Changes in the Tzedakah Distribution
Even though Reb Shmuel had recovered somewhat from the crisis that had struck the entire diamond industry, and continued his business, he was not able to give tzedakah in the amounts he had been used to. He had to calculate his finances on a daily basis to make sure his business did not collapse.
Even more difficult than his drastically altered financial situation was the emotional difficulty of having to change his giving habits. Moreover, only a few people knew that the financial situation was not like it used to be, and each day, people would knock at his door. He listened to their woes, but he was not able to help them the way he wanted to.
Remarkable Testimony
“Even when he no longer had a lot of money, he gave a lot of tzedakah,” Harav Shmuel Halevi Wosner told Reb Shmuel’s family when he came to the shivah. The Rav felt it was important to emphasize this.
Rav Wosner felt that Reb Shmuel’s continued giving beyond his means, even when he no longer had much money, indicated what a high madreigah he’d achieved. Rav Wosner knew him well, because Reb Shmuel had davened Friday nights in his beis medrash for decades, and because he was a major donor to his yeshivah. [He davened closer to home on Friday night so that he could walk to Kiryat Vizhnitz for the Rebbe’s tish after the seudah.]
Concepts in Chessed
During the difficult years, Reb Shmuel cried from the depths of his heart, “I’m prepared to make a neder to Hashem — I agree not to receive a reward for my acts of tzedakah, not in this world and not in the next world! I just want to merit to continue giving tzedakah to people!”
His children relate:
In 1981/5741, when his situation was the worst, we asked him why he was giving so much tzedakah despite his dire straits. His response was typical of his way of thinking. “I’m losing a lot of money as it is, at least some of it should go to tzedakah!”
Take a Diamond – I Don’t Have Money Anymore
Harav Asher Greenfield of Montreal related:
When I served as a maggid shiur in Yeshivas Chasam Sofer of Bnei Brak, I turned to Reb Shmuel and said to him, “We have an orphaned bachur who is about to get married, and he doesn’t have a penny to his name. We need a lot of support to help him establish his home properly.”
It was in 1981/5741, and unfortunately, I wasn’t aware that Reb Shmuel’s financial situation was very difficult.
Reb Shmuel’s response resonates in my ears to this day. I get goosebumps when I remember how this baal chessed responded. “Reb Asher, my situation is not as it used to be. Regretfully, I don’t have the ability to give, but I’d really like to help as much as I possibly can. I still have a few packets of diamonds left, and I’ll give you a diamond. Sell it, and use the money to help the bachur.”
I was astonished. Reb Shmuel had no money left, just a few diamonds, and he was giving one away to help this orphan. He gave everything he had to others.
Seven Thousand Dollar Guarantee
Reb Pinchas Neiman, a philanthropist in America and the manager of the Manhattan office, related:
One of the members of the community encountered trouble in America and needed a guarantee of seven thousand dollars. He contacted Reb Shmuel, who was in America at the time, and asked him to sign the guarantee. I knew that this person could not pay the debt, and I was also aware of Reb Shmuel’s dire state. I tried to prevent Reb Shmuel from signing on the guarantee. But it was to no avail, and he signed.
As expected, the man defaulted on the loan, and Reb Shmuel had to pay the seven thousand dollars, as is the law with an arev, a guarantor. In those years, it was a tremendous sum for him.
What was exceptional about this story is that Reb Shmuel never had a bad word to say about the borrower who had deceived him; he displayed no anger. He accepted his obligation, paid the money, and needless to say, never demanded the money back.
An Act for Tzedakah
A friend related the following story:
I was a yeshivah bachur when I approached Reb Shmuel and asked him for a donation for an orphan boy who was getting married. He wasn’t able to give like he had in previous years, but he still gave a generous sum. Then he suggested, “Come with me to Reb Zalman Cohen, a Yid who likes to give tzedakah.”
He drove me over, and was only calm when I had a large sum in my hands.
Selling Generously
The financial turmoil had an effect on Reb Shmuel’s wife’s health. She was afraid to live in the villa on Rechov Saadya Gaon, and preferred to live nearer to her children in Kiryat Vizhnitz. The Daskals sold their beautiful home, used the money to purchase several large apartments for the children, and then moved to live near them.
Reb Shmuel’s children relate:
We will never forget the day my father left the villa, as we were able to see the extent of his generosity of spirit. Despite the tension he surely felt at having to sell the house, his only concern was that the buyer should be comfortable and enjoy their new home.
It says in Meshech Chochmah (Parshas Behar) that when a person sells his field, according to his natural tendencies, he does so with an ayin ra’ah, a level of stinginess. Deep down, he doesn’t really want the buyer to enjoy the field. He’s hoping that the man will not see the yield of his efforts in planting, the land will turn barren, and the buyer will have grief from it. In contrast, one who gives a gift does so generously and wants the recipient to be happy with it.
My parents’ house had a beautiful guest suite. The sale of the house did not include any furniture, but my father asked that we leave the guest room with all its accoutrements for the buyer. However, the movers mistakenly took the furniture out of the house.
Anyone who did not see how pained he was by this would not believe it. My father kept repeating, “That was such a nice room. I wanted the buyer to enjoy it!” He was only worried about the welfare and comfort of others.
Two Thousand Dollars a Month
Reb Yitzchak Beirach Daskal related:
After my father’s passing, a neighbor let us know about the remarkable relationship he had with my father. Ironically, he didn’t even realize the extent of what my father did for him.
“I was about to finalize a shidduch for one of my children,” the neighbor told me. “Before we signed anything, I went to Reb Shmuel’s home and asked him, ‘How much can you pledge to give me?’
‘I can give you two thousand dollars a month,’ he replied.”
I asked the neighbor, “You consulted with my father before concluding a shidduch?”
The neighbor replied innocently, “We’ve been doing this for many years. Before every shidduch, I would go up to Reb Shmuel and find out how much he could give, and based on his answer, I told the mechutan what I could give that time...”
It was evident from the way he spoke that he didn’t know that Reb Shmuel’s finances had declined in recent years, and that nevertheless, he continued to give as he always had.
I Can’t Give More
Harav Aryeh Tobias, a member of the Badatz Vizhnitz, related:
I was once at Reb Shmuel’s home when a Yid walked in and asked for a donation. He gave him a large sum, but the man was not satisfied and asked for more.
Reb Shmuel almost started crying and pleaded, “I can’t give you anymore. What can I do if my financial situation is not as it used to be?” He apologized to the man as though he owed him money and was asking that he agree to accept repayment in installments!
His children witnessed this scene hundreds of times. They saw how his heart broke each time he had to tell a needy person, “I can’t give you what I used to...” It’s hard to find the words to describe the painful scene.
What Am I Worth If a Jew Lacks for Something?
Reb Shmuel’s children relate:
My father once said to us, “You cannot possibly understand how hard it is for me not to be able to give tzedakah the way I used to.”
We tried to comfort him. “Chazal say, ‘If a person thought to do a mitzvah and was compelled not to [despite his will], the passuk considers it as though he did it.’”
Our response did not satisfy him and he replied passionately, “And what does a person who is suffering have from my mitzvah? He remains without money, so what benefit does he gain from the fact that I got the mitzvah?”
This is an appropriate place to cite Harav Elimelech of Lizhensk in his sefer Noam Elimelech (Vayikra, Parashas Metzora). “And if a person thinks of doing a mitzvah or a matter of Torah, and did not do it because he was prevented by circumstances beyond his control, and another person is involved in Torah or a mitzvah, but is doing it for the wrong intention, HaKadosh Baruch Hu links the latter’s act to the thought of the tzaddik, and it is as though the former performed the meritorious act, and as it says in Chagigah 15a, he earns his share and his friend’s share.”
A War for Chessed!
Rabbi Aryeh Hager of Kiryat Vizhnitz related:
I was witness to a few incidents where Reb Shmuel wanted to go visit someone in order to give him needed funds, and the family of the poor person — knowing that Reb Shmuel’s situation was not what it had been — tried to prevent him from going. But he would fight to go, and ultimately did so.
Moreover, I know of someone who lost all his money, and the Rebbe asked, “Don’t tell Reb Shmuel. His situation is not so good and if he hears about this person, he will give him everything he has, more than he can afford.”
I Merited to Bring Others Enjoyment
Even during this difficult period, Reb Shmuel would bring home a thick wad of bills from the Bourse each day, bound with a rubber band. Outside, darkness was falling, but in the hearts of the needy, their personal darkness dissipated somewhat.
Reb Shmuel distributed this packet of bills each evening, and also gave out checks for large sums. His face was aglow as he gave and gave, and after the last of the recipients left the house, and the wad of bills was completely gone, he sat down to rest from his toil.
During those moments, his fingers would toy with the rubber band that lay limp on the table. He seemed to enjoy playing with it, and to us it seemed as though it was calling out, “Baruch Hashem, I had the merit to bring pleasure to other Yidden!”
His family was astonished each day anew. They knew how hard finances were for him at that point, they knew how every penny was being calculated, but even then, Reb Shmuel relaxed by playing with a rubber band that was evidence of his tzedakah distribution that day!
Even in the Most Severe Crisis
Reb Amram Levy, a financial advisor at the Bourse, related:
Once, I was in the Chisda Shul in Bnei Brak for Shacharis, and I met my friend Reb Shmuel. It was in the middle of 1981, at the height of the diamond crisis.
Reb Shmuel invited me to his house for coffee. As a very close friend, I knew how dire his situation was — both financial and emotional — due to the crisis.
During our conversation, which lasted nearly an hour, needy people knocked at the door about every five minutes.
I was amazed at the sums that he gave, and at the joy and pleasure that radiated from his face every time he gave. I saw how much joy it gave him to donate generously.
Even though deep in his heart, I knew he was shattered and aching, no one who came to his house knew what was going on inside.
Giving a Guarantee
Reb Benzion Weiler, the manager of the business, related:
A Yid once turned to Reb Shmuel in great distress. “Reb Shmuel, please help! I borrowed money and I have no way to repay. The lender is pressuring me and threatening my life. He agrees to wait a few years to have the loan repaid, on condition that you sign as a guarantor on this loan for $40,000. With Hashem’s help, I’ll repay the loan in a few years.”
“Don’t sign!” I urged Reb Shmuel. “You’ll be left having to pay the whole sum and it will be very difficult for you to come up with funds.”
After thinking it over, he replied, “It’s hatzalas nefashos, and I just can’t say no. Hashem will help.” And he signed.
Years passed, and the time to repay the loan arrived. The borrower had not paid, and the lender demanded that Reb Shmuel pay it, as per his signature as a guarantor. Reb Shmuel could not afford to pay what was owed, so he sold some personal possessions to cover the amount. Remarkably, his reaction to the matter was the comment, “I was able to save someone’s life!”
He never expressed resentment that the borrower had deceived him. Even more, Reb Shmuel threw out the promissory notes that the borrower had given him as a security, along with hundreds of other “unimportant” documents.
Surely he was shown all these documents in the Upper World, where he is basking in the Light of the Shechinah in reward for all his truly exceptional deeds.
It would be impossible to include in this book all the acts of tzedakah that Reb Shmuel performed during his later years, when finances were so tight. These are just a small sampling of the deeds that are indicative of what he was thinking and feeling at that time.
Tzedakah Is the Only Asset I Take with Me!
Reb Shmuel’s children relate:
Often, we heard from my father that of all the wealth that he had, he remained only with the tzedakah that he’d given, which were the true assets that he’d accumulated for eternity. For that reason, during the difficult times, he did not ask for help from the many institutions that he had given so much tzedakah to over the years.
I was present when someone, on behalf of one of the mosdos, made an offer that the administrators would help him out a bit, after he had helped them so much in the past.
His response was incredulity. “Of all that I had, I am left only the merit of tzedakah. Do you want to take that from me as well?”
True Assets
It seems fitting to conclude this chapter with the words of Chazal (Bava Basra 11) about King Munbaz, a ger tzedek, who spent all the royal treasures amassed by his ancestors. He used them for the Beis Hamikdash and to provide for the poor. The members of his royal household were outraged at his squandering of the royal treasures, and so he told them:
My forebears amassed here below, while I am amassing Above, as it says, “Emes mei’eretz titzmach vetzeddek mishamayim nishkaf, truth will sprout from the earth, and righteousness will look down from Heaven” (Tehillim 85).
My forebears amassed in a place where the hand controls, and I amassed in a place where the hand does not have control, as it says, “Tzedek u’mishpat machon kisacha, righteousness and judgment are the basis of Your Throne” (Tehillim 89).
My forebears amassed something that does not reap fruits while I amassed something that yields fruits, as it says, “Amru tzaddik ki tov ki pri ma’aleleihem yochlu, Praise the righteous man for he is good, for the fruit of their deeds they shall eat” (Yeshayahu 3).
My forebears amassed monetary fortunes, while I amassed fortunes of souls, as it says, “Pri tzaddik eitz chaim veloke’ach nefashos chacham, The fruit of a righteous man is the tree of life, and the wise man acquires souls” (Mishlei 11).
My forebears amassed for others, and I amassed for myself, as it says, “U’lecha tihiyeh tzedakah, and it will be to your credit” (Devarim 24).
My forebears amassed in this world and I amassed for the World to Come, as it says, “Vehalach lefanecha tzidkecha kevod Hashem ya’asfecha, and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of Hashem shall gather you in” (Yeshayahu 58).
Reb Shmuel, too, amassed his assets Above, in a place where no hand controls, with something that yields fruits, and he accumulated treasures of souls for himself in the World to Come.
