Ra'anana Community Kollel

                                  Taking It With You

                                                   Rabbi Binyomin Lipson

"When your brother is poor, you shall strengthen him”

(Vayikra 25:35)

“Do not allow him to fall, for then it will be much more difficult to stand him up. Rather, support him from the time he begins to falter. To what is this similar? To a heavy load placed on the back of a donkey. As long as it has not fallen, one person is sufficient to steady it. However, once it has collapsed, even five are not strong enough to replace it.”

(Rashi, ibid)

Dov Hager is a successful businessman who sells curtains and draperies in the Boston area. He is also a religious Jew who is active in many aspects of community life. One day Dov was unusually busy with a number of different communal projects. In fact, he was so busy that he totally forgot that he had made an appointment to meet with a certain Mrs. Silver at her home in a neighboring suburb to show her swatches of fabric for the curtains that she wished to purchase.

That night, Mrs. Silver phoned Dov’s business and left an angry message on his answering machine. Did he not even have the common decency to keep his appointments or at least to call and cancel? Dov felt particularly bad about missing this appointment. He always made sure to keep his appointments and to make a good impression on his customers. In Dov’s mind, this was not merely just good business practice. Whenever he dealt with customers who were not members of the religious community, Dov was particularly conscious that he served as a representative of his community and orthodox Jews in general. He called Mrs. Silver and apologized, but she was not in a very forgiving mood, she screamed at him for his lack of integrity. “My time is at least as valuable as yours!” she shouted into the receiver.

“I’m truly sorry,” Dov responded, “Please, give me another chance and let me make it up to you. This time I promise that I will be on time.”

There was a long pause on the phone and Dov thought for a moment that Mrs. Silver had actually hung up on him. Finally, she sighed and said reluctantly, “Well, all right. I suppose that one Jew can give another Jew a second chance.”

“Thank you very much,” Dov replied, “You can count on it!”

On Monday morning, five minutes before the appointment, Dov pulled up in front of the Silver home. He rang the doorbell and waited. Suddenly, a frantic girl opened the door and started screaming hysterically, “What are you doing here? I didn’t call you! You don’t belong here!”

Dov was shocked. I have a ten o’clock appointment with Mrs. Silver.” he explained. “Is this her home?”

“My mother just collapsed in the kitchen,” the girl cried. “I just called an ambulance, I think she had a stroke!”

Luckily, in addition to being a drapery salesman Dov was also a trained medic. He ran quickly back to his car, grabbed his first aid kit, and ran to the kitchen where he found a middle aged woman lying unconscious on the floor. He saw at once that Mrs. Silver was barely breathing. Her neck muscles had become paralyzed allowing her tongue to slip back and block most of her wind pipe. Quickly, Dov was able to open up an air passage enabling her to resume breathing. He had saved her life!

A few days later, Dov visited Mrs. Silver in the hospital. “I thought it was I who was giving you another chance,” she exclaimed. “But I see now that in fact it was you who gave me another chance at life!”

Often, in our day to day experiences, we lack a true perception of what is actually happening. Sometimes we are sure the worst has occurred when actually we should be celebrating, and sometimes we think that we are doing someone else a favor when in fact, it is they who are helping us. Giving tzedaka is a classic example of this phenomenon. While almost anyone would tell you with surety that it is the giver who benefits the receiver, our Sages have told us that in fact the truth is exactly the opposite. The Gemara (Bava Basra 10a) relates that once, the wicked Tunisrufus asked R’ Akiva the following question, “If your G-d really loves the poor, then why does He not give them sustenance?” R’ Akiva answered, “In order that by performing the mitzvah of supporting them we will be saved from the judgment of Gehenom.” As much as the wealthy man does for the pauper by supplying his needs, the poor man assists his benefactor to a much greater extent. By giving tzedaka, one increases his spiritual merits and builds himself into a more compassionate and thereby more G-dly person.

We’ve all heard the expression “You can’t take it with you!” Usually, the implication is; Well, since we can’t take our riches with us, we had better be sure to enjoy them while we’re still alive or leave them for our children to relish. However, those who understand the importance of giving tzedaka should also understand that this just isn’t so. You can take it with you.

How? Simple. Whatever you succeed in giving away, that’s exactly what you have.

The story is told of a wealthy man who went to the World to Come. After a few hours he started to get hungry and he went into a store to buy something to eat. However, when he tried to pay the owner with some of the money that lined his pockets, he was told that here it was quite worthless. After searching his pockets for something that he might exchange for a morsel to eat, he came across a small, wrinkled receipt which he received in return for a donation that he had made to a truly charitable cause. It was with this that he was finally able to make his purchase. May we all merit to increase our giving of tzedaka and acts of kindness for others in accordance with the guidance of Torah values!

(Adapted in part from “Echoes of the Maggid” by R’ Paysach Krohn p. 103)