Adar Joy-The Lubliner

A terrible sinner lived in Lublin. Whenever he conceived a desire to converse with the Seer, the Rabbi received him and talked with him as with a confidential friend. Many of the Seer’s students were bothered with this, and one of them said to another, “How does it happen that the Rabbi, who can read the heart of any man the moment he first sees him, and can trace the genealogy of a soul upon the forehead, does not see that this man is a sinner? And if he sees this, how can he associate and converse with him as he does?”

Finally the two students plucked up the courage to go to the Rabbi and ask him.

He answered, “I know these facts as well as you do; but you will recall how I love cheerful, happy men and dislike gloomy and despondent men. This man is a terrible sinner. Other men repent their sins after they have committed them, and are remorseful for a brief time, then return to their folly. This man, however, knows no remorse and no care, but dwells within his happiness as in a tower. The charm of his happiness wins my heart. (Traditional Story)