CHAMPION
LAWYER
by Yrachmiel Tilles
A
wealthy man in Berditchev had a reputation as a cheapskate, never contributing
much to worthy communal causes.
When he died the Burial Society decreed
an extra large sum for a cemetery plot, no doubt figuring the deceased owed at
least that much to the community coffers.
The heirs were shocked and refused
to pay. The Burial Society's representatives wouldn't budge. After a heated discussion,
both sides agreed to abide by whatever the Chief Rabbi of the city, Rabbi Levi
Yitschak would rule.
To everyone's amazement, the rabbi displayed great
distress to hear of the man's passing, and decreed that the family should not
be charged anything for the burial other than what they would freely offer. He
also told them to inform him personally of the time of the burial, for he wished
to participate in the funeral.
Word of their rabbi's surprising reaction
quickly spread to the populace of Berditchev, and they all joined him at the funeral
to honor the deceased. Afterwards, the braver members of the community queried
the tzadik why he deemed it appropriate to show such honor to an unlearned
Jew who was known to all unfavorable as a miser.
Rabbi Levy Yitschak smiled
and said, "This man was brought to court before me three times and each time
he won the case. Then these three lawsuits were of such an unusual nature that
the deceased definitely deserves to be honored.
"The first case centered
around a Jewish wine merchant, a man who would take advance payments from the
storekeepers here, and travel with the money to buy wine in quantity from the
wholesalers in one of the big cities. Once, as he was about to complete his purchase,
he discovered that he had lost all of the money! Somehow it had fallen out of
his pocket. He screamed and fainted.
"A doctor was called who aroused
him, but as soon as the businessman realized where he was and remembered his loss,
he fainted again. This repeated itself several times. The shock and grief were
too much to bear; the doctor was unable to help him.
"At that moment
the man whom we buried today passed by. When he heard the reason for all the commotion,
he announced in a loud voice that he had found the money. Now the wine merchant
was able to sustain consciousness, and upon receiving the entire missing amount
from our man, thanked him profusely and went of to complete his business.
"What
really happened is that the money had been found by someone else, a spectator
at the scent who was unable to overcome the temptation and had silently stuffed
the bills into his own pocket. But when he saw the extraordinary noble deed of
the passing stranger, who had paid a huge sum of his own money in order to save
the wine agent's sanity and perhaps his life, he began to regret his own behavior.
The thought took root in his mind and grew and grew. He found himself unable to
spend the money and, finally, decided to return it.
"He traveled to
Berditchev and sought out the benefactor of the fainting wine agent. He explained
to him that he knows that he had really given his own money, because he himself
was the true finder, and now he regretted his actions and wished to return the
money.
"But the wealthy resident of our town - the deceased - refused
to accept the money! He said, 'The fact that you didn't return the money on the
spot to its rightful owner is your problem. However, Heaven provided me the opportunity
to do a great mitzvah, and I have no desire to sell it back.'
"
They argues back and forth for a while and then decided to bring the case to me.
I had to rule in favor of the deceased of course. A man can't be forced to accept
money (against his will) [when it is not to his own benefit]. {she'lo b'tovato}.
The
second case involved a poor man from Berditchev who wanted to travel far away
in an attempt to change his luck. His wife, however, refused to let him. One day
he came up with a plan. He told her that he had been hired by a wealthy magnate
to attend to his business interests in distant cities. Since this would necessitate
being away from home for an extended period, his employer had agreed to pay her
a fixed amount for living expenses each Thursday, to be deducted from his salary
when he returned.
"She felt secure with this arrangement, so she agreed
to his departure. But the first Thursday, when she went to receive her fist allotment,
the clerk in charge of disbursements told her that he had never heard of her or
her husband.
"She screamed at him that her husband was not a liar;
he shouted at her to leave him alone with her wild imaginings. As they each increased
their volume, the noise reached the inner office of the proprietor, who hurried
out to discover the source of the commotion.
"When he heard the woman's
story, he told the cashier to pay her, saying, 'She is correct. I myself hired
her husband and agreed to the conditions that she has stated. You may pay her
the same sum each week till he returns.'
"A long time went by. Finally
the husband returned. He was now a wealthy man, for G-d had granted him great
success in his travels.
After the excitement of their emotional reunion,
his wife told him that the arrangement had worked well; she had indeed received
her steady allowance each week from the business, so the family had suffered no
hardships during his long absence.
"The husband was astonished. But
then he quickly realized what must have happened. He calculated the total amount
that the business owner must have laid out, and hastened to see him, express his
gratitude, and repay him.
"But the wealthy man, the one we buried today,
refused to accept the money. He explained 'I didn't know you; I've never spoken
to you; we never made an arrangement. Whatever money I gave the woman I gave her
freely, in order to help her. It has nothing to do with you and I won't take your
money.'
"They brought their 'dispute' before me and again I ruled in
favor of the deceased, and for the same reason!
"The third case also
involved one of our townspeople who was in a desperate financial situation. He
had come upon an excellent business opportunity that promised great profit, but
he didn't have any money of his own and wasn't able to muster the capital for
the investment. He approached our deceased for a loan for the entire amount that
he needed.
"'Hmmm, let's see,' said the rich man. 'You admit you have
no resources. How will you pay me back if your 'investment' doesn't work out?
Who will be the guarantor of the loan?'
"The would-be borrower answered
promptly, 'The Guarantor of all.'
"'Ah,' replies our deceased. 'On
His guarantee I am prepared to rely absolutely. Here is the money.'
"The
investment indeed turned out to be highly profitable, although not as quickly
as the borrower had hoped. Eventually he came to his benefactor to repay the interest-free
loan.
"But the lender refused to accept the money. 'I already received
the entire sum,' he insisted.
"'What are you talking about? I didn't
pay you anything yet.'
"'True,' agreed the deceased. 'But the Guarantor
you suggested, the Al-mighty, already paid me the entire debt, and quite a bit
more too.'
"The borrower couldn't accept this so they brought the case
to me, and again I ruled in favor of the deceased.
"Now, don't you
agree that a man who won three such lawsuits deserves to be honored at his death,
even if he portrayed himself publicly as a miser?"
~~~~~~~~~~~
Translated-adapted by Yrachmiel Tilles from Sipurei Chassidim-Torah,
pp. 53-55 (and first published on www.chabad.org). You may distribute
this e-mail as long as full attribution is given, including Ascent's
email and internet addresses.
Biographical
note:
Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev (1740-25 Tishrei 1810) is
one of the most popular rebbes in chassidic history. He was a close
disciple of the second leader of the Chassidic movement, Rabbi DovBer,
the Maggid of Mezritch. He is best known for his love for every Jew
and his perpetual intercession before Heaven on their behalf. Many
of his teachings are contained in the posthumously published Kedushat
Levi.
Yrachmiel
Tilles is co-founder and associate director of Ascent-of-Safed, and editor of
Ascent Quarterly and the AscentOfSafed.com and KabbalaOnline.org websites. He
has hundreds of published stories to his credit.
