My brother Reb Shmuel Kletzkin shlit”a told me the following:
Thirty-five years ago my father-in-law was in the U.S., and there he received an envelope with 500 dollars, on which was written, “For Rav Zeleznik shlit”a, Yerushalayim.” When he came back to Eretz Yisrael, my father-in-law asked me to go over to Rav Zeleznik and give him the envelope.
Immediately after I finished davening vasikin, I went to the home of Rav Avraham Yaakov Zeleznik zt”l, Rav of the Kerem neighborhood and rosh yeshivah of Eitz Chaim, to give him the envelope. By that time the Rav was already sitting and learning.
I told the Rav that I’d come to fulfill my father-in-law’s request, and I handed him the envelope. The Rav looked at the envelope and saw that his first name was not written on it, and neither was the name of sender. He did not know anything about an envelope that was supposed to arrive for him, and therefore he refused to take it. “It’s not mine,” he said, and he went back to his learning.
Seeing this, I went to give the money to his brother, Hagaon Rav Efraim Zeleznik zt”l, who was a maggid shiur in a yeshivah for excellent bachurim. He too was already sitting and learning. I must point out that his son was a chassan who was soon to be married, so those 500 dollars could definitely go to good use for him.
But Rav Efraim reacted exactly as his brother had: “I have no idea who sent this envelope, and therefore I am not prepared to take the money, for perhaps that would be stealing.” Thus, the money was returned to the United States until the matters were resolved.
Rabbenu Bachyai discusses (end of chapter 4) exalted people such as these. He wrote that there are great, exalted people, and one of the signs of such exalted people is their “choosing poverty over wealth.”
Let us try to understand something very basic: We cannot know a person’s level at a time when everything is comfortable, when his life is pleasant and everything is going well for him. How can we know if a certain person is truly good, so that we will be zocheh to learn from his ma’alos and go in his ways? When we see that he conquers his anger, forgoes his comfort, prefers the true tachlis, and helps others even when it’s on his own cheshbon. In this merit he is rewarded with Hashem’s additional chessed upon him in the World to Come, since he withstood his nisayon.
One of the nisyonos he may face is when circumstances arise in which he will need to choose poverty over wealth. The doesn’t necessarily mean he will go from being a rich man to a poverty-stricken man; rather, every time a person forgoes a monetary gain, he is considered “poor.” A Yid comes to a situation of a nisayon: He sees that he has the chance to make money by doing something crooked or through some lack of honesty, and on the other side of the scale stand the instructions of the Torah: “Do not deny,” “Do not steal,” and “Do not cause pain”; and he forgoes the profit and proves his loyalty to the Giver of the Torah. It is worthwhile to learn from a Yid like this.
Sometimes we pass up the chance for monetary gain when it comes along with the issur of being led astray, such as when our surroundings at work are not suitable for a Yid who keeps Torah and mitzvos, and even though they promise him a high salary he withstands the nisayon and refuses the job; or when there is a question of shemiras Shabbos, or of lending with interest, and so on and on. At times this is not a simple nisayon at all; it may even be a very difficult nisayon, and then it is so good to hear stories like this one, about Yidden who chose poverty over wealth because of their devotion and loyalty to the Creator yisbarach.
It has always been known that in order to be a tailor, one starts off as an apprentice to a tailor, and thus he learns to do things in the right way when the day comes for him to work independently.
In matters regarding avodas Hashem this applies tenfold. The Torah never stands on its own. Moshe received the Torah from Sinai and gave it over to Yehoshua, and Yehoshua to the zekeinim.... The mesorah was always passed down from Rav to talmid, from father to son, and from mother to daughter. It is human beings who truly ensure the continuity and eternity of the holy Torah.
When we want to learn proper behavior, one way is to learn from holy mussar sefarim, but that is not enough. We need living examples, to see on a practical level how we should build our own lives, and therefore Rabbenu Bachyai exhorts us to find the people who will serve as personal examples to us.
There are plenty of people to learn from! Yidden who strengthen themselves in emunah and bitachon and withstand the nisyonos of daily life are examples to us, and we can learn from them.
May we be zocheh to strengthen ourselves more and more in emunah and bitachon, and may we be mekadesh Shem Shamayim in the world, and through this may we see a great bounty of brachah, hatzlachah, and revealed kindness; amen.
