Once, the Chofetz Chaim, zt”l, was visiting a certain town for Shabbos, and he had with him a very large amount of money. As the time for Shabbos was getting closer, he realized that he had nowhere to keep it, so he entrusted the money into the hands of the local town Rav.
After Shabbos was over, the town Rav noticed something very strange. He saw the Chofetz Chaim boarding his wagon with all of his personal belongings, and he was about to leave without collecting the money he entrusted him with.
The Rav ran towards the wagon to tell the Chofetz Chaim that he forgot to pick up the money he left with him. The Chofetz Chaim responded by explaining that he was very aware of that. The Rav asked him why he didn’t pick it up. The Chofetz Chaim explained that his reason for doing this was that there is a Halachah which states that one is not allowed to entrust money to another person without witnesses. He added that since he didn’t have time to get witnesses, as soon as he handed over the money, he declared it ownerless. He then told the town Rav, “It’s not my money, you can keep it.”
The Rav tried to convince the Chofetz Chaim to take it back, but he wouldn’t budge. Finally, once the wagon started moving, the town Rav threw the money into the window and declared, “I declare the money ownerless in return!”
As the wagon left town, the Rav marveled at the outstanding honesty of the Chofetz Chaim!
Reprinted from the Parshas Vayishlah 5786 email of Rabbi Yehuda Winzelberg’s Torah U’Tefilah.
