For a while we’ve wanted to begin a seder to learn hilchos Shabbos during all our seudos, and baruch Hashem, we were zocheh to do so. We are learning two halachos at every seudah, and we came to the halachah regarding how Shabbos and Yom Tov expenses come back to you.
That’s right, Chazal have said that a person’s parnassah is predetermined every Rosh Hashanah, except for Shabbos and Yom Tov expenses. Dorshei Reshimos even gave an acronym for all expenses that are not calculated on Rosh Hashanah, and they are the initials of the word “Tishrei,” which stands for Talmud Torah, Shabbos, Rosh Chodesh, and Yom Tov.
One of the children got really excited.
“What – really? Everything comes back to you?” he asked in disbelief.
“Everything,” I said.
“How does it come back?”
“The Ribbono shel Olam has many ways of providing,” I said.
“And can it also happen that someone just gives you money in your hand?”
“Yes, it’s possible.”
A short while passed, and it was Erev Pesach. We strengthened ourselves in our emunah that Yom Tov expenses come back to you, and we bought what we needed, relying on the open Hand of Hashem, Who took us out of Mitzrayim. On Chol Hamoed, when I went down to the park with the children for a short outing, a car stopped right near us, and the driver called out to one of my children to come to him.
I saw this and I was suspicious. I immediately went over to him myself. What does this stranger want from my child?
“I have an envelope to give you,” he said.
He handed me the envelope, and I could tell that there was money inside. I refused to
