Sefer Chochmas Chaim relates that the Rebbitzen of Rav Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld zt”l, the Rov of Yerushalaim, once knocked on the door of his neighbor and asked him if he could borrow a loaf of bread for lunch. The neighbor was very surprised, as the Rebbitzen never asked her neighbors for anything. He ran to bring her a loaf of bread, which she took and left.
The neighbor was very curious about this, so he peaked into the window and saw that Rav Yosef Chaim was sitting at his table, waiting for his wife to bring him lunch. She gave him the bread she had gotten from the neighbor. After reciting the bracha of Hamotzi, she told him, “I wanted you to know what it feels like to have no bread so that you would be able to empathize with the pain of our hungry children who have nothing to eat.”
As she said this, she broke down in tears. She continued, “And I borrowed this bread from our neighbor...”
Rav Yosef Chaim was very pained by her words and by the fact that he had eaten bread that wasn’t his, which went against his usual conduct. After reciting Birchas Hamazon, he said to himself, “I thought she had the level of bitachon that I have, but now that I see that this is not the case, I must go out and look for parnassah.”
He donned his coat and walked outside in search of parnassah. His neighbor wanted to see what would happen, so he discreetly followed him.
Rav Yosef Chaim walked through the gate near the Misgav Ladach Hospital, into the alley leading to Midan Street. Suddenly, he bent down. The neighbor hurried over and saw him pick up a gold Napoleon coin from the ground. Then Rav Yosef Chaim turned to him and said, “Well, I can go back home now. Boruch Hashem, I already have made some parnassah.”
