An elderly couple once expressed their wish to bequeath their entire estate, a considerable sum, to a struggling yeshivah in Yerushalayim. The rosh yeshivah, however, suggested that the couple leave half of it to their only son, who lived abroad and had severed his ties with them.
The wife passed away shortly thereafter, and the husband’s health deteriorated; he needed constant care until his death a few years later. The yeshivah shouldered the burden of all the funeral and medical expenses, while the son remained out of contact, not even attending his mother’s funeral.
After the husband’s death, the estranged son finally came to Eretz Yisrael — to claim his parents’ entire estate.
The yeshivah administration urged the rosh yeshivah to fight the son’s efforts in court, but the rosh yeshivah flatly refused, fearing the chillul Hashem that might result. The son was certain to forcefully resist any efforts the yeshivah might make to stake a claim to the estate. He would be very likely to fabricate accusations, perhaps claiming that the yeshivah had somehow influenced the couple to write a will in its favor, and that they had aided his father for ulterior motives, in order to be able to claim his property. The situation was liable to turn into a scandal, besmirching the yeshivah’s name and that of the Torah world.
For that, the rosh yeshivah was willing to forego a fortune that could have rescued his struggling institution from financial distress.
Reproduced from Living Kiddush Hashem by Rabbi Shraga Freedman with permission of the copyright holders, ArtScroll/Mesorah Publications, Ltd.
