כי קרוב אליך הדבר מאוד בפיך ובלבבך לעשותו (נצבים ל:יד)

There is a well-known story about Reb Eizik Reb Yankel of Krakow, who struggled to earn a livelihood. One night, he dreamt that beneath a bridge in Prague, near the road leading to the king’s palace, a great treasure was hidden.

R’ Eizik awoke and, convinced that the dream held a message for him, set out on the long journey to Prague in search of the treasure.

When he arrived, he hurried to the bridge, only to discover that soldiers were stationed there, preventing anyone from approaching. He walked around the bridge, searching for a way to reach the area beneath it, but to no avail.

After several hours, an officer approached him and asked what he was looking for. R’ Eizik told him about his dream. The officer burst out laughing.

“You foolish Yid,” he said. “Do you actually pay attention to your dreams? Why, I once dreamt that in the city of Krakow there lived a Jew named Eizik, and that beneath the oven in his home lies a great treasure. Tell me, should I travel all the way to Krakow and start digging beneath some Jew’s oven?”

R’ Eizik was stunned. At that moment, he understood the message. The entire journey to Prague had been for one purpose: to discover that the treasure he was seeking was actually waiting for him at home.

He immediately returned to Krakow, rushed to his house, and searched beneath his oven. There, he found the great treasure.

Reb Simcha Bunim of Peshischa explained that this story contains a profound lesson: Sometimes, the treasure we spend our lives searching for is not somewhere far away. It is already within our own home, within ourselves, and within the blessings that Hakadosh Baruch Hu has already placed in our lives.

“וראיתם אותו וזכרתם.” Dr. Leilental, he said, is a highly educated man with a sharp memory, so a small tallis is enough to remind him of Hashem’s mitzvos. “But I am an elderly Yid whose mind doesn’t work so well anymore — I need larger tzitzis to remind me to keep Hashem’s mitzvos.”