Nine Years

Reb Avraham Yehoshua Mendlowitz, from Kiryas Yoel, lived a tragically short life. Yet in the years he was given, he accomplished an extraordinary amount. He supported numerous tzedakah causes and was always looking for opportunities to help another Jew.

One day, Reb Avraham Yehoshua was standing in a crowded pharmacy. Ahead of him in line was Reb Chaim Yosef Gottlieb, an older man who had come to pick up a medication he needed.

When Reb Gottlieb reached the counter, the pharmacist gave him some unwelcome news. “Your insurance won’t cover this medication.”

“How much does it cost?” he asked.

The answer was staggering: several thousand dollars. And this was not a one-time prescription. He would need the medication every month.

Reb Gottlieb realized that he could not afford it. He turned away from the counter, prepared to leave without the medication.

Reb Avraham Yehoshua had overheard the exchange. After Reb Gottlieb walked away, Reb Avraham Yehoshua approached the counter. “How much is the medication?”

“A few thousand dollars.”

“Put it on my credit card.”

The pharmacist looked at him to make certain he understood. “You realize this isn’t just for today. He needs this medication every month, and it will cost several thousand dollars each time.”

Reb Avraham Yehoshua barely paused. “Then charge my credit card every month.”

A Jew needed medication, and Reb Avraham Yehoshua had found a way to provide it. The matter was settled.

Two weeks later, as Reb Avraham Yehoshua was responding to a Hatzalah call, he suffered a massive heart attack. It was extremely serious. Yet, b’chasdei Hashem, paramedics was nearby, and his life was saved. Against the odds, Reb Avraham Yehoshua survived.

Life continued. So did the monthly charges. Month after month, year after year, Reb Avraham Yehoshua paid for Reb Gottlieb’s medication. Several thousand dollars at a time went onto his credit card, without Reb Avraham Yehoshua seeking recognition for what he was doing.

Nine years passed. On the Shabbos before Selichos, 5787, Reb Gottlieb passed away. His medication was no longer needed.

Just a few hours later, the first night of Selichos, Reb Avraham Yehoshua Mendlowitz suddenly collapsed. He, too, passed away.

Only then did the remarkable sequence of events come into sharp focus. Two weeks after Reb Avraham Yehoshua had undertaken to pay for another Jew’s lifesustaining medication, he had suffered a heart attack that could have ended his own life. Instead, he was granted another nine years.

For those same nine years, he silently paid for Reb Gottlieb’s medication. And when Reb Gottlieb no longer needed the medication, Reb Avraham Yehoshua’s additional years came to an end as well.

We cannot know the calculations of Shamayim. But the timing has a remarkable message: For nine years, Reb Avraham Yehoshua quietly helped sustain the life of another Jew.

And for nine years, his own life was sustained.

Nine years of tzedakah.

Nine years of life.