Reb Moshe earned his living as an innkeeper in a small townlet. One day, the squire of the area came to him with a proposition. "Moshe, I am moving to a distant province. I must sell all of my property here. I have known you for many years and know, too, that you are very honest. I am willing to sell all of my property to you at only a tenth of its value if you give me the cash in a few days."
Moshe's reaction was that of joy at this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. He did not, however, have the amount of money in cash that the squire had named. Moshe's wife offered the following solution. "If we sell all of our valuables, our silver and my jewelry, even our home, we will be able to come up with the money. Whatever we lack, I am certain we can borrow from friends and relatives. Thus we will be able to take advantage of this opportunity G-d has given us."
Moshe followed his wife's advice and set out for the squire's estate with a purse filled with money. Along the way, he heard a blood-chilling shriek. He ran in the direction of the cry and found himself at the doorstep of a broken-down home. He entered the hovel and saw a dead man, surrounded by a woman and her seven ragged children.
Moshe sized up the situation. He hesitated but a moment and then took out his purse of money and handed it to the widow.
At first the distraught woman refused to accept such a large sum of money. But after much cajoling, Moshe managed to convince her to take it.
This incident caused a tremendous tumult in heaven. Moshe had given away all of his earthly possessions, and the opportunity to become a very wealthy man, for the sake of a mitzva (commandment)! The Heavenly Court was deciding what kind of reward to bestow upon this person when the Adversary complained, "Before any of your righteous are given gifts from Heaven, they are tested. I propose that I be allowed to descend to the world and test this man, to see if he is truly deserving of such a reward."
Elijah the Prophet quickly intervened. "I beg of you. Let me be the one to administer the test. Even an utterly righteous person would be hard put to pass a test administered by this one!"
Moshe did not return home after giving the purse full of money to the widow and orphans. He decided to wander from town to town, trying to eke out a living and find a new place for his family to settle. That first evening, though famished and fatigued, Moshe's happiness in having performed so great a mitzva was not lessened. At nightfall, he found a small synagogue and sat down to begin studying Torah. At that time, Elijah the Prophet, disguised as a distinguished and wealthy businessman, descended to this world. He found Moshe in the ynagogue a day's journey from his home.
The businessman asked Moshe what had brought him to this town and Moshe began to tell his tale. The businessman was very moved. "Thank G-d," he began, "I have been blessed with more money than I could possibly use in my lifetime. I would like to offer you enough money to support your family for the rest of your life in exchange for the merit of the mitzva you performed today."
Moshe was exhausted. His empty stomach cried out mercilessly. The offer was so tempting... But he caught himself and answered, "G-d gave me the rare opportunity to do this tremendous mitzva with utter self-sacrifice. I will not part with my mitzva for all the money in the world."
The businessman persisted. "Your mitzva was indeed tremendous. I am willing to keep my part of the offer for just one-half of the merit of your mitzva."
Again Moshe refused. And again, the businessman made a counter-offer. Moshe would not even part with one hundredth of the mitzva, for enough money to support himself and his wife for the rest of their lives.
Then, the businessman revealed himself. "I am Elijah the Prophet. You are indeed blessed. For not only have you performed a great mitzva, but you also withstood the temptation of selling even the smallest part of the mitzva. I have been told to offer you one of three rewards. Either you and your wife will be blessed with long and healthy lives, or you will be granted great wealth, or you will be blessed with a son who will be pious, a great scholar and a leader."
Without a moment's hesitation, Moshe answered, "My wish is to have a son who will become such a righteous person. For what are riches and long life compared to being blessed with such a child?"
"Your son," answered Elijah, "will be so great that his holiness will light up the entire world. But, if this is the reward you chose, know that you and your wife must accept upon yourselves to be wanderers."
Moshe quickly traveled home to consult with his wife. She also agreed to the reward of being blessed with such a child, even if it entailed a life of wandering.
Within a year, a son was born to the couple who grew up to be the learned and holy Reb Menachem Mendel of Rimanov.
