A group of government officials once came to Rimanov to find a warehouse they could use for the army’s food and supplies. After scouting the city, they decide that the best place to use was the local Shul. When the heads of the community heard this, they quickly ran to Rav Menachem Mendel of Rimanov, zt”l, to ask him what they should do.
A Seemingly Good Plan of Action
One person stood up and pointed out that the roof of the Shul leaks. I’m sure that once we tell the officials about this, and that all of their supplies will be ruined, they will change their minds and not use the Shul as a storehouse. Everyone agreed that this seemed to be a good plan of action.
However, Rav Menachem Mendel said that they were making a mistake. In fact, he said, it was exactly because of the leaky roof that this decree had befallen them.
He said, “If we don’t actively take care of our Shul, and we degrade its honor by allowing the roof to leak, what do you expect will happen? Go fix the roof right away, and everything will be alright.”
Fixing the Roof of the Shul
The leaders of the community listened Rav Menachem Mendel and got right to work on having the roof of the Shul fixed, and shortly after, for some reason, the government officials decided to use a different place for their storage!
Reprinted from the Parshas Pinchas 5784 email of Rabbi Yehuda Winzelberg’s Torah & Tefillah.
