Faith Pays Off
I was once asked to help a specific Rabbi raise funds for his institutions. I arranged a collection. Hashem shined His favor on me, and within one day, I managed to amass a respectable amount of money. All that was left to do was wait for this rabbi to come and collect the money.
But before the rabbi appeared, I received a phone call from a wealthy man who had fallen on hard times. He asked that I bless him with deliverance from his troubles. In order for my blessing to take effect on something, I asked that he make a donation to the tzedakah organization of the aforementioned Rabbi. The man was only too pleased to agree and said that he would bring over the money the following Tuesday. He would give it to me after the weekly shiur which I deliver in the Beit Hakeneset.
That Tuesday, another rabbi appeared in the synagogue. He was humble and unassuming. When he succeeded in raising the sum of three hundred euro, his joy knew no bounds. The wealthy man with whom I had dealt assumed that this rabbi was the one I had meant in our phone conversation, the one to whom I had asked him to contribute. He hurried over to him and handed him the generous sum of one thousand euro.
“Honored Rav,” he told me, “I transferred the money to the rabbi, exactly as you advised me.”
I was surprised at his words, for the rabbi I had mentioned was nowhere in sight. “Where did you see him?” I asked.
“Here, in the Beit Hakeneset,” he answered.
I then understood his mistake. I told him where he went wrong, and added that Hashem had led him to this rabbi instead of the other one. The one who received the money surely had tremendous faith in Hashem’s open hand and therefore merited collecting the royal sum of one thousand three hundred euro.
