1 Adar – The Yahrzeit of the Ibn Ezra
The Ibn Ezra was extremely poor. He was destitute throughout his entire life. His good friend, the Rambam, wanted to help him financially, but the Ibn Ezra vehemently refused to accept monetary support from anyone.
The Rambam tried to think of a way to help him and he came up with an idea. He knew that the Ibn Ezra davened Shacharis every day in the bais knesses near his house and that he crossed a bridge to get there. He decided to put some money on the bridge. According to halacha, if one finds loose money with no identifying marks, it belongs to the finder. Therefore, the Ibn Ezra would be able to keep the money without having to take tzedakah.
The Rambam left the money on the bridge the next morning, right before the Ibn Ezra came along. He then hid behind a tree and saw the Ibn Ezra coming. However, he was shocked to see his friend walking with his eyes firmly closed, and he didn’t even notice the money.
The Rambam ran over to the Ibn Ezra and asked him, ‘Why are you walking with your eyes closed?’
The Ibn Ezra answered, ‘I cross this bridge every day. Today, I wanted to see if I knew it so well that I could cross it with my eyes closed, and I discovered that I could!’
The Rambam then told the Ibn Ezra about his plan to leave money on the bridge and the Ibn Ezra said, ‘There is a fundamental rule that a person only receives what he is meant to have. If one is not meant to have something, there is no way for him to get it. Even if someone gets ahold of something not meant for him, he will somehow lose it.’
May their memories be a blessing for all of Klal Yisroel.