Reb Shmuel’s son, Reb Yaakov, related this story, heard from Reb Ephraim Fruchter of Bnei Brak:
I had a friend in Bnei Brak named Rabbi Aryeh Krieger, who was a mechanech in Talmud Torah Razi Li in Bnei Brak. Reb Shmuel Daskal’s sons were among his students over the years. Reb Aryeh told me this story.
“When I made a bar mitzvah for my son, I didn’t send invitations to the parents of my students. I was afraid they would feel obliged to come with monetary gifts to express their appreciation of the kochos I put into teaching their children, and I knew that not all of them could afford it.
“The next day, Reb Shmuel called me and asked if he could come over to drink l’chaim with me in honor of the bar mitzvah. I realized that he must have heard from his son, Yitzchak Beirach, who was in my class at the time, that I had not sent invitations to the parents.
“I was reluctant, but he insisted on coming to drink l’chaim, so I felt that I didn’t have a choice. After giving me warm brachos, he took an envelope out of his pocket. I explained that I had resolved not to take envelopes, which was why I hadn’t invited the parents. And Reb Shmuel, with his wisdom and wit, told me, ‘It’s not an envelope for you, it’s for your son.’ I had nothing to answer to that.
“After he left, I opened the envelope and was amazed to find that it contained an amount equal to the monthly salary of a rebbi working a full-time position in a cheder!”
When Reb Yitzchak Beirach heard this story he added:
Rabbi Aryeh Krieger was a wonderful person with exceptional middos. He infused us with a cheishek for Torah, and at the same time, taught us how to empathize with another person and to act with derech eretz. He taught us how to reach out to Yidden who are not Torah observant and how to interact with any Yid, no matter what his situation.
My father knew this and held him in great esteem. That is certainly why he felt a need to give him a gift in a dignified way, as hakaras hatov for the kochos the melamed had invested in his children.
