The Poor Blacksmith
I saw a story in the Torah Tavlin about a blacksmith who lived in the city of Slutzk, who was extremely destitute. Though he had worked hard, he always found it hard to provide amply for himself and his family. One year, a few days before Pesach, the blacksmith came to Rav Yosef Dov Halevi Soloveitchik zt”l (Beis Halevi), Who was the Rav of Slutzk at that time, with an unusual query: could one fill the mitzvah of arbah kosos (the four cups) at the Seder with milk instead of wine?
Rav Yosef Dov was surprised at this question and asked the man if perhaps this was for health reasons. The man answered, “Actually, no. My family and I are in relatively good health. I simply cannot afford to purchase wine.” Rav Yosef Dov told him that milk was not good enough for the arbah kosos, and instead he gave the blacksmith a large sum of money for his Yom Tov needs.
Rav Yosef Dov’s rebbetzin had been standing nearby and had witnessed this exchange. She asked her husband why he had given the man such a large sum of money. “Wine does not cost that much – just a few rubles! He does not need all that money just to buy wine for the arbah kosos,” she said. Rav Yosef Dov looked at his rebbitzin and said, “As you know, the Pesach meals are fliesig, containing meat or chicken. Thus, how could this man possibly have considered using milk for the arbah kosos? The only reasonable explanation for this is that he could not afford to buy meat for the festival either! Therefore, it is not enough just to give him money for wine for the Seder. He needs enough money to buy meat for his entire family for all of Yom Tov too!”
