A Returned Check

A rich woman who had been married for many years without bearing children came to the Rav of Budapest with a large sum of money. She wanted to donate the money to the Rav in order that he would daven for her to be blessed with children. "I'll give you an eitzah" said the Rav. “Send the money to Rav Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld, the Rav of Yerushalayim. He's a great tzaddik, and Hashem will surely listen to his tefillah and you'll merit zera shel kayama."

The woman agreed to the Rav's suggestion, and she sent the money to the Rav of Yerushalayim. A few weeks passed and the husband of the woman came to the Rav and complained to him, “Why did you send the money without my knowledge?! I demand that you send a letter immediately to the Rav of Yerushalayim requesting that he return the money.” The Rav said, "I'll give you the whole amount from my pocket, as long as you don't demand the money back from the Rav of Yerushalayim."

While they were still discussing the details of getting the money back, the postman arrived with an envelope for the Rav Sonnenfeld. The Rav opened the envelope and was astounded to find a letter accompanied by the full amount of money the man's wife had sent to him. The letter said: “I received the letter with the money enclosed. However, since the Rav wrote that the woman gave him the money, I suspected that she might have done this without the permission of her husband. Because of this, I am sending back the money, and I request from the Rav that he return the money to the woman as quickly as possible. It should be understood that I didn't refrain from the fulfilling the woman's request because of this. I davened fervently for her, and may my tefillos be accepted before Avinu BeShamayim."