As a young man, Rabbi Hillel of Paritch heard of the founder of Chabad Chassidism, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi and sought to meet with him. But the opportunity seemed to forever elude the young prodigy.
He finally managed to locate Rabbi Schneur Zalman's lodgings before the Rebbe was due to arrive. In order to ensure that he would not, once again, somehow miss his opportunity, Rabbi Hillel crept into Rabbi Schneur Zalman's appointed room and hid under the bed, determined, at last, to make the acquaintance of the great Rebbe.
At that time, the young scholar was studying the section of the Talmud which deals with the laws of how to appraise the value of one's pledges to charity. Rabbi Hillel had a scholarly question on the subject which he had diligently rehearsed in order to discuss it with the Rebbe.
From his hiding place, Rabbi Hillel heard the Rebbe enter the room. But before he could make a move, he heard Rabbi Schneur Zalman exclaim: "If a young man has a question regarding 'Appraisals', he had best first evaluate himself."
The prodigy under the bed fainted on the spot. When he came to, Rabbi Schneur Zalman was gone...
The Lubavitcher Rebbe told this story, and then asked: How are we to apply this story to our lives?
The tractate of "Appraisals" discusses the laws if a person pledges to give to charity, but instead of citing a sum he says "I promise to give the value of this individual," we are to follow a fixed rate set by the Torah, in which each age and gender group is assigned a certain "value."
We may think that an accomplished scholar be considered more valuable than a simple laborer, but The Torah states that we all stand equally before G-d.
This is the meaning of Rabbi Schneur Zalman's remark to Rabbi Hillel: If you have a question regarding "Appraisals,"meaning - if you find it difficult to relate to the Torah's evaluation of human worth, you had best take a long hard look at yourself. An honest examination of your own character and behavior will show how much you can learn from every man, how much there is for you to emulate in those who are supposedly "inferior" to yourself.
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