The Sefer Ahavas Chaim tells the following story.
In the city of Lemberg, there lived a wealthy merchant who made his living selling expensive furs. He had an only son and an only daughter, and he married them off to wealthy families, lavishing a great deal of wealth on them. With their father’s help, they too became very successful and wealthy, and they became known as philanthropists.
In his old age, his wife died. Later, his fortune declined and he lost his assets. The son and daughter did not want to support their poor father, and he was left alone, without anyone helping him. Since during his time of wealth he had been a supporter of the Rebbe of Ruzhin zy”a, he now traveled to him to seek his holy advice.
The Rebbe consoled him and said, “I am giving you a letter to show my chasidim. They will help you and provide you with the means to restart your business. With Hashem’s help, you will be successful again. The only thing I ask of you is that as soon as you return home, you should remarry. Your new wife will be good to you.”
The old man took the letter from the Rebbe and brought it to the chasidim in his city. When they saw the letter from their Rebbe, they immediately held a meeting and collected among themselves a total of 500 gold coins, which they gave to the old man. The old man began to buy and sell once again. At the same time, he visited the matchmakers and asked them to propose a shidduch for him. After a few days, they suggested a woman for him with a dowry of 300 gold coins, and he married her.
From then on, he experienced success, eventually becoming even richer than before. When the son saw that his father was successful and his wealth was growing by the day, he began to visit his home often. He also began to find fault with the behavior of his father’s wife, and he tried to convince him to divorce her, saying that he would take care of him instead.
When the son saw that his words were being ignored by his father, he also sent his sister to tell him that he should divorce his new wife and come live with his children, who would care for all his needs. The old man knew from the beginning that his children didn’t really care about him, and that they only were pretending to because they wanted his wealth. But since he did not want to get into a fight with them in his old age, he endured their words in silence.
Sometime later, he needed to travel to Leipzig for business purposes. While there, he invested all his wealth in a large deal, and he made a fortune in profit. On his way home, he went to see the Ruzhiner Rebbe and told him everything that had happened. He related that Hashem had blessed him with a lot of success, but he had a lot anguish from his son and daughter, whom he loves as a father loves his children but who wouldn’t give him any peace. He related how they bothered him every day by trying to convince him to divorce his wife and move in with them.
The Rebbe told him, “Chazal say (Yevamos 65B) that it is permitted to lie for shalom bayis. Therefore, you will write three letters - one to your son, one to your daughter, and one to your wife. In these letters, you will tell them that on this journey, you lost all your wealth and possessions, and suddenly became a poor and destitute man, to the point that you no longer even have enough money to cover the return trip. Ask each of them to send you money for the expenses of the return trip, and you will wait here with me until you receive a reply from all three of them.”
The man did as the Rebbe said. He wrote each of them a letter, saying that all the merchandise had been ruined on the way through various issues, and that he had no choice but to discard it all. He wrote that he had no money left, to the point that he was even forced to sell his clothes, and now he is poor and destitute and dressed in rags. He wrote that he had made it to town of Ruzhin, where the Rebbe was giving him a bit of tzedakah so that he doesn’t starve. Therefore, he asked them to come to his aid and send him a little money for the expenses of the journey back home.
A few days later, he received replies from all three of them. He first opened his son’s letter, in which he wrote: “Dear father, I received your letter and was sad to learn that you have lost all your wealth. But please forgive me for not being able to help because I don’t have any spare money right now. I am unable to send you money for the journey, nor am I able to host you in my home. My advice is that you remain there with the Rebbe, who will feed you at his table.”
The daughter also wrote to him in the same way, but she added that she had just done a shidduch with a very wealthy family and she had to provide a very large dowry. Therefore, she said that she had no available funds to send him. She also advised him to stay with the Rebbe, saying: “There is no reason why you have to
