For Yossele the peddler, just making a few coins each week was tough. So, it was no surprise when his wife said, "Yossele, I can't sleep at night, I'm so worried. You know, most of the time we don't have even bread in the house!"
"G-d has His ways of sending blessings. We may be the next in line!" With those words Yossele set out to try his luck in the villages around Leipnick. Just as Yossele reached the main road a mail coach dashed by, dropping in its wake two envelopes. Picking them up, Yossele noticed the inscription on one: "Enclosed are 30,000 marks. Forward to Mr. X." Yossele stuffed the envelope in his pocket. Then he cried out to the driver, "Stop, you dropped an envelope!" The driver halted, Yossele returned the second envelope, and the driver was off.
Yossele immediately headed for home and told him wife triumphantly, "Did I not tell you that G-d would bless us? This money was Heaven-sent. It fell from the mail coach just as I was standing there! We have no more worries!"
"What!" cried his wife. "Are you crazy? Don't you understand that this is plain stealing? I know we are poor, but that doesn't qualify you to be a thief!"
Yossele was surprised by his wife's reaction. "The government guarantees the mail. They will pay for the loss. No one will suffer. Why are you so upset?"
Seeing that her husband had no intention of returning the money, the wife tried a different tactic. "Yossele, since you returned one envelope, you will be the natural suspect. When they search the house and find the money they'll take you to jail!" Now, this argument had an effect on Yossele, but not the one his wife had intended. For Yossele pushed aside a heavy chest, lifted up a floor board and stashed the money inside.
Soon after a government soldier and the coach driver arrived at the door. They interrogated him thoroughly, but Yossele staunchly maintained his innocence. Finally, the coachman said, "Why question him any further? It is obvious that he is innocent. After all, he did return one of the envelopes."
This infuriated the soldier. "Now I see! The two of you cooked up the whole thing! You're both under arrest!"
And so Yossele was carted off to jail. While the townspeople talked of nothing but the injustice done to poor Yossele, his poor wife wracked her brain thinking how to return the stolen money.
One morning she awoke with a plan. The rabbi of the town, Rabbi Boruch Frenkel-Teomim, would surely find a way of returning the money. She immediately set out for the rabbi's shul, but when she arrived there, he was deeply engrossed in Torah study. Not wanting to interrupt him, she simply threw the envelope through his study window and quickly left.
The rabbi looked up to see an envelope sail through his window. When he examined it he was deeply disturbed. What if this was an attempt to libel the whole Jewish community for theft? He placed the envelope on the floor exactly where it had landed and left the building to meditate on a solution.
Suddenly he saw the bishop of Leipnick coming towards him. He had always enjoined the bishop's respect; now he would put their cordial relationship to good use. The two men exchanged greetings, and then the rabbi asked, "Do you ever receive confession from those not of your faith?"
"Yes, sometimes I do," the bishop replied.
"And is that confession always kept confidential?"
"Confession is strictly confidential."
"I cannot come to the church, but I would like to come to your home and make my confession."
The bishop's profound respect for the rabbi prompted him to agree. When they arrived at the bishop's residence the rabbi explained the situation and asked the bishop to return the money, saying that he had received it during confession. The bishop agreed, and soon the money was discretely returned.
Yossele was now a free man. Whatever happiness Yossele felt, however, evaporated as soon as he returned home and faced his irate wife. "Yossele," she demanded, "go to the rabbi, thank him and admit to the whole thing." He didn't want to go, but what choice did Yossele have? His wife was right-again.
When the rabbi saw Yossele, he was overjoyed. Yossele soon dispelled any misconceptions with his innocence. "Well, at least the sin is rectified," the rabbi solemnly said, after making him promise that he would never steal again.
As they were speaking the bishop arrived with the 500 marks reward for returning the money. "Here is your money," the bishop told the rabbi.
"Absolutely not," the rabbi replied. "Your deserve it for your trouble."
"No," insisted the bishop, "it's yours. If you refuse, at least take it and distribute it to the poor."
Suddenly the rabbi had a thought: "Here is Yossele, the one who suffered the most. In addition, he's very poor. Why not give him the reward money?"
"What a wonderful solution," the bishop agreed. Yossele was understandably reluctant to accept the money, but with some gentle persuasion, he agreed. With the money, he opened a small business which brought him a comfortable living. For the rest of his life, Yossele was scrupulously honest, gave charity with an open hand, and always thanked G-d for his wondrous redemption.
