A man came before Rabba and declared: "I am poor, yet every day I eat fattened fowl and drink aged wine." Rabba was skeptical. How could a poor man afford such luxuries? The man explained: "God sends them to me. I do not buy them — they appear. I believe God wants me to eat well, and so He provides."
Rabba was not persuaded. "You eat fowl and wine while others starve. You claim divine providence while the community supports you. This is not piety — this is presumption." He refused to provide the man with communal charity, reasoning that a man who eats like a king does not deserve the funds set aside for the truly destitute.
But God, it seems, had a different view. By apparent coincidence, Rabba's nephew arrived for an unexpected visit. In honor of the guest, Rabba ordered a fine meal prepared — fowl and aged wine, the very things the poor man had claimed to eat daily. When the meal was served, the poor man was present and partook.
Rabba looked at the table and understood. The fowl was there because of the nephew's visit — but the poor man ate from it. God had arranged for the poor man to be fed through the ordinary mechanism of hospitality, without any miraculous intervention. The man's faith had been vindicated, but not in the way he expected.
The story teaches a subtle lesson about providence: God does provide for those who trust Him, but He does so through natural channels — a nephew's visit, a feast prepared for other reasons, a seat at a table that was set for someone else. The miracle is not in the food appearing from nowhere. The miracle is in the timing.