The Chofetz Chaim zt”l would often relate the following story that depicts how a person should not rely on his wealth or business acumen to sustain him. Rather, one should rely solely on Hashem to provide his parnassah:
There once was a man who lived in Russia named R’ Eliyahu Lider zt”l, who was a tzadik and talmid chochom. He once visited a certain city and stayed in the home of a very wealthy individual. While he was in the rich man’s house, he heard him bragging and saying that he had so much property that he didn’t have to ever worry about losing his wealth. He said that even if the government would confiscate some of it, he would still have a lot left. Rav Eliyahu was very upset to hear such words and he reminded his host that wealth comes from Hashem, but the man insisted that he could never fail and that he was in control of his fortune.
Several years later, Czar Nikolai visited the city where the wealthy man lived. He was crossing a bridge that the rich man had built – as he owned the contract to build bridges in the area – but his entourage of many wagons was too heavy and the bridge broke, which caused several servants and guards to fall to their deaths. The Czar considered the shoddy construction of the bridge to be an act of treason, especially after he heard that it was built by a Jew, and he sentenced the builder to death.
The man ran home, grabbed a box full of money, and hurried to escape. He figured that he had enough to reestablish himself wherever he went, but when he opened the box, he was shocked to discover that in his haste he had made a big mistake. Instead of grabbing his box full of money, he had taken his box full of contracts and IOUs from debts that were owed to him. These documents were all worthless to him now, and he realized that he was now penniless. Left with no other choice, he became an itinerant beggar, going from door to door asking for alms. He suffered like this for a long time.
One Shabbos, he was staying in a guesthouse for the poor when he met R’ Eliyahu. When he saw him, he began to cry and he said, “I remember how you warned me not to brag about my wealth. You were right!”
