Story of the week (By Yehuda Z. Klitnick)
**** The Rav’s logic rescued a Yid’s stolen fortune ****
In the late 1700’s, a traveling Jewish merchant found himself near Prague as Shabbos approached. He checked into a local inn to spend the Shabbos. He had with him 10,000 gilden and went looking for a trustworthy Yid with whom he could deposit the money for safekeeping until after Shabbos. Finally, he met up with an old business acquaintance. He asked him if he could hold his money untill after Shabbos and he happily agreed. He handed him the money and they parted. The Yid had peace of mind knowing that his money was safe and enjoyed Shabbos in Prague. Come Motzei Shabbos, the Yid went to hiis friend and asked for his 10,000 gilden. To his dismay and shock, he denied that he was holding the other man’s money and even accused the merchant of trying to extort money from him! The Yid began to cry. “A lot of the money belonged to my business partners; if I don’t bring it back, I will be doomed.” “I’m sorry I can’t help you. Get out of my house,” was the reply. The Yid realized that he had fallen into the hands of a first-class swindler. He decided to appeal to the Noda Beyehuda, the Gaon Harav Yechezkel Landau, Rav of Prague. At the Rav’s chambers, he described how he was swindled by his “friendly” business acquaintance, right there in the middle of Prague. The Rav said he need not worry; with Hashem’s help he will recover all his money. The Rav instructed him to return to the hotel, rest up, and return in the morning.
On Sunday morning the Yid returned to the Rav who told him to wait in a side room until the Shamash would call him back into the Rav’s study. Meanwhile, the Rav sent his Shamash to summon the businessman who obliged and came with the Shamash to the Rav’s home.
The Noda Beyehuda received him respectfully and turned the discussion to the dire situation of the poor citizens of Prague. He requested a donation of 1,000 gilden for tzedaka. The businessman objected, saying “Business is not what it used to be, and I cannot possibly afford to give such a sum.” The Rav then asked, “How about 500 gilden?” Again the man answered “Out of the question!” The Rav then asked “Can we say 300 gilden?” “Sorry, It’s just not possible. Nothing to talk about,” was the reply.
Now the Rav winked to the Shamash, the signal for him to call in the merchant from the adjoining room. He came in with an anguished howl: “Rebbe, this evil man is holding 10,000 gilden of mine and refuses to return it! My business partners will ruin me if I come home empty-handed.” The Rav turned to the businessman: “Tell me straight out. Did this Yid deposit money with you to hold over Shabbos?” He continued to stonewall. “Absolutely not. But I have pity on this poor man and I will help him out by giving 100 gilden. The Yid continued weeping; the Prague man raised his “merciful”-offer to 300 gilden. The Rav now whispered to the merchant, “Go out now and let me speak privately to him.”
When they were alone, the Rav spoke softly to the businessman, “See here. This man is in dire straits and it would be a great mitzvah to help him. You chip in 1000 gilden and I will try to raise the other 9000. We can put him back on his feet. What do you say? The businessman answered the Rav: “Alright, I agree. I will give the 1000 gilden. I can’t stand to see a Yid be in such agony!” The Rav smiled and asked “Fine, well said. Can I send my Shamash to your home right now to pick up the money?”
Now the suspect began to tremble. The businessman began to shiver when the Rav didn’t wait for his slippery answer. He confronted him straight on: “You are a thief. If you don’t admit that you stole this man’s money and return the 10,000 gilden immediately, I will hand you over to the police.” The businessman flew into a frenzy and tearfullly confessed to the theft. “The Rav knows I am an honest person. But the astronomical amount of money tempted me and I couldn’t overcome my Yetzer Harah. Now that the truth is out, of course I will return the money to the Yid. I am doing teshuva and will never repeat a crime like this. I promise!” The Rav said, “I see that you really regret what you did and as soon as you return the money I am sure our traveling friend will forgive you. Go now with my Shamash and come back with the money without delay.”
While the Rav and the the Yid were left alone, the Yid exclaimed to the Rav: “Rebbe, how can I ever thank you? I have never seen Ruach Hakodesh like yours!” “No, not at all,” answered the Rav. “I just employed simple logic and perhaps a bit of intuition. If you remember how our discussion began, I asked him for help for the needy of Prague and he answered that he had no money and could not afford 300 gilden. Yet when your anguish came pouring out, he let down his guard and was willing to give you 1000 gilden! At that time I understood that he was lying and was hoping to get away with giving you 1000 gilden to salve his conscience, pocketing the rest and still be a winner. But that immoral plan was what trapped him. The whole picture became clear in an instant – I saw that he had gilden in the thousands at his disposal, which could only have come from your stash. This man was the thief – no doubt about it.”
The Shamash returned with the businessman, clutching the bag of money. The Rav now turned to the Yid to forgive the businessman for the needless agony he had caused him. Unable to spurn the Gaon’s request, the traveling merchant extended the mechila. A handshake, even if somewhat embittered, sealed the deal. The merchant returned to his town, a burden lifted from his soul, while the stature of the Gaon, the Noda Beyehuda, continued to grow in the City of Prague, and throughout the Jewish world.
