Horav Shlomo Levinstein, Shlita, cites an incident that occurred in the city of Slutzk, Belarus, during the Ridbaz’s tenure as Rav (prior to his emigration to Eretz Yisrael, where he became Rav of Tzefas).
The butcher in Slutzk was an honourable, G-d-fearing man. He was respected by all, and, as a result, he did quite well financially. The Jews of Slutzk were not all Orthodox. Sadly, a contingent of secular Jews had long reneged on such time-honoured laws as kashrus and Shabbos.
In fact, for the most part, these men were heretics who denied the very existence of the Creator. One day, one of the community’s distinguished physicians – a maskil, secular Jew, who believed in very little and observed even less – visited the butcher shop. He certainly was not there to purchase kosher meat.
The Butcher’s Reluctance to Make More Business
The butcher told him that he would be happy to serve him at another time. He was presently leaving the store to go learn in the shul.
“How do you allow yourself to leave on a Thursday which is probably the most lucrative day of the week?”
The butcher answered that he had made enough money that day.
“What about the people who count on you?”
“I am not worried about them, since they will come tomorrow,” the butcher answered. “Furthermore,” he said, “I am more concerned with my portion in Olam Habba, the World-to-Come, than the few extra roubles that I would earn in this world.”
When the doctor heard this, he asked, “Since I do not believe in Olam Habba, can I sell you my portion?”
“Sure,” the butcher replied. “How much do you want for it?”
“One rouble – that is all I think it is worth,” the heretic said.
The butcher agreed to the sale and immediately handed over a rouble. The deal was forgotten, as the two men went about their individual lives. Years passed, and the doctor passed away.
One morning, shortly after the doctor had left this world, a woman presented herself at the butcher store and introduced herself as the doctor’s widow. “I need your help,” the woman said. “My husband passed on to his eternal rest. The last couple of nights he has been appearing to me in a dream with the same request every night; ‘Buy back the Olam Habba that I sold.’
The Physician’s Argument
Apparently, he is about to be sent to Gehinnom, purgatory. He claimed that, as a physician, he had helped many people and even saved lives. Surely, that should count for some merit.”
The response was that, indeed, he had some merit, but alas, he had sold his Olam Habba for one rouble. There was nowhere for him to go other than purgatory. After much pleading, his neshamah was given permission to contact his widow, so that she could “retrieve” the Olam Habba he had sold.
The butcher was called to the Rav.
Wants the Increased Value Of the Doctor’s Olam Habaa
After listening to the woman, the butcher said, “Veritably, when I purchased your husband’s Olam Habba, I did not think that the portion was worth more than a rouble. Now that I hear what he has experienced in Heaven, I realise that he had many more merits than I thought. Thus, his Olam Habba is worth much more than a rouble. I will not sell it back unless I receive a premium on my purchase price.”
When two Jews present their case to a bona fide Rav, he will convene a bais din to adjudicate and resolve all issues. The Ridbaz instructed both parties to return later that day to present their cases. The three judges listened, then adjourned to a room to discuss the case. Half an hour later, they returned.
The Lutzker Rav, who was the rosh, head, of the bais din, spoke, “The final judgment is broken into three parts. First, one cannot sell his Olam Habba, because it is not his to sell. Olam Habba is part of a person. He performs a mitzvah; the mitzvah illuminates his soul and becomes a part of him. It is not an external saleable object. It is he himself!
Second, one who is prepared to sell his Olam Habba loses it. Such a person removes himself from those worthy of a portion in the World to Come. He has forfeited his chance. He has demonstrated a disbelief that his neshamah will enter a better world.
Third, we cannot ignore that as a result of this entire fiasco, the community of Slutzk’s emunah, faith, in Olam Habba, was seriously elevated and strengthened. This alone is reason for the neshamah to warrant Gan Eden. Indeed, in this transaction, both the butcher and the doctor share an equal partnership.
Reprinted from the Parshas Behaaloscha 5782 email of Rabbi A.L. Scheinbaum’s Peninim on the Torah.