The Ponovezher Rav (Rabbi Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman), zt”l, established Torah in Bnei Brak by setting up his Yeshivah there, and he would travel around by foot fundraising for the Yeshivah. After one trip, the Ponovezher Rav stood by the Bimah in the Yeshivah, and showed the Bachurim a check that was given by one of the wealthiest people in Frankfurt. It was enough to support the Yeshivah for about half a year.
He told them, “When I arrived in Frankfurt, I knocked on doors one by one. Some people would open the door, and others wouldn’t, so I would just move from house to house. One day, Hashem summoned a special Askan who informed me that it was not proper to go around by foot. He said, ‘The Rosh Yeshivah of Ponovezh shouldn’t be going door to door. Sit in your house, and we will arrange your meetings, as is the custom with important people, and this is how you will reach your goal.’
When the Askan came to speak with one of the very wealthy people and described to him the activities of the Yeshivah, the rich man said, ‘Tomorrow at eight o’clock, I’ll be traveling out of town. Please have the Rosh Yeshivah come to the train station at a quarter to eight, and we’ll ‘sort out’ the matters.’
“For the first time in my life,” said the Ponovezher Rav, “I woke up late, at seven o’clock. I immediately calculated that if I went to Daven with a Minyan, I’d lose the meeting with the rich man, as he was heading out of town. I figured that it would be better to Daven at home, as the Talmud Torah of the Yeshivah was on the line, and it was worth forsaking Davening with a Minyan for the learning of the entire Yeshivah.
“However, I immediately rejected that thought, as Chazal say in Medrash Rabbah (Re’eih 45) that, ‘No one listens to Me and loses!’ I said I will go to Shul, Daven properly with a Minyan, and Hashem will get me the money I need from another place. I finished Davening at 8:30, and I thought to myself, ‘I’ll do my part by going to the train station.’ I thought maybe my salvation will grow from there, or from some other place, but I will do my part. I got there at 8:45, a whole hour after we were supposed to meet.
“Five minutes later, the rich man came running in, excessively apologizing for making me wait a full hour for him. He said, ‘I’m so sorry I was delayed. I feel so bad. I want to compensate you, so I’ll give you much more than what I was anticipating on giving you.’ He then gave me this check, which will finance the Yeshivah for six months.”
The Ponovezher Rav continued, “I did not come to show you this check as a proof to the words of Chazal. We all believe the words of Chazal, and they don’t need proof. Instead, I’m here to show you that not only are there no losses from keeping the Torah and Mitzvos, but we gain many times over. Had I hurried and Davened without a Minyan, I would have arrived at the train station at the appointed time, and after waiting for him without him showing up, I would have left without getting a donation.
“It is only because I Davened with a Minyan that I ended up being there at the time he showed up and I received the check. This is why I’m telling you this story. There are many times where we think that by avoiding doing what’s right, we will gain. But the reality is that when we follow what the Torah says, we come out the winner!”
Reprinted from the Parshas Bo 5785 email of Rabbi Yehuda Winzelberg’s Torah U’Tefilah.
