It is told in the book "Otzar Ephraim": Rabbeinu Baal Darchei Teshuva z"a relates: The Gaon Baal Ohev Yisrael of Afta, z"a, was a rabbi in the city of Kalbsuf, Yas, Mezhibuz, Afta, and then returned to Mezhibuz. When the Gaon of Apta told the residents of the city of Afta that he wanted to return to the city of Afta they did not understand his reasoning. When he came to serve as a rabbi for their city, he agreed to come only with a large sum of money set aside for a week. And they gave him this large sum and did everything in his honor, and he lacked nothing with them. Therefore, they dared to ask him to explain to them the meaning of the matter. The holy Rav of Apta answered: I will tell you what I saw in the first place to come to you and ask you for a large sum of money, and in any case, your question will be solved.
My father z"l was a teacher in a small town, and his brother lived in Afta and was extremely wealthy. My father and his brothers separated when they were about eight years old, and they have not known each other since. Both my father and his brothers had no children. After many years, my father's brother fell ill, and then he told his wife about his brother, so that she could receive a chalitza from him. When he died and his wife was left in need of yibbum, she did not know where to find my father, the rabbi who was in the city at the time advised her to send a letter to all the rabbis in the countries, and also to publish an advertisement in magazines that there is a widow who needs chalitza from her husband's brothers, and so and so his name, and these are his signs. And when he comes and gives her a chalitza, he will receive half of the estate left by her husband, which is worth a lot of money. When the rabbi of the city where my father lived received the letter, he called my father and told him the incident, and told him that since he was going to inherit a lot of money from his brothers, he agreed to lend him money to make the way, and when he returned home, he would pay him the money. My father went home and told his wife the whole matter. His wife answered him, "Here is a mitzvah that the Creator has commanded us to do. This mitzva does not come to most people to fulfill it, and you who come into your possession of this mitzvah, in my opinion, should do it only in honor of Him, and you will not receive any reward or payment for it. My father, of blessed memory, agreed with her words and promised her that he would not receive any money from his brother's wife, but my mother, my teacher, blessed be He, added in her request and said to him: I know that the evil inclination of money is great, and when you see a lot of money in front of you, you will hardly be able to conquer it, so please take the siddur in your hand, and swear to it that you will not take even a single penny. And so he did. And he took the siddur in his hand and swore by it.
My father no longer wanted to receive a loan from the rabbi of the city because he would have nothing to pay off the debt, so he walked all the way until he came to the city of Afta. The widow, his brother's wife, was very happy when he came, and immediately ordered him to be dressed in honorable clothes, and they set aside a respectable hostel for him. After the chalitza, the widow took a pocket full of coins and gave them to my late father, saying that these coins were half of my husband's estate. He replied to Avi z"l: I fulfilled the mitzvah only for the sake of Heaven, and I do not want to take even a single penny, and so I swore to my wife. But the widow said that she did not want to take the coins that were not hers, and the money would remain in the hands of the congregation. My father z"l took his old belongings that were lying in the corner and put them on. But he took off the new clothes and put them there. And he walked his way back to his home.
At that time, there was a great noise in Heaven than the magnitude of the trial that my late father had endured, and the order of creation was changed over them, and I was born to them in their old age. The holy Rav of Apta z"a concluded: Now you will understand everything, that what I did not want to come to was only by allotting a large sum of money for a week, because I took from what was left in your hands the coins of my father, z"l. And now that the sum has been paid, I am returning to my city of Ezhibuz. This is the only thing he promised them, that he would call his name upon them.
