In Krakow, a poor man would sit at the street corner, selling the bagels his wife baked. One morning, a wealthy person recognized the poor man and said, "You're a talmid chacham from an illustrious family! It isn't proper that you should do this for your parnassah. I will provide you with a weekly stipend so you can study Torah in beis medresh day and night."
The poor man agreed to this generous offer, left the corner, and returned to his beloved beis medrash. This arrangement continued for a number of weeks, but then the poor man was back on the street selling bagels. The wealthy man spotted and said, "We have an agreement. What happened?"
"I don’t want to be supported anymore," the poor man replied.
"But a deal is a deal. You can't back out without a din Torah."
This unusual din Torah was heard by the Megaleh Amukos zt'l. The Megaleh Amukos asked the poor man why he wanted to back out of the deal that would enable him to study Torah without disturbances.
The poor man replied, "When my wife and I were in the bagel business, we constantly turned our eyes to Hashem. As my wife prepared the bagels, she would daven to Hashem that the bagels come out tasty and beautiful. When I went out to chop wood for the oven, I davened that I should find dry wood, which is better for baking. When I sat at the street corner, I davened that people should buy from me. We were constantly davening for siyata dishmaya. But now that we have a stipend, we daven less. This is why we decided to return to our previous lifestyle."
The Megaleh Amukos praised the couple for their devotion to Hashem.
Shortly before this episode, the Megaleh Amukos informed the leaders of Krakow that he planned to resign from his rabbanus in this city. He never shared with them the reason he wanted to leave. They asked him repeatedly why, but he refused to disclose the reason. But because of this din Torah, when he saw the poor couple's desire to have a constant connection with Hashem, the Megaleh Amukos changed his mind and decided to stay in Krakow. He wanted to be among such special people who sought constant closeness to Hashem.
In any event, the story is a reminder of the ideal of turning one's eyes to Hashem. And sometimes, it is precisely tzaros and hardships that bring out the best in us.
