An Askan L’Shem Shamayim
In 5739/1979, the Rebbe asked Reb Shmuel to represent Vizhnitz chassidus in the Bnei Brak municipality. In this capacity, he had many opportunities to help others.
Municipality spokesperson Avraham Tennenbaum related:
Reb Shmuel Daskal was not a political askan. He was the genuine type of askan, whom we daven for when we say “Kol ha’oskim betzarchei tzibbur b’emunah.” It was genuine askanus, purely l’shem Shamayim, with no personal considerations whatsoever.
He was humble, patient, and easygoing. Despite being a representative specifically for Vizhnitz, he was willing to help every person — and that endeared him to all.
He introduced many creative ideas and looked for ways that the municipality could increase its revenues and advance its projects.
An Agent of Chessed
The public complaints commissioner in the municipality, Reb Aryeh Hager of Kiryat Vizhnitz, related:
Reb Shmuel utilized his position in the municipality to be an ish chessed.
A needy Jew came to Reb Shmuel with a request. “I cannot pay the property tax and water bills that I owe the municipality. I’ve already gotten cut-off notices, but I don’t have the means to pay. Can you possibly negotiate a discount for me? I’m not asking for tzedakah because I’ve never taken charity from anyone. I just want a discount in a legal way.”
Reb Shmuel’s heart sank. How could this man make a request that had no chance of being granted? He tried to convince him, but needless to say, it was to no avail. Reb Shmuel was in a quandary — the man refused to accept tzedakah, but how could he turn him away? A fellow Jew’s pain gave him no peace.
So he was compelled to find a creative solution. “I was able to arrange a significant discount for you,” he told the man. “You can pay just ten percent of your debt.” The man was very pleased, and he gave Reb Shmuel the ten percent. No one except me knew that Reb Shmuel himself had paid the other ninety percent out of his pocket.
This type of incident was not isolated; such stories happened many times. Since these people did not want to accept tzedakah but were truly needy, it was permitted to deceive them, as explained in the Rambam: “When a poor man does not want to take tzedakah, it is permitted to deceive him and give him it to him as a gift or as a loan” (Hilchos Matnos Aniyim, 7:9).
Helping Those with No Connections
Reb Zev Hollander of Kiryat Vizhnitz in Bnei Brak, related:
When my family grew, baruch Hashem, I submitted a request to the municipality to extend my apartment. I appealed to Reb Shmuel to help get the request approved.
Regretfully, it was turned down.
“What happened that they did not approve my application?” I asked Reb Shmuel.
“I couldn’t push it through, I’m so sorry. But don’t worry,” he reassured me. “One day, we’ll get this request approved.”
I didn’t know if that was a consolation or just a way of pushing me off. In my heart, I believed that he meant what he was saying. I wondered about this for a long time, until I finally got the answer to my question.
The day finally came when Reb Shmuel told me, “Your construction was approved yesterday.” Understandably, I was quite shocked. After I pressed him for details, he told me how he’d managed to work it out.
“The building and planning committee received a request to approve the expansion of an apartment belonging to a well-known personality. To the surprise of all the committee members, I was the only one who voted against the request,” Reb Shmuel explained.
“I turned to the members of the committee and said, ‘A Yid from Vizhnitz with a large family has been asking for a long time to extend his apartment. He doesn’t have the prominence and connections of this person who we are now discussing. And for that reason he has to suffer? I will not approve this request until you approve that Yid’s application!’”
Thanks to those emphatic words, the expansion of both apartments was approved at that meeting.
An Extra Large Sukkah — for the Women
A longtime employee from the Shikkun Hey factory related:
My apartment was very small. Baruch Hashem, over the years, we outgrew it, so I submitted an application to expand, but it was rejected.
“Maybe you can help me out with this?” I asked Reb Shmuel.
He found a creative solution. “Don’t build a ceiling on the extension, and file an application to build a large sukkah. The Bnei Brak municipality makes every effort to grant permits for a sukkah.”
“The problem is that I already installed the ceiling for half the room,” he fretted.
Reb Shmuel thought and his eyes lit up when he came up with a brainstorm. “Write that the part with the ceiling is for the women, who are exempt from the mitzvah of sukkah!” The idea succeeded and the request was granted.
These are just a handful of stories, a drop in the bucket of the chassadim that he performed as a city councilor in Bnei Brak.
