When this phenomenon took place several times, the responding EMTs realized that they were dealing with an unusual case. They asked the man’s family about the circumstances that preceded his initial collapse and were told that he discovered that he had lost a significant amount of money that he planned to use to pay for the upcoming weddings of two of his children. Every time he woke up, his feelings of intense distress returned, and he again lost consciousness.
As this was taking place, another Hatzalah member showed up on the scene. When he heard what happened, he excitedly revealed that a few minutes earlier, he had discovered a large amount of money on the street – the money the unconscious man had lost! The EMTs then worked to revive him once again and immediately informed him that his money had been found, at which point he finally stopped fainting.
When Rav Zilberstein heard the story, he was so moved by the remarkable turn of events that he shared it with his brother-in-law, Rav Chaim Kanievsky. To his surprise, after Rav Chaim acknowledged the tremendous hashgacha pratis [Divine providence] involved, he then questioned whether the Hatzalah member who found the money gave ma’aser [ten percent tithe] on it.
Because the money was discovered in an area primarily frequented by gentiles, the finder was legally entitled to keep it (Choshen Mishpat 259:3). Thus, even though he subsequently went beyond the letter of the law and did a great mitzvah by returning it to its true owner, Rav Chaim maintained that he was still obligated to give ma’aser on it.
As a source for his novel ruling, Rav Chaim cited the conduct of Avraham in Parshas Lech Lecha. After Avraham successfully rescued Lot, Shem came out to greet him, and Avraham gave him ma’aser because he was a Kohen. This is difficult to understand, as the Torah records (14:23) that Avraham then gave everything he captured in battle to the king of Sodom. If so, why did he first tithe it by giving one-tenth to Shem?
To resolve this difficulty, Rashi says that Avraham did not give ma’aser on the spoils of war that he intended to give away, but on everything else he owned. However, Rav Yaakov Kamenetzky points out that according to this explanation, it is difficult to understand why Avraham did not tithe his other possessions prior to this episode. The Ramban therefore disagrees with Rashi and writes that Avraham gave Shem ma’aser on everything he won in battle. Even though he did not want to keep any of it for himself, he did not want to withhold the ma’aser portion as a result.
Rav Chaim derived from the Ramban that if a person legally acquires something, even if he later gives it away, he must give ma’aser on it since he was not required to do so. Rav Zilberstein adds that Rav Chaim’s reaction to the incident taught him that we must view events around us through the lens of Torah. In addition to being inspired by a beautiful story of hashgacha pratis, we must also ensure that it conforms to halachah. (R’ Ozer Alport)
