ויותר יעקב לבדו ויאבק איש עמו עד עלות השחר
“Yaakov was left alone. And a man came to wrestle with him until the break of dawn.” (Bereishis 32:25)
Rashi writes that after ferrying his family across a stream, Yaakov returned to the other side for some small earthenware pitchers that he had forgotten. The Gemara in Chullin (91a) derives from here that the possessions of the righteous are more precious to them than even their own bodies. As we are accustomed to viewing righteous tzaddikim as completely divorced from all mundane physical matters, how are we to understand why their property is so important to them?
The Torah L’Daas (Vol. 9) sheds light on this perplexing issue by recounting an amazing story. There was once a gathering of leading Rabbis in the house of Rav Chaim Volozhiner. In honor of the esteemed guests, his Rebbetzin set the table with her finest dishes and most valuable china. During the meeting, one of the Rabbis stood up to excuse himself, but accidentally pulled part of the tablecloth with him, sending everything that had been on the table loudly crashing to the floor.
While everybody else was anxiously checking how much damage had been done, Rav Chaim confidently declared, “There’s no need to worry, because nothing broke.” The assembled Rabbis were astounded to hear Rav Chaim seemingly in denial, as he had witnessed the noisy spill together with them. Yet when they checked the dishes, they found them exactly as he had announced: completely intact and undamaged. They were astonished and demanded an explanation for this miraculous episode.
Rav Chaim explained that he was careful to check and ensure that every ruble he received was 100% “kosher gelt,” money that was free of the smallest question of deceit or theft. It was with such money that he had purchased this china, and he knew that it must therefore be indestructible. In light of this story, it is now quite understandable why Yaakov and other tzaddikim would be so protective of their hard-earned possessions.
