In the small Polish town of Radin where he lived, the Chofetz Chaim once received a letter containing a substantial sum of money. The sender had addressed it to "The Famous Rabbi of Radin." The Chofetz Chaim’s heart raced when he saw the unexpected bounty as his struggling Yeshiva desperately needed the funds.
Upon opening the letter, the Chofetz Chaim realized there was a problem. While he was indeed a rabbi in Radin, there was another distinguished rabbi in town who also had a significant following. The ambiguous address meant the sender might have intended the money for the other rabbi.
The Chofetz Chaim immediately set out to clarify the sender's intentions. He sent a messenger through the cold and snow-covered roads to contact the sender in a distant town, explaining the situation and asking who the money was meant for.
For weeks, the Chofetz Chaim waited to hear back from the messenger, watching his students in the unheated study hall, knowing that the money sitting in his drawer could be used to buy firewood and food. Yet he refused to touch the money until he knew with absolute certainty it was his to use.
Several agonizing weeks later, the reply finally arrived - the sender had indeed intended to give the money to the Chofetz Chaim. Only then did he accept the funds for his Yeshiva.
When his astonished students asked why he had gone through such trouble, especially when the money had been delivered to him directly and therefore was most likely his, the Chofetz Chaim's eyes blazed.
"The Torah teaches us that even the slightest possibility of possessing something that is not rightfully ours must be eliminated," he declared. "It doesn't matter that the money was probably meant for me, or that our Yeshiva desperately needed the funds. When it comes to questions of honesty, ‘probably’ isn't good enough."
