The Clock
By Yanki Tauber
In one of his travels, chassidic master Rabbi Dov Ber of Radoshitz occasioned to stay the night
at a wayside inn. In the morning, he sought out the innkeeper.
"The clock," he asked excitedly, "the clock you have hanging in my room -- where is it from? Where
did you get that wonderful clock?"
"Why," said the surprised innkeeper, "it's quite an ordinary clock. There are hundreds like it
hanging in homes throughout the country."
"No, no," insisted Rabbi Dov Ber. "This is no ordinary clock. You must find out for me where this
clock comes from."
If only to humor his guest, the innkeeper made some inquiries, which yielded the information that
this clock once belonged to the famed "Seer of Lublin," Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchak Horowitz. An heir of the "Seer" had been forced
by poverty to sell all his possessions, and so the clock passed from owner to owner until it came to hang in one of the guestrooms
of the inn.
"Of course!" exclaimed Rabbi Dov Ber upon hearing the clock's history. "This clock could only have
belonged to the 'Seer of Lublin.' Only the Seer's clock could mark time in such a manner!
"Your standard clock," he explained to his host, "strikes such a mournful tone. 'Another hour of
your life has passed you by,' it says. 'You are now one hour closer to the grave.' But this clock proclaims: 'Another hour
of galut (exile) has gone by. You are now one hour closer to the coming of Mashiach and the Redemption...'
"All through the night," concluded Rabbi Dov Ber, "whenever this clock sounded the hour, I
leapt from my bed and danced for joy."