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Weekly Chasidic Story # 611 (s5769-46/ 21 Menachem-Av 5769) A Zealous Friend Rabbi Yonasan Eibeshutz was upset at the horrible fate awaiting his friend. (Connection: Weekly Torah Reading - several places)
A Zealous FriendWhen Rabbi Yonasan Eibeshutz was first married, he received a generous dowry from his father-in-law to support him and his wife while he spent his days in Torah study. He was thus able to learn undistracted for some time. In the town where he lived, the synagogue stood opposite a church. When the priest hung large religious symbols directly opposite the windows of the shul, this disturbed the Jews immensely. Rabbi Yonasan had a well-meaning friend who was rather impetuous, and one night he sneaked into the building and broke the symbols. Unfortunately, the fellow was caught in the act and thrown into prison. Upset at the horrible fate awaiting his friend, Rabbi Yonasan was determined to do his utmost to effect his release. He approached the prison guard and offered him a bribe to release the prisoner. The guard agreed to look the other way while the prisoner escaped for the enormous sum of 3,000 rendels. This was the exact amount of Rabbi Yonason's dowry. Without a moment's hesitation he turned the entire sum over to the guard. When the chief rabbi of the town heard about this, he ruled that every member of the community was obligated to share in this great mitzvah of pidyon shevuyim (redeeming prisoners). A total of 2,000 rendels was collected and turned over to Rabbi Yonasan for partial reimbursement, but he firmly refused to accept it. He explained to the rabbi that he did not wish to give up the mitzvah; he wanted the merit for himself! Reluctantly, the rabbi returned the money to the donors as requested. Meanwhile, Rabbi Yonasan was concerned about the reaction his wife and her family would have to the loss of her dowry, and so he informed her that he had to leave town for a short time until the tumult would subside. During this time, Rabbi Yonasan's friend's escape took place, and the guard feared that his treachery would be discovered. He decided that his best course of action would be to leave town as well, and before departing thought it would be wise to entrust his large sum of bribe money to someone trustworthy. There was surely no one as reliable as Rabbi Yonasan himself, who had selflessly given his life savings to free his friend! So he deposited the money with Rabbi Yonasan's wife, telling her he was giving her the money until his return, and if for some unforeseen reason he did not come back, she could keep it. The guard's concern was well founded. A search for the missing prisoner was unsuccessful, but authorities hunting for the missing guard located him, and he was shot on sight. When Rabbi Yonasan returned home, wary of his reception, he was greeted by his cheerful wife, who informed him that his good deed had not cost them anything, as G-d had found a way to return their money to them. Upon hearing this Rabbi Yonasan burst into tears, crying bitterly that his mitzvah had not found favor in G-d's eyes and that was why his donation had been rejected. He sought the counsel of the chief rabbi to understand why, apparently, Heaven was not pleased with his sacrifice. The wise sage replied that this was due to Rabbi Yonasan's refusal to share the opportunity for the mitzvah and its merit with the townspeople, who had so willingly given to the cause. True, using all of his dowry money to pay the entire sum was true selflessness, but he should not have kept the entire merit of the mitzvah for himself. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (Connection: Weekly Torah Reading - several places) Biographic note:
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Yerachmiel
Tilles is co-founder and associate director of Ascent-of-Safed, and chief editor
of this website (and of KabbalaOnline.org). He has hundreds of published stories
to his credit, and many have been translated into other languages. He tells
them live at Ascent nearly every Saturday night.