An elderly Yid from Williamsburg suddenly passed away, but the family was poor and unable to pay the high costs of kevurah. They contacted Chesed Shel Emes with the following request: The niftar's mother, who passed away several years earlier, was interred in the Belzer chelke (section) in Long Island. Would Chesed Shel Emes be able to finance the kevurah of this man next to his dear mother, in the Belzer chelke?
This request was regretfully refused, since such practices were not in the range of Chesed Shel Emes activities. The niftarim who are cared for by Chesed Shel Emes are interred in the organization's own chelka. Chesed Shel Emes simply doesn't have a fund to pay for kevuras in other locations.
Since the family was unable to pay for the kevurah, they agreed to have the man laid to rest in the Chesed Shel Emes chelka. Chesed Shel Emes kindly handled the entire matter, preparing a kever at the edge of their plot in Long Island. When the family arrived in the bais olam they were shocked to see that right next to the new kever was the matzeiva of the niftar's mother! The mother's grave was at the edge of the Belzer chelka, which bordered the Chesed Shel Emes chelka. There was not even a gate separating mother and son, there was only one other kever in between them!
Reprinted from the Parshas Lech Lecha 5785 email of Shabbos Chayeinu. Stories selected by Tzvi Schultz.
