Yaakov Avinu said (48:15) אותי ברועה האלקים הזה היום עד מעודי, "Hashem Who sustained me as long as I am alive, until this day." The Gemara (Pesachim 118.) says that this means Hashem gave him parnassah. The word הרועה can imply that Hashem is like a shepherd who gives food to his sheep. This illustrates how Hashem sustains us and provides each person with his parnassah.
Sefer Taam v'Daas explains that the Torah compares Hashem sustaining us to a shepherd who feeds his animals (as it states הרועה). Just like animals don't know how to get their food, so it is with people. As it states (Koheles 9:11) לחם לחכמים לא, "neither do the wise have bread." Some very wise people don't have parnassah, and some people aren't especially smart and yet are incredibly wealthy. So, we see it isn't up to man but to Hashem.
He preferred to daven at his regular pace rather than having to rush to keep up with the 8:15 minyan. As he was waiting for the next minyan to begin, Hashem arranged that he should see one of these pamphlets (Be'er HaParashah/Torah Wellsprings). He opened it and saw the words of the Ramban: שקר והחריצות אמת הגזירה, Hashem's decree is accurate, and a person's cleverness is false. He read that hishtadlus isn't the source of parnassah. Hishtadlus is a decree that one must do, but even without hishtadlus, a person will receive the parnassah destined for him. This man thought to himself, "I believe in Hashem, but I don't understand how I can earn seven or eight hundred shekels a day without putting out my hand and asking for money. If I don't do anything, how will I have parnassah?
When the tefillah was over, a wealthy man came over to him and gave him eight hundred shekels. This was the first time this man came to him on his own to give him money without being asked. Heaven showed him that אמת הגזירה, Hashem's decree is the truth and will occur. שקר והחריצות, the notion that it’s my wisdom, talent, or work that earns me parnassah is false. Hakadosh Baruch Hu can send him parnassah without him doing anything at all.
The story also reminds us of the Midrash, ומפסיד לי שומע אדם אין that when a person obeys Hashem, he never loses. This man chose to daven at the next minyan, not to rush the tefillah, and it was at that next minyan that the wealthy person approached him. He gained by doing the right thing.
There is a unique Kollel in Yerushalayim, in the Kiryas Menachem neighborhood. The Kollel is called Ohel Malka, and it opened in the year ט"תשל. The yungerleit study all day, and at the end of the day, they go out, each to a different address or beis medresh, to give drashos and teach Torah to the less-religious and less-learned people in the area.
Their beis medresh, where they studied all day long, was in a caravan (prefab structure). But after twenty years of use, there were holes in the walls, which cats used as an entrance, etc. It was time to build a proper beis medresh for the scholars. The city council gave their consent. Now all that was missing was money. The head of the Kollel was Reb Yisrael Yaakov Weisfish zt'l. (He was niftar a few weeks ago, on motzei Shabbos parashas Toldos.) Sixty years ago, gedolei Yisrael sent Reb Yisrael Yaakov to be mikarev Yidden to their Father in heaven because they recognized his refined middos and his ability to connect with all types of people. The fundraiser for this kiruv organization was Reb Chaim Shaul Eizenstat, Reb Yisrael Yaakov's brother-in-law. Reb Yisrael Yaakov sent his brother-in-law, Reb Chaim Shaul, to raise money for the new building they hoped to establish.
Time passed, and they remained at the same place. Reb Weisfish was bothered by the chillul Hashem. He said that there are buildings and money for all matters; why shouldn't there be money for a house for Hashem? He said that the lack of funds was affecting his health and well-being.
On Erev Rosh Hashanah, Yisrael Yaakov said to his children, "Rosh Hashanah is approaching, and a primary theme of Rosh Hashanah is that we pray that Hashem’s glory be revealed over the world, and Hashem's honor should increase. I will daven with kavanah on this Rosh Hashanah, על אלקינו 'ה שמך יתקדש ובכן כבוד תן ובכן ...מעשיך כל, etc., that Hashem's name be sanctified, and the beis medresh should be built for His honor."
The next day, Tzom Gedalyah, Reb Chaim Shaul Eizenstat walked with his son, Reb Shmuel, from his home on Rechov Fishel, Yerushalayim, to the nearby beis medresh Har Tzvi for Minchah. The main minyan in Har Tzvi was in the middle of kriyas HaTorah. Reb Chaim Shaul said to his son, "I want to daven from the beginning to the end; not catch a minyan that's in the middle." So they went to another room in the Har Tzvi building, and they found a minyan in the middle of the silent Shemonah Esrei. In a third room, the minyan was up to chazaras hashatz. Reb Chaim Shaul said, "Let's wait here a few minutes. They will finish soon, and another minyan will start."
His son suggested, "Let's try the Lelov beis medresh next door. They probably didn't start yet." They went there, but they were also in the middle of kriyas haTorah. So, they left Lelov, to return to Har Tzvi.
As they were walking to Har Tzvi, they met an old couple, simple people. They were saying, "Beit Knesset! Beit Knesset!" Reb Chaim Shaul thought they were asking where they could find a beis knesses to daven, so he pointed in the direction of Har Tzvi. But then the couple said, "Kesef! Money! Beis Knesset!" Reb Chaim Shaul thought they wanted to go to the beis knesses to collect money for tzedakah, so Reb Chaim Shaul took out some money from his pocket and gave it to them.
Then they explained in their broken Hebrew that they wanted to donate a beis knesses, and they were searching for people who needed a Beit Knesset. Reb Chaim Shaul told them, "You came to the right person." After Minchah, they spoke for a long time. The elderly couple told him that they don't have children, r'l. The husband works as a street paver and his wife is a tailor. They saved up their money to build a beis knesses so that their memory would live on. As it states (56:5) ָםעוֹל ֵםׁש ִבָּנוֹתוּמ ִבָּנִיםמ טוֹב ֵםׁוָש יָד ַיוּבְחוֹמֹת ִיֵיתבְּב ֶםָהל ִּיַתוְנָתֵתיִכָּר לֹא ֶרֲׁשא לוֹ ֶּןֶתא, "I will give them in My house and in My walls a place and a name, better than sons and daughters; an everlasting name I will give him, which will not be discontinued." They wanted the beis medresh built before they leave this world. They had saved up a substantial amount of money and were ready to go forward.
That morning, they decided they would go out to search for people who needed a beis knesses, but they didn’t find anyone. They live near the Shaarei Tzedek hospital and had walked all the way from there to Rechov Tzefanyah (where Har Tzvi is located) – quite a distance – all the while looking for someone in need of a beis knesses.
Reb Chaim Shaul told them that his brother-in-law, Reb Weisfish, has a Kollel and a kiruv organization, and they desperately needed a new beis knesses. The elderly couple had previously heard of Reb Weisfish and of his organization because someone from their family did teshuvah due to them and agreed to pay for the entire beis knesses! They immediately went to a lawyer to finalize the details. In the end, they also donated a sefer Torah.
This is a story of wondrous hashgachah pratis. Hakadosh Baruch Hu had them walk the long distance from their home to Rechov Tzefanyah, where they met the right person looking to raise money for a beis knesses. However, there are several additional lessons from this story:
- A person must make hishtadlus, but his salvation can come from a completely different avenue. Reb Chaim Shaul traveled around the world to raise money for the beis medresh. He did his hishtadlus, and the salvation came from a couple he met in Yerushalayim.
- We also learn from this story the great importance of tefillah b'tzibur. Had Reb Chaim Shaul not been so scrupulous about minyan, he would have davened in the first minyan he found in Har Tzvi, or he would have stayed in Lelov. He had searched for a minyan for so long, so maybe it was time to give up and accept the second best. But he didn't do so. He insisted on davening properly. Because he had mesirus nefesh to daven properly, he merited that Hashem sent him the people who could help.
- Another angle to consider is the See also the power of tefillah. This story occurred on Tzom Gedalyah, a day after Reb Yisrael Yaakov Weisfish zt'l poured out his heart in tefillah to be zocheh to build a beis medresh for Hashem’s honor.
- We also learn from this story that a person can't manage without tefillah, even to perform good deeds. This couple saved up money for years, wanting to build a beis knesses, but they needed tefillah. The moment Reb Weisfish davened, Hakadosh Baruch Hu brought the donors to the right place.
