In Krakow, a poor man sat at the street corner selling homemade bagels. One morning, a wealthy person recognized the poor man and said, "You're a talmid chacham, and you come from an illustrious family! It isn't proper that you should do this for your parnassah. I will give you a weekly stipend so that you can study Torah in the beis medresh by day and by night."
This agreement lasted a few weeks, but one day, the wealthy man saw him sitting at the street corner, selling bagels again. He protested, "We have an agreement. What happened?"
"I don’t want to be supported anymore," the poor man replied.
"But a deal is a deal. You can't back out without a din Torah."
This unusual din Torah was brought to the Megaleh Amukos zt'l. The Megaleh Amukos asked the poor man why he refused to accept the weekly stipend, which would enable him to study Torah without disturbances.
The poor man replied, "When my wife and I were in the bagel business, we constantly turned our eyes to Hashem. As my wife prepared the bagels, she davened to Hashem that the bagels come out tasty and beautiful, and when I was outdoors chopping wood for the oven, I davened that I should find dry wood, which is better for baking. When I sat at the corner, I davened that people should buy from me. We were constantly davening for siyata dishmaya. But now that we have a stipend, we daven less. Therefore, we decided to return to our previous lifestyle."
The Megaleh Amukos praised the couple for their devotion to Hashem.
Shortly before this episode, the Megaleh Amukos notified the people of Krakow of his resignation. He never told them the reason he wanted to leave Krakow, and despite their many requests, he refused to disclose the reason. But because of this poor couple's desire to have a constant connection with Hashem, the Megaleh Amukos changed his mind and remained in Krakow. He said he wanted to be among such special people who seek a constant relationship with Hashem.
