Rav Meilich Biderman, Shlit”a, related a story. Rav Berel Cohen, a resident of Kiryas Sanz in Netanya, once bought a lottery ticket. To his great surprise and happiness, his ticket won the lottery, and this meant that an enormous sum of money would be his. He had never been a rich person, and this new fortune would drastically change the life of his family.
Unfortunately, his good fortune lasted only for a few days. The lottery officials discovered that there had been an error in the drawing, and they had declared the wrong winner. The money was to go to someone else.
It is one thing not to win the lottery, but to actually have the winning ticket, and then be forced to give up the winnings, is very difficult, and the family took the news very hard.
Remained Calm with His Usual Sense of Joy
Rav Berel, however, remained calm, and he was filled with his usual sense of joy. One of his children found it difficult to understand how his father could stay so upbeat, despite the emotional waves of the experience. He asked his father, “How can you remain happy at a time like this?”
In his typical calm manner, Rav Berel answered, “Chazal teach us that if someone does something that he is Chayav Misah for, and he is sentenced to death, at times, Hashem will make this person lose all of his money and leave him poor, in exchange for this person’s life. As the Gemara says, ‘A poor person is like someone who is dead.’
“I always wondered that while this may be a good solution for someone who is rich, what about someone who is poor to begin with? What can he do? He really has nothing to lose, and there isn’t anything he can exchange in place of his life.
“Then I realized, what about me? I have nothing. I am not a rich man. If, Chas V’Shalom I am deserving of death, I have no way out! What would I do? Baruch Hashem, Hashem was very aware of my ‘problem’. Therefore, He provided me with an enormous sum of money, and He made me a very wealthy man, but only for a short time. After that, I lost it all, and I am poor again. Baruch Hashem, now I can live!”
Reprinted from the Parshas Lech Lecha 5784 email of Rabbi Yehuda Winzelberg’s Torah U’Tefilah.
