“‘What I have listed here are my only real assets – the money that I have expended on charity. Here is the money, which I have given to the orphans and the widowed, the money to feed the hungry and clothe the naked; the money to support the poor scholars and to build synagogues and halls of study. This is the only money that is mine, for it has been listed in my account in the World to Come and no one can take it away from me.’”
Words Of Comfort
“It is the same with you,” concluded Rav Tzvi Hirsch. “All the wonderful things that you have done, all the magnificent charity that you have given and all the people whom you have helped are a permanent part of your bank account in Heaven. How can you consider yourself poor? In any case, tell me what has happened to you that has caused you such fear?”
“Rebbe,” said Reb Daniel, “I am thankful for your words of comfort that have already brought some peace to my soul. But allow me to explain.
“Many years ago, when I was very young and very poor I had a good friend.”
And Reb Daniel proceeded to tell the entire story to Rav Tzvi Hirsch. From the beginning when he traded his future wealth for the penknife until that very day when, like a ghost from the distant past, his old friend had shown up.
Finishing the narrative, Reb Daniel looked at Rav Tzvi Hirsch and said: “You see, Rebbe, that what I said earlier is true. I am duty-bound to give up most of my wealth to this man and I remain, except for a little money, bereft of all my possessions.”
(Continued next week)