There is a segulah from the Kozhnitzer Maggid to recite three
well-known stories (reproduced below) related to Pesach, (usually on the
Shabbos when we bless the new month
of Nissan). The segulah is that the stories will bless the Jewish
people with an abundance of provisions and necessities for the upcoming
Pesach.
Three Stories that are a Segulah for Parnassah for Pesach
1.)
A certain Jew was selling brandy before Pesach, to provide for the
upcoming holiday expenses. He went from country to country, but at one
border, the guards seized his barrel, since he lacked the proper
licenses. The Jew quickly traveled to the Rebbe Reb Meilech and poured
out his heart. The Rebbe Reb Meilech told him to tell the guards to
taste the contents of the barrel; it was only water. The Jew did as the
Rebbe had told him. They were surprised to find that the Jew was telling
the truth! They returned the barrel to him, but then he went back to
the Rebbe, crying: "Now how can I provide for my family for the holiday?
The barrel of brandy was my only way of earning a livelihood and now
it's full of water!" The Rebbe Reb Meilech told him to taste the
contents of the barrel. To his delight, it was full of brandy once
again! And the Jew had all the neccesities for Pesach in abundance!
2.)
A king lost his ring. He proclaimed that he would pay a handsome salary
to everyone who searched for it. There was a poor Jew who had no money
for Pesach. His wife advised him to take up the king's offer. So he
joined in the search, and with the money he earned, he bought all the
necessities for Pesach. This Jew was also a generous fellow; he invited
many guests for the seder that year.
Among the king's advisors
was a wicked anti-Semite. On the seder night he went to the Jew's home
and peeked in through the window. When he saw the Jew eating and
drinking and not searching for the king's ring, he saw his chance. He
quickly went back to the palace. "Your Majesty," he said. "You've been
fooled.
I'll show you!" The king followed his advisor to the
house of the poor Jew,and peered in the window. There was the Jew at a
table full of guests, eating and drinking like a king! Still, the king
was loath to think ill of his Jewish subject. He told the advisor, "This
Jew is probably interrogating these men to see if they know the ring's
whereabouts."
This Jew's custom was that at "Dayenu," he would
recite each verse and all the guests would respond, "Dayenu." It so
happened that the advisor's name was none other than Dayenu. Just then,
they all answered in chorus "Dayenu!" The king's advisor paled.
The
king understood this to mean that his trusted advisor had in fact
stolen the ring. He commanded his royal guards to seize the advisor and
jail him, and he confessed to the crime. And the Jew had all the
neccesities for Pesach in abundance!
3.) There was a certain Jew
who worked hard for his landlord, the poritz. One day, the poritz said,
"It's lucky for you that I support you. Otherwise, you would starve!" In
his simple faith, the Jew answered, "What are you saying? There's a G-d
in Heaven and He provides for all His creatures. If the poritz won't
serve as G-d's agent, G-d will find me another."
The poritz
angrily banished the Jew from his property. This occurred right before
Pesach. This poor Jew now had no money to buy the necessary provisions.
The poritz had a huge treasury where he kept all his gold. He would go
in from time to time to count and polish his coins. He would spit on
each coin and then polish it till it shone. The poritz' pet monkey would
go with the poritz into the treasury and watch him. He saw his master
put the coins close to his mouth; he thought that the poritz was eating
the coins! Monkey see, monkey do. The monkey copied his master. It stole
alone into the treasury and feasted on the gold coins. The monkey ate
so many coins that it died.
When the poritz came into his
treasury and saw the dead monkey, he didn’t realize the cause of its
death. His anger had not abated, and he commanded his servant to throw
the monkey into the Jew's house, to teach him a lesson. "If I don't
provide for him, no one will!" The servant threw the monkey in through
the window. When it landed, its stomach burst and all the gold coins
came pouring out. Then the Jew was able to buy an abundance of
provisions for Pesach.
On the seder night, the poritz sent his
servant to see how the Jew was suffering without food. But the servant
reported that the Jew's house was full of food and drink. The poritz
later sent for the Jew and asked him from where he'd had money. The Jew
told the poritz how someone had thrown a dead monkey into his house and
that hundreds of gold coins had burst from it. The poritz then admitted,
"Now I truly see that it's Hashem Who provides for us all." And the Jew
had all the neccesities for Pesach in abundance!
May you all be blessed with abundant resources for a Freilicha and
Kosher Pesach, May your tables abound with guests who enlighten your
seder with gems of Torah, May you and your children and your children's
children not know from want all of your days, May your seder table be
blessed with the visable revelation of Eliyahu haNavi in preparation for
the coming of Melech Moshiach.
Amen.