Rabbi Shlomo Landau brings a story of Reb Aharon Pfeuffer while he was living in South Africa. One day while he was in Yeshiva a young woman came crying to him. She told him she was engaged, and that her fiancé had given her many beautiful gifts. She shared that she desperately wanted to give him something nice such as chattan—groom watch (as was customary in her circle) in return, but she could not afford it.
Reb Aharon was so moved by her story that he immediately removed his gold Omega watch he received as a chattan from his wrist. In front of the young woman, he began to shine the watch until he thought it looked like new, and he found a nice box in his office for the watch. He handed the amazed bride the box, and she showered him with blessings.
After she left. Reb Aharon returned to his studies. On his way out for the day he realized that his wife would probably be upset that he was not wearing the watch she gave him, so he decided to stop by a large jewelry store on his way home. In the store he found a nearly identical gold Omega watch. It was almost two thousand dollars, which was out of his price range. He decided to purchase the watch with a payment plan so he can preserve the peace in his home.
When Reb Aharon went to pay at the cashier there was a booming announcement over the speakers. He was the one millionth customer in the store, and his purchase of the gold watch will be free. Hashem was paying him back for his mitzvah he did earlier that day for the kallah.
Reprinted from the Parashat Yitro 5786 email of Jack E. Rahmey based on the Torah teachings of Rabbi Amram Sananes.
