A Miser is in The Hands of Evil Forces:
No one ever loses from giving tzedakah. The pasuk states (Mishlei 11:24): “There are those who give away and have an increase.” Usually, when one gives something away, he now has less of that thing. However, when one gives money to charity, not only does he not lose anything, he will see an increase in the amount of money he has.
Still and all, it is difficult for a person to stick his hand into his pocket and give away his hard-earned money. Why is this so? Why doesn’t everyone give tzedakah generously if they only stand to gain by doing so?
The answer to this question is found in the Kav Hayashar’s explanation of the Medrash (Bamidbor Rabbah 11:5) that states: “Yevarechecha Hashem v’yishmerecha (Bamidbor 6:24). May Hashem bless you with money and protect you from damaging angels.” The Kav Hayashar explains this Medrash with a story:
There was once was a very wealthy man who possessed much gold, silver and precious gems. This man was extremely miserly, to the extent that he wouldn’t go to daven in shul on Mondays and Thursdays because those were the days when poor people would go around the bais knesses asking for tzedakah, and he couldn’t bring himself to part with even a penny of his money.
There was, however, one exception to this rule. This miser was a mohel, and when he would have the opportunity to perform a bris milah, he would make sure to do it. Even if the milah was very far from his house, he would make the journey. And he always refused to accept any payment for his services, no matter if the father was rich or poor.
One day, a demon came to him disguised as a man and said, “My wife just gave birth to a boy. Can you please be the mohel at the bris?”
The miser ran home and got his milah knife, and boarded a wagon together with the damaging angel who claimed to be the father to travel to the place where he said the bris would take place.
The mazik drove him through a forest where no man had ever set foot before. For two days straight, they drove through uninhabited hills, mountains, and desert. On the third day, they arrived at a house. This house was located in what looked like a small village of about 20 dwellings. All of the homes were very fancy.
Upon entering the house, the mohel could see that the man was very wealthy. His home was bedecked with all kinds of luxuries and there were many servants tending to the property.
The father left the mohel alone and he went to check on the baby. When he entered the room where the mother and baby were, the mother was very happy to see him. She said, “Let me tell you a big secret. My husband is not a man. He is a demon. I, however, am a human being. When I was a little girl, I was kidnapped by demons from my parents’ house. I am very unhappy living with the demons, as they are busy with nonsense all day. I ask you to please perform a bris on my son, who was born from them. I also have to warn you not to eat or drink anything they offer you and not to take any gifts from them.”
When the mohel heard this, he got very scared. Later in the day, many horses and carriages carrying guests began arriving at the house. All of these guests were demons and damaging angels. They begged the mohel to sit down with them and enjoy a festive “vachnacht” meal, but he refused all of their offers of food and drink, claiming that he was very tired from the long trip and had no appetite.
The next morning, he went to the bais knesses with them, where he had no choice but to daven together with the demons and to sing the traditional song of “V’charos imo habris.”
After davening, they brought in the baby. The mohel performed the bris and the entire crowd was then invited to partake in refreshments in the home of the sandik. The mohel was forced to go along but he didn’t eat or drink anything. When asked why he wasn’t eating, he said that he was in the middle of a tainis chalom.
In the afternoon, the father said that since the mohel went to so much effort to make the trip, he would be organizing a seudah that night in his honor. He said that the feast would begin as soon as his tainis ended. His intent was to get the mohel to eat his food so that he would gain power over him. He was still unaware that the mohel knew who he really was.
At the seudah that evening, the mohel still wouldn’t eat anything. He claimed that he had a headache and didn’t feel well. All the other guests ate and drank to their hearts’ content but he remained hungry. After filling himself up with food and wine, the father told the mohel, “I want to speak to you in private.”
The mohel got scared and thought that he was going to be killed but he followed the demon into a room. The host showed him some of his treasures and then led him into a second room, where he showed him even more intricate golden vessels. He told him, “You may take one item as a gift.”
The mohel said, “I am a wealthy man. I have my own gold and silver vessels. I have a lot of money. I don’t need any presents.”
The host said, “At least take one ring or one small item that appeals to you.”
The mohel, however, wouldn’t take anything.
The demon then took him into a room where there were many keys hanging on the wall. The walls of the room were covered with hooks, with a key hanging from each hook. The mohel was amazed by this, until he noticed one set of keys that looked exactly like his house keys.
The host said to him, “You saw all of my treasures but you weren’t impressed by any of them. But you are impressed by these keys? They’re just worthless iron.”
The mohel said, “I am amazed by that set of keys. They look just like the keys to my house and my private rooms. How did they come to be here?”
The demon said to him, “Since you did me a favor and traveled so far to do the bris on my son, and because I see that Hashme is with you and He prevented you from eating or drinking anything in my house, I will explain it to you. I am the demon who has power over miserly people. I was given control over these keys to ensure that their owners don’t use their resources to give tzedakah or do chesed. I make sure that they are so stingy that they don’t even spend any money on themselves and don’t allow themselves to enjoy this world by eating delicacies and the like. Since I owe you a favor, I will allow you to take your keys, and I promise not to do you any harm.”
The mohel took his keys and happily went home.
As soon as he got home, a major change came over him. The first thing he did was to build a beautiful bais medrash for the people of the town. He began to distribute large sums of money to the poor and he continued giving a lot of charity until the day he died.
The Kav Hayashar uses this story to explain the Medrash. It says that Hashem should bless us with money and grant us wealth. It then says that Hashem should protect us from damaging angels so that they do not retain possession of the keys to our money and we are able to use it for good things.
The Kav Hayashar concludes by writing: “We see from this that if someone is very miserly, he is in the hands of evil forces. The damaging angels have control over his money. But if one is generous, he is in the control of holy forces. Therefore, one should not be overly stingy so that he can live a life of holiness.”
We can learn from this that if someone realizes that he is being stingy, he should check “where his keys are” – are they in the hands of holy or unholy forces?
