Kosher Money – Cornerstone of Endurance
A Rosh Yeshiva once approached me and began singing the praises of his worthy institution. He told me about the wonderful staff and the remarkable young men who glorify this noteworthy sanctuary by immersing in the Torah’s teachings, day and night. But he added that the yeshiva suffered tremendously in the area of finances. For some unknown reason, they could never make ends meet. I advised him to investigate the source of the money which comes into the yeshiva. Did it come from a place of sanctity, or, chalilah, the opposite?
After an exhaustive search, the Rosh Yeshiva discovered that a majority of their funds came from Jews who violated either the Shabbat or other severe Torah prohibitions, rachmana litzlan. He understood that a yeshiva cannot exist on a rotting foundation. When it is supported by tainted monies, blessing cannot rest upon it. This was surely at the source of his yeshiva’s difficulties.
This incident reminded me of something that happened to me. A considerable amount of money was stolen from me. I was stumped by this, as the money had belonged to public funds. Why did Hashem allow it to be taken from me? I decided to make a thorough investigation into its source. I discovered that it had originally been stolen. When money is acquired in crooked ways, it cannot provide berachah.
On another occasion, as a mikveh was being erected in Paris, things kept going wrong, causing untold losses of money. A lot of money had gone into this building to make it as beautiful and perfect as possible, but for some mysterious reason, each day brought more incidents of damage and deficit than the day before. One day, a pipe burst, the next day, the walls revealed cracks, and on and on.
When I searched into the source of the funding, I found that the money was earned by Shabbat desecrators. It was unfit to hold the water of a mikveh, because it was not capable of containing blessing.
I instructed the workers to demolish the entire edifice which had already been built. The workers then worked from the ground up, but this time, they based the foundation on kosher money. Baruch Hashem, the building went smoothly without any hitches.
