he said, “Rebbe, I’d love more than anything else in the whole world to give you a gift, but how can I possibly do it?” So the first thing the Rebbe did was to teach him how to say Good Purim. The Rebbe says (loud and strong), “GOOD PURIM!” and Pinchasl answers weakly, good Purim”. Again. “GOOD PURIM!” “good Purim.” No. I’ll try again. GOOD PURIM!” “Good Purim.” Finally he is roaring out like a lion, “Good Purim, Good PURIM, GOOD PURIM!” Then the Rebbe said, “Okay now, Pinhasel. Now I’d like you to get me a gift for Purim. Okay. So Pinchasel goes out on the street, and he is yelling at the top of his lungs, “GOOD PURIM, GOOD PURIM, GOOD PURIM!” He went in to a grocery and he yells out, “GOOD PURIM” Then he said, “Listen, I know I owe you money from ten years back already, but this time I want you to give me a special bottle of wine and some fruit, because I want to bring a gift to the Rebbe.”
There was something about the way he said it that the man had to give it to him. So he brought it to the Rebbe, and the Rebbe said it was the greatest gift he ever had for Purim.
Meanwhile, Pinchasle was walking home, and he thought, “I brought something nice to the Rebbe, and my own wife and children are starving. I better bring them something too.” So he walked back into the grocery store and yelled,”GOOD PURIM! Listen, I need gifts for my family too. I can’t just walk home. It’s Purim.” Pinchasle was shining, and the grocery man forgot; he forgot the bill, he forgot about the money. The grocer gave him fruits and wine, and all kinds of things for Purim. So Pinchasl went home. The way things used to be when he was a real shlepper, Pinchasl would walk around the house and his wife would yell at him his children would yell at him, and his house was really a bad scene. But this time Pinchasl walked in like a lion, and yelled, “GOOD PURIM!!” His wife looked at her husband, and he seemed like a different man. Pinchas said, “It’s Purim, we have to celebrate!” So they had a great feast and told his children the story of Purim. His house was completely different. His wife and children were looking him in a completely different way. He was teaching his children how to say “GODD PURIM!!!” the way he learned.
In the middle of the Kozhnitzer Maggid’s feast the Rebbe said, “Shhh… be quiet, because everybody in Heaven is quiet, they are listening to Pinchasl teach his children how to say, “GOOD PURIM!”
The next morning Pinchasl walked into the rich man’s house and told him, “listen, last night I decided I want to be a rich man too. I want you to give me a loan of ten thousand Rubles.” Pinchasl said it so strongly that the rich man trusted him. That’s how Pinchasl became the top holy rich man, the top holy beggar of Kozhnitz. Purim gave him the strength.
House of Love and Prayer, San Francisco. Purim 5732
Backgroud
Rabbi Yisroel Hopsztajn (1737-1814), also known as the Magid of Kozhnitz, was a chasidic leader in Poland.
He was born in Apt, where his father Shabsay was a bookbinder. He was named for the founder of chasidus, Rabbi Yisroel Baal Shem Tov.
Rabbi Hopsztajn worked for a period of time with the Magid of Mezritsh. He was one of the major influences in bringing chasidus to Congress Poland and was the founder of hasidic dynasty of Kozhnitz.
Among his many works are Avodat Yisrael, one of the classical works of chasidus, and a commentary on Pirkei Avos.
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