The gold bar
מאת ר' ש. קאפלין שליט"א
for being a מלמד opened the door to people asking and he would turn them away empty handed or just gave them a pittance. R’ Meir Premishlaner said to the innkeeper, “Please give everyone who comes to your door a מטבע חשובה, I can’t give them – I haven’t got any money, but when you come to pay me before פסח make a חשבון and take off from my wages all the צדקה which you have given on my behalf.”
“Yiddishkeit is not about being in the guiness book of records, it’s about doing the right thing at the right time”
for money
When it came to פסח the innkeeper made the חשבון with R’ Meir Premishlaner and it turned out that the צדקה was more than his wages, R’ Meir Premishlaner in fact owed him eight rubles, but he had no money to pay. Instead of payment, the innkeeper took the טלית Premishlaner. He then went on his way from the innkeeper to the בית המדרש where from there he would make his way
evening
money.
He handed – without a penny after working and teaching the innkeepers children for many months.
But he didn’t give up, he turned to the רבש"ע and said, “I have ביטחון in You and I am relying on You.”
On the way to the בית המדרש the innkeeper’s wife came running after R’ Meir Premishlaner and said to him,
סידור of R’ Meir home
later
without
that
any
had
left
empty
“Take the טלית and סידור… I am so embarrassed about what happened…”
He then went to sit in the בית המדרש when suddenly a גביר walked in, came over to him and gave him a bar of gold.
He said to this גביר whom he didn’t know, “What is going on? What’s this all about?”
The גביר said, “I just came to town and I saw a bar of gold lying just outside the town. I thought to myself, ‘I am a rich man, הקב"ה is sending me a bar of gold without me having done any השתדלות, I am not going to keep it for myself, I am going to give it to somebone who needs it, somebone who is worthy of this and I will get a זכות for giving it to him.’ I came into town and I asked around whom they feel is fitting that I should give this bar of gold to. They all told me your name, so I have come to give it to you.”
R’ Meir Premishlaner was such a בעל חסד, he lived for others, he didn’t live for himself.
עפר Being like the
"ושמתי את זרעך ,אברהם אבינו said to הקב"ה ר' משה , explainsכעפר הארץ" (י"ג, ט"ז) כלל ישראל are :פיינשטיין
compared to עפר, dust?
why
זצ"ל
Dust doesn’t do anything for itself, nothing becomes of it on its own. However, dust and earth can make things grow, food comes from dust and earth, אדם יסודו מעפר, human beings come from earth and dust, you build a house with earth and dust. The עפר is nothing for itself, it’s all for others.
Says "ושמתי את זרעך ,ר' משה פיינשטיין זצ"ל אברהם אבינו ,–כעפר הארץ" was promised that his children will be כעפר הארץ, they will have the מידה of living for others, doing
themselves. A איד can come to a מדריגה where he is living for others, not living for himself.
The של"ה הקדוש writes in this weeks פרשה, when the three מלאכים came to אברהם אבינו and he said to them, "אם נא מצאתי חן בעיניך", please do me a favour! Says the של"ה הקדוש, he made them feel they were doing him a favor by allowing him to be מקיים הכנסת אורחים with them and giving them food to eat, "ראוי למי שיטיב לאנשים שיראה להם שהוא מקבל טובה " מהם במה שיקבלו ממנ ו , it is fitting for someone who does good to other people, that he should try and show the מקבל the one receiving the טובה that he is doing him a favor by accepting the "ולא ,טובה for others, forgetting שיתפאר על הטוב שיטיב להם", he shouldn’t become proud by doing the favor, on the contrary, a person should come to a מדריגה that the person he is doing the טובה for should feel he is doing a favor by accepting the חסד.‘Thank you so much for accepting my טובה and allowing me to give you something.’
This is כעפר הארץ, not for myself or for my satisfaction that I have helped somebody. The מדריגה we must strive for is for doing טובות for others totally for their sake and for their good, not that we should get any benefit out of it, to the extent that they should feel they are doing us a favor by accepting the טובה.
Being מוותר רוחניות
"ושמתי את זרעך כעפר הארץ", how far does this go? Is this מדריגה of כעפר הארץ living for others even at the expense of רוחניות? One of the first דברי חז"ל on this weeks סדרה which we are taught is, "גדול הכנסת .אורחים יותר מקבלת פני השכינה " אברהם אבינו was visited by הקב"ה – it was a קבלת פני השכינה, and we learn from אברהם אבינו that you can be מוותר in רוחניות in order to be עוסק in a מצוה of גשמיות – the מצוה of הכנסת אורחים.
In last weeks פרשה it says, "אחרי הפרד לוט הקב"ה ,מעמו" (י"ג י"ד) spoke to לוט after he left him, says "כל זמן שהרשע עמו היה ,רש"י "הדבור פורש ממנו , as long as he was with לוט he wasn’t able to have a נבואה. אברהם אבינו knew he wasn’t given נבואה because he was with לוט. Said הרה"ג ר' שך זצ"ל: he was מוותר on communicating with הקב"ה to be מקרב somebone else – in order to be מקרב משפחה.
We see so many times how גדולים were מוותר on רוחניות to help someone else. What’s taka the פשט? How can we give up רוחניות to help someone else? The answer is: helping someone else is also רוחניות.
Doing what’s right
About thirty years ago there were five בחורים in א''י driving to a חתונה of a good חבר. On the way they took a wrong turning, when they realized they had taken the wrong turning they were left with two options: either to daven ביחידות on the side of the road to be on time for the חופה or to head for the nearest town and daven with a מנין which would mean missing the חופה.
They phoned their Rosh Yeshiva – ר' משה עפשטיין זצ"ל and asked him what they should do.
The Rosh Yeshiva told them, “When the חתן sees his friends are not there at the חופה he will be very upset, it will spoil his שמחה, he might be worried that you may not be turning up at all… it’s important that his friends are there, daven ביחידות and get there in time for the חופה.”
One of the בחורים said to the Rosh Yeshiva, “I am twenty-two years old and I have never missed תפילה בציבור!”
The
“Yiddishkeit is not about being in the guiness book of records, it’s about doing the right thing at the right tim. Daven ביחידות and make sure you get there in time for the חופה.”
One should sometimes be מוותר on רוחניות for בין אדם לחבירו because this is also רוחניות.
תוספות in סנהדרין דף ע''ז learns פשט in a גמרא in בבא קמא: we could have thought a person can do a great מצוה, even though the animals of his friend might get lost, קא משמע לן that he would be חייב בדיני Rosh Yeshiva said to him, שמים its not right, that is the חידוש of the .גמרא
We
sometimes the חברותא I have may not be the best חבורתא and perhaps I can shtheig better with another חברותא, we must ask a שאלה.
We see so clearly in חז"ל how בין אדם לחבירו can come before רוחניות because this is also גדול הכנסת אורחים יותר ,רוחניות .מקבלת פני השכינה
The תורה is telling us, הקב"ה promised – "ושמתי את זרעך כעפר הארץ" ,אברהם because כלל ישראל will have the מידה of living for others, not for themselves not to allow oneself into the picture at all, and this applies even if it means it will involve a וויתור of רוחניות.
The רבש"ע should help us that we take this message to heart – this powerful message, like the story we began with about R’ Meir Premishlaner, who gave himself away for כלל ישראל. must get balance right,
Written by Avrohom Dov Kohn – אברהם דוב הכהן כהן
