Rav Meilech Biderman said that the Chofetz Chaim, zt”l, would tell the following story: The Dubno Magid, zt”l, once met a blind widower who was walking with his son in the streets of Vilna. Most people didn’t pay much attention to them, but the Dubno Magid greeted them, and spoke with them.
They told him about their great poverty, how their home wasn’t heated, and that they didn’t have food. The Dubno Magid took them into his home so they could warm up, and he gave them something to eat.
The Dubno Magid noticed that the son was very wise, so he hired a private Rebbe to teach him Torah. From that day on they became part of the Dubno Magid’s household. Even years later, after the blind father was Niftar, the Dubno Magid continued paying for the child’s Rebbe.
This child grew up to become Rav Shlomo Kluger, zt”l, one of the Gedolei HaDor, whose Torah illuminates the world until today. The Chofetz Chaim would say, “Many people saw the blind pauper with his son walking around the streets of Vilna. They shook their heads and said ‘Nebach! What a Rachmanus!’ and that’s about all.
But the Dubno Magid took action. He showed concern, fed them, and paid for a Rebbe for the child. If the Dubno Magid hadn’t helped them out, the Jewish nation would have lost a Gadol B’Yisroel. We must learn from this to grab opportunities to do Chesed, because you can never know what you will accomplish if you put in the effort!”
Reprinted from the Parshas Yisro 5786 email of Rabbi Yehuda Winzelberg’s Torah U’Tefilah.
