Right before Shabbos, the girl went to the store, but she did everything in her power to prevent the need to desecrate Shabbos. For example, she made sure to turn on all the lights before Shabbos and the like.
She opened the store on Shabbos morning, and she sat there saying Tehillim. She davened to Hashem that no customers should come in. And so it was! An entire day passed and no one came into the store.
Still and all, the girl was worried that when her parents arrived and found the cash register empty, they would suspect that she hadn’t opened the store at all and they wouldn’t believe that she had opened it but no customers showed up.
Shortly before the end of Shabbos, a man entered the store and inspected the merchandise. He saw a very nice utensil that he liked, and saw that the price tag said that it costed only five shekel. He came to her to ask what its price was and she said to herself: I’ll tell him a high price so that he won’t agree to buy it. She answered him, “500 shekel.”
He said to her, “How can a simple object cost five hundred shekel?”
She said to him, “If you don’t want it, you are not obligated to buy it!”
He thought to himself: Such a beautiful item cannot be found anywhere else. He began to haggle over the price, but she stood her ground. He entered and left the store several times, and each time he raised his offer, until he finally told he that he is willing to pay the price she asked for. She then told him that her parents will be there soon and they would make the sale. Again, she did this to stall the man so that she wouldn’t have to make a sale on Shabbos.
He pressured her a lot, but she stood her ground and told him: “I’ll sell it to you in half an hour.”
He wanted it so much that he offered her double the amount she had said. Finally, while they were arguing, she checked the time and saw that Shabbos was over. She then told him that he could buy the object at its regular price of five shekel. She explained that the reason she quoted such a high price was because she didn’t want to sell anything on Shabbos, but now she is not willing to sell it to him at the regular price.
The man said to her: “Since I have already agreed to a price, I am not willing to go back on my word.”
He gave her the 500 shekel and left. The girl thanked Hashem for saving her from desecrating Shabbos and also enabling her to earn such a sum.
When her parents returned, she told them the story, and said to them, “How much do you earn when you open the store on Shabbos? Look at this! I was privileged to keep Shabbos and also to earn several times what you earn for on Shabbos.”
Her parents heard her heartfelt words and draw closer to Yiddishkeit.
We see from this story how much one can benefit by having emunah and bitachon.
Sefer Emunah Shleima relates the following incredible story:
Rav Mordechai of Zhevil zy”a had a daughter who reached marriageable age and he didn’t have a penny to marry her off but he trusted in Hashem to help him. One day, it occurred to him to approach the management of the Chayei Olam Talmud Torah in Yerushalaim to ask them for a list of donors, so that he could ask them to come to his aid. The secretary of the school did not know how to explain to him that the list was private and was solely for the use of the Talmud Torah and could not be given out to others. He decided to give him a few names from an old list, from which they had long since stopped receiving donations.
When he returned home and showed his family the list of names, his Rebbetzin thought it was an unnecessary hassle to prepare dozens of letters to all the people mentioned on the list. She told him that in order to gain Hashem’s salvation, they only need to make the necessary hishtadlus. Therefore, it would be enough if they sent one letter to one person, and Hashem would help.
A few days later, all the wedding expenses were received from that donor. The Rebbetzin took the money and purchased all the wedding necessities, and they copiously thanked and praising Hashem or helping them. The Rebbe also went to thank the secretary for his help.
When the secretary heard what happened, he couldn’t believe it. This man had stopped donating to the school years ago. What made him go out of his way to give such a large sum for a private individual’s needs? He decided to send a letter to the donor, asking him for an explanation.
A few days later, he received a letter from the donor in which he explained that, indeed, for a long time now, he had been unable to continue to support the school. However, his daughter recently became seriously ill, to the point that the doctors gave up hope for her. In his distress, he went with his grandchildren, his daughter’s sons, to the great Rav Moshe Feinstein, zt”l, to seek his advice and blessing.
Rav Moshe suggested asking the sick woman if she had any savings and, if so, it would be advisable to donate the money to charity as a zechus. When the donor asked his daughter about this, she answered in the affirmative, and gave him all her savings. While they were still talking, a letter arrived from the Rebbe of Zhevil, in which he detailed all the wedding expenses he needed. It turned out that the amount he requested was exactly the amount the man’s daughter had saved up. They quickly sent it to him, and the daughter got better within a few days!
