Rav Yoel Sirkes, zt”l, the Rav of Krakow, was known as the Bach. He had a wealthy Talmid, and he would teach him to be generous with the gifts Hashem had given him. One day, an innkeeper complained to the Bach that someone was trying to take over the lease of his inn for himself, and he offered the landlord a larger sum of money than he could afford.
Tombstone of the Bach
The innkeeper told the Bach that if this man succeeded, he would lose his entire Parnasah. The Bach summoned his wealthy student and told him about the innkeeper’s struggle. The Talmid knew the landlord, and he agreed to intercede to try and make sure that he would not lease the inn to anyone else.
However, he said that he first had to travel on a business trip to Leipzig. Afterwards, when he returned, he said he would be happy to attend to the matter and speak with the landlord. The innkeeper was desperate, and he begged him to take care of this first and then go on the trip. He worried that by the time the student returned, he would have already lost his home and his source of income.
Rebuked the Innkeeper for Not Having Enough Emunah
The wealthy man asked the distraught innkeeper to sit down, and he told him that he had to strengthen his Emunah. He said, “You don’t need to help Hashem with your calculations. Hashem will take care of you. Do not be afraid!”
When the innkeeper came home and told his wife what had happened, she was completely distressed, and she rebuked her husband for letting the wealthy man delay his meeting. In the end, it all turned out fine.
When the wealthy man returned from his trip, he went to speak to the landlord, and he was able to arrange for the innkeeper to keep his lease. He was also able to get a guarantee that the landlord would not lease the inn to anyone else for the next ten years. The innkeeper and his wife were very relieved and happy, and they were extremely grateful.
The Wealthy Man’s Case in the Heavenly Court
Many years later, the wealthy man passed away while the Bach was still living, and he appeared to the Bach in a dream. He wanted to tell his Rebbe what had happened to him when he arrived in Shamayim. He said, “After my case was heard by the Heavenly Court, Baruch Hashem I was judged favorably, and I was brought into Gan Eden.
“The aroma of Gan Eden is like nothing I had ever smelled, and all I felt was goodness. Suddenly, I saw a Malach (angel) walking toward me, and he blocked my way from going forward. He then began to drag me out of Gan Eden! I asked him, ‘Who are you? And why are you taking me out of this wonderful place?’
He said, ‘I am the Malach that was created from your Mitzvah of saving the innkeeper and his family from losing their Parnasah. But you have no idea how many tears, how much worry, and the amount of Shalom Bayis problems you caused by delaying your help until you got back from that trip.’
“The Malach brought me back to the Bais Din Shel Ma’alah, and they ruled that I would need to wait at the gates of Gan Eden for the same amount of time that I had made the innkeeper wait until I helped him. I came to tell you this story so that you can teach others about how important it is to not delay giving assistance to those in need!”
Reprinted from the Parshas Bechukosai 5784 email of Rabbi Yehuda Winzelberg’s Torah U’ Tefilah.
