The Dzhikover Rebbe sets a place in Gan Eden for his chosid, and saves his parnossah.
The Barnover Rov, Harav Avraham Simcha Horowitz, related this story, which he personally witnessed, about his holy grandfather Rav Eliezar of Dzhikov, son of the renowned Ropshitzer Rov Reb Naftali Tzvi zta”l. Avigdor Hersh, a Dzhikover Chosid, lived near Barnov, who became wealthy from trading in lumber. He had a magnificent Hachnosas Orchim, guest house that was known far and wide. His family managed the hosting and provided the best accommodations for all guests, regardless of who they were. Avigdor insisted on having no fewer than twelve guests for the entire Yomtov Pesach. However, one year a famine took hold before Pesach and the price of food skyrocketed. This didn't stop Avigdor from pawning his valuables, and those of his wife and daughter, in order to buy food to support his usual dozen guests for the Yomtov.
The Barnover Rov was once in Dzhikov for Shavuos to relish his Rebbe’s holiness; and Avigdor Hersh was in there as well. But he was not his usual self. In fact, he looked gloomy, and miserable and surely not his usual spirit of Simchas Yomtov. His behavior signaled that something was bothering him. The man had been a principal investor in a shipload of fine timber and lumber, bound for the Baltic Sea seaport of Danzig. In fact, thinking it a sure profit, he sank all his working capital and that of some business partners into the venture. While at sea, the ship hit into a horrendous storm -- six days and nights of unrelenting rains threatened to ruin the valuable timber, which could easily have rotted from being waterlogged. Word of this impending financial catastrophe reached Avigdor Hersh and cast him into deep despair, even as he was sitting at the Dzhikover Tish. It did not escape the Rebbe’s notice. He consoled and encouraged his chosid with the story of the Maharam of Rothenburg, a giant from the Ba’alei HaTosefos. The Rebbe applied the story’s lessons to Avigdor’s plight.
“While fleeing persecution, the famous Rishon, the Maharam of Rothenberg was recognized by an apostate / deserted Jew and handed over to King Rudolph of Germany, known for persecuting Jews. The evil Rudolph threw the Maharam into prison on trumped-up charges. He demanded the exorbitant sum of 20,000 marks as a ransom. The Maharam spurned all efforts by the community to raise the funds and did not consent to being ransomed, for fear of emboldening future attempts at kidnapping rabbonim. While continuing to author teshuvos, and actually receiving visitors while in prison, the Maharam was niftar in 1293 after seven years of harsh imprisonment. To make matters worse, the wicked ruler refused to release his body for a proper Jewish burial, continuing to demand the 20,000 marks of ransom. Finally, after another 14 years, a wealthy activist from Frankfurt could no longer tolerate the disgrace suffered by the Maharam’s unburied body. This gentleman, remembered forever as Alexander Wimpfer from Frankfurt, stepped forward to ransom the remains for the colossal sum and bring them to Kevuras Yisroel in Worms, Germany, where the levaya was attended by tens of thousands of wailing Jews, begging forgiveness for the Maharam’s disgrace.”
“But there is more,” continued the Rebbe. “Alexander Wimpfer himself passed away within three days of the burial. This caused an outcry among Jews and gentile alike: “The reward for such an outstanding kindness is to be called away from this world?” A Chillul Hashem was rampant/ widespread, echoing to heaven, and had to halt. Wimpfer was allowed to appear in a dream to his closest friend, to give a full accounting. “The night after his burial, the Maharam visited him in a dream. As repayment for my good deed, he gave me the choice of continuous wealth for me and all my offspring, or else to leave this world and join him in Gan Eden. I chose the latter.” The word of Wimpfer spread in the community, the Chillul Hashem was halted, and extinguished.”
The Rebbe continued “My dear Avigdor, your hospitality center is unsurpassed in the world. It has earned you a spot with the tzadikkim in Gan Eden. But there are forces in heaven, who are demanding that in exchange for that reward, you must taste poverty in this world, and so, your livelihood is being threatened now in the Baltic Sea. I refuse to accept that judgment. I will not tolerate if you were to lose your parnassa. People would surely say, “This man offered the finest Hachnosas Orchim in the world, and is compensated from Above by losing his entire fortune with shipload of lumber?” I say: let him forfeit a small number of logs, causing only a minor loss, and with that he will have a taste of financial setback enough to silence his heavenly accusers.” The Rebbe handed Avigdor a small piece of his challah, with the promise that he would have long life and a “bright Gan Eden” - continuing to place bread in the mouths of the needy as he had in the past.
The report came in from Danzig that confirmed the Rebbe’s promise: only a small corner of one pallet of logs on the ship suffered damage from the storm and had to be scrapped. The great bulk was saved, and Avigdor lived to old age in happy prosperity averted by the Dzhikover Rebbe’s intervention.
