Shabbos to fold his talis as a segulah for shalom bayis. He told him, “I have a better segulah for you. Just roll up your talis quickly and run home to wash the Shabbos dishes.”
כִּי אֵשׁ יָצְאָה מֵחֶשְׁ בּוֹן לֶהָבָה מִ קִּרְ יַת סִ יחֹן וגו' (כא, כח)
For fire went forth from Cheshbon, a flame from the city of Sichon... (21:28)
Saved in the Merit of the Shinover Rov:
It is jokingly said that the pasuk can be read as saying: “A fire goes forth from cheshbon” – when accountants (people who make cheshbons) find that business is not going well, they start a fire to burn the merchandise in order to collect the insurance money. On this topic, the following story is related in Sefer Rabenu Hakadosh M’Shinova (Chelek 1, page 393):
R’ Kalman Fried was a wealthy chasid of the Shinover Rov who lived in the city of Vienna. R’ Kalman had a warm heart and generous spirit. His home was always open to guests and he donated a lot of money to the poor. The Shinover Rov would often turn to him when he needed money for a specific cause, and he always helped out as much as he could. He especially loved supporting Torah scholars, and he provided large sums to talmidei chochomim and their families.
Since he was known to be very trustworthy, many people entrusted him with their money. Widows gave him their savings to safeguard, and orphans gave him the money that was earmarked for their dowries. They all knew that the money was in good hands.
Chazal say (Shabbos 151B) that this world is “a wheel that turns” and fortunes can change swiftly. Suddenly, R’ Kalman’s investments began to fail. His financial status got worse from day to day. He realized that if he didn’t receive a yeshua soon, he would have to declare bankruptcy, his creditors would liquidate whatever assets he had left, and he would be left penniless.
R’ Kalman consulted with a lawyer who told him that he had a simple solution. Since his properties were insured for a lot of money, he should start a fire to a large wheat field he owned and allow it to burn. He could then collect the insurance money and start over in business.
At first, R’ Kalman wouldn’t hear of it. He knew this was dishonest and he wouldn’t entertain the idea. However, as days went by and things continued to get worse, he felt that this was his only choice. He realized that he would no longer be able to support the Torah scholars he provided for, and this caused him a lot of anguish. He also knew that the money he had invested on behalf of the widows and orphans would soon be lost. He now believed that starting the fire and collecting the insurance might be the right thing to do.
And that’s exactly what he did. He stealthily lit his field on fire and it burned to the ground. However, the insurance company refused to make the payout. They suspected that the fire had been arson and they started an investigation.
The investigators discovered proof of arson. They also found out about R’ Kalman’s financial struggles and determined that he must have started the fire for the insurance money. Not only did they refuse the claim, they also accused him of fraud and pressed charges against him in court.
The court date was set for the next month. If found guilty, the punishment for this crime was a lengthy prison term.
R’ Kalman now found himself facing a desperate situation. He quickly traveled to Shinova to pour his heart out to the Rebbe, ask him to intercede on his behalf in Shomayim and provide him with a yeshua. However, he knew that the Rebbe was a man of truth who despised trickery. Therefore, he was afraid to tell him what he did. Instead, he only told him that a fire had broken out in his wheat field and the insurance company was falsely accusing him of starting it himself and he was now facing a trial that could end up with him being imprisoned.
The Rebbe told him, “Of course, if you had purposely set fire to your property to collect the insurance, you would deserve to be punished. First of all, this is dishonesty and fraud. Second of all, this caused a lot of pain to the souls who were reincarnated in the wheat. They were waiting to be made into food so that Yidden would make a bracha on them and thereby provide them with their tikkun. Now that they were burned, they lost this opportunity.
“However, since you say that the fire was accidental, you don’t deserve any punishment. Therefore, you have no reason to be afraid. ‘Falsehood has no feet’ so you can be assured that the false claims against you will not stand up in court and you will be found innocent.”
These words only made R’ Kalman even more nervous. He was now even more afraid to tell the Rebbe the truth. He felt like he had received a curse instead of a bracha. He returned home brokenhearted and downtrodden.
At that time, the Rov of Bikovsk zy”a lived in Vienna. R’ Kalman had provided him with a lot of monetary support over the years and was very close to him. He went to see him and told the entire story. He told him the truth about exactly what happened and how the Rebbe had only made him feel even more afraid.
The Bikosvker Rov traveled to Shinova to beseech the Rebbe to intercede on behalf of R’ Kalman. He greatly praised R’ Kalman to the Rebbe, describing how he helped so many people and supported talmidei chochomim. He also told him about the money that had been entrusted to him by widows and orphans. He concluded by saying, “R’ Kalman’s only hope is the Rebbe’s bracha. Yet instead of a bracha, he got a klala.”
The Rebbe replied, “I did not curse him at all. I simply informed him that someone who burns his own field to collect insurance is deserving of a punishment but since he said that he didn’t do that, he has no reason to fear.”
The Bikovsker Rov asked, “And what if he was so desperate that he did something wrong? Is all hope lost?”
The Rebbe answered, “If he set the fire, his situation is very bad. I cannot help someone like that.”
The Bikovsker defended R’ Kalman by saying, “The Baal Shem Tov conducted himself differently.”
He then related that there once was a Jew who worked in the poritz’s house. He was in great need of money, so he took a barrel of very old whiskey from the poritz’s storage house and sold it. This barrel of whiskey was extremely old and valuable, and it was very important to the poritz. When he noticed that it was missing, he suspected the Jew of stealing it. He warned him that if he doesn’t return the whiskey by the end of the week, he would kill him and his wife.
The Jew went to the Baal Shem Tov and cried, “Someone stole the poritz’s whiskey and he is blaming me and threatening to kill me and my wife.”
The Besht yelled at him, “You are the one who stole it!”
The Jew responded, “Even if I did so this, do I deserve the death penalty?”
The Besht thought for a while and then said, “If you promise me that you never steal again, I will daven for you. But you must remember never to do something like this ever again, not even once.”
The man gave his word and the Besht davened for him, and the poritz forgot about the whole thing.
He Bikovsker concluded, “You see that the Baal Shem Tov forgave the man for his lapse of judgment. How could the Rebbe not forgive R’ Kalman who only did this out of desperation?”
The Rebbe sat deep in thought for some time and then said, “Okay, I will follow the example of the Baal Shem Tov. If R’ Kalman commits to never do anything like this again, even if he is in a very bad situation, Hashem will help him.”
The Bikovsker passed on the message to R’ Kalman, and he promised to never do this sort of thing again. At his trial, to the shock of everyone there, the judge invalidated all the prosecution’s claims and ruled that he was innocent. He also ordered the insurance company to pay the claim in full. R’ Kalman invested the money and was successful again. He was wealthy once more and he continued to support those in need.
Do Not Waste Time on Fantasy:
The Sanzer Rov zy”a was wont to relate the following story:
There once was a lady who had a big imagination. She once picked up an egg and had an idea. She thought: I could hatch a chicken from this egg. It will lay 20 eggs. A chicken will hatch from each egg and each one will lay 20 eggs. I will then have 400 eggs, which will hatch 400 chickens. They will lay 800 eggs, which will hatch 800 chickens. I will be able to sell all that for a lot of money.
As she sat there, immersed in her fantasies and dreams, she dropped the egg and it cracked. She now had nothing in her hand.
The Sanzer Rov concluded, “Many of us are like this woman. We spend our lives dreaming up fantasies and when we wake up, we realize that our lives have passed by and we are left with nothing.”
This is hinted to in the words “ki aish yatzah m’Cheshbon.” All “cheshbonos”, dreams and fantasies, will go up in smoke, and a person could end up with nothing.
What is very clear is that one good deed is worth more than 1,000 chesbonos.
