One time there was a Poritz who needed to flee his hometown on very short notice. He approached Reb Yosef, a local Jew, and offered to sell him the entire village at a very low price. Reb Yosef did not have anywhere near the sum the Poritz was asking for, but he recognized that this was a tremendous opportunity, and he didn’t want to miss out on it. He sold many of his possessions and took loans from various people, and he was able to put the funds together.
Reb Yosef then took all the money and made his way to the Poritz’s house. As he was walking, he saw a woman sobbing bitterly on the side of the road. He approached her and asked what was bothering her, and she explained that she had just lost her husband. She had small children at home and no means to provide for them, and she didn’t know what she was going to do.
Reb Yosef Gave Her All the Money He Had Collected
Overcome with mercy, Reb Yosef gave her all the money he had collected, and told her that she should use it to raise her children in comfort. He then went back home and gave up on the offer to buy the village. When Shamayim (Heaven) saw what Reb Yosef did, it caused a great tumult. Here was a man who had sacrificed a future of great wealth and honor to help a fellow Yid!
Reb Yosef and his wife did not have children yet, and because of the great Mitzvah Reb Yosef did, making the sad situation of an Almanah much brighter, the Heavenly Court decided that he and his wife would have a son who would illuminate the world.
The Satan’s Strong Argument
However, the Satan argued strongly against this. He said that Reb Yosef’s Mitzvah was just by chance, and he surely regretted his “foolish mistake.” After all, look at all the debt he incurred because of it and all the possessions he sold! The Satan said that Reb Yosef needed to be tested before he could be rewarded so nicely.
The Heavenly Court agreed. Soon after, an elderly man appeared to Reb Yosef and told him that he heard about the Mitzvah he did of helping the Almanah and her Yesomim. He said, “I know that you now have a lot of debt because of what you did to help her. I would like to help you back. I would like to offer to purchase this Mitzvah from you, for whatever price you actually gave that woman.
The Promise of a Baby that Became a Great Tzadik
But Reb Yosef refused. He said, “All the gold and silver in the world could not compare in value to this Mitzvah!” The elderly man smiled and then informed him who he actually was, and he gave Reb Yosef a Brachah. He told him that by this time next year, he will have a baby boy. And just as he said, one year later, Reb Yosef and his wife had their baby. This child grew up and eventually became the great Tzadik and Chasidic Rebbe, Rav Menachem Mendel of Rimanov, zt”l!
Reprinted from the Parshas Balak 5784 email of Rabbi Yehuda Winzelberg’s Torah U’Tefilah.
