One Sip of Water | Rabbi Yoir Adler

I saw a story told by R’ Yisroel Meir Shushan from Eretz Yisroel, may he be healthy and strong. There were once two successful diamond merchants, that used to travel far and wide, selling their wares. One of the partners was called Chaim, one was called Shlomo. They had an itinerary that they followed and part of it included walking through a desert. They had it down pat how much water they need and they began traveling through the desert, following their itinerary. After a few days, they realized that they’re lost. As the clock was ticking, their water supply was dwindling, and they started to try to figure out a way out of this desert, to no avail. Eventually, Shlomo was up to his last bottle, and eventually he drank his last sip. They’re walking through the hot desert, the sun was baking on their backs and his mouth and his lips were parched. And he begged his partner: Please give me some water. I won't make it. I'm feeling dizzy. His partner said to him, I can't part with it. I need it for myself. Shlomo said: Please, I beg you. I'll give you $100,000 for just a sip of water. I'm desperate. He says: Okay. For $100,000, here. And he gave him a sip. After a few minutes, miraculously, they bumped into some Arab, driving on a camel's back, and they asked him for directions, and within no time, they were out of the desert. They came back home and they made a big celebration. They threw a party to thank the Aibishter that they survived this ordeal. A few days later, Chaim goes to his partner, Shlomo, and he says: Shlomo, you owe me $100,000. He says: What for? He says: I gave you some water. He says: Okay, hold on a minute. He went into his house and he came back with a cup of water. He says: Here, I'll pay you back the water. He says: No, you owe me $100,000. I want the cash. What right do you have for the cash? They decided to go to the holy Ben Ish Chai to a Din Torah. And the Ben Ish Chai heard the two sides and he says: Shlomo, I'm sorry. You're wrong. You owe $100,000. You can't compare water that's here in town to water in the desert. Chaim parted from water that was so precious to him. That water there was worth $100,000. You can't pay back with water over here. You must give him the full amount. Said the holy Ben Ish Chai, The Rambam tells us we cannot calculate the value of a Mitzvah. We think: Big deal. I closed my eyes. How much is that worth? It doesn't depend on the Mitzvah. It depends on the surroundings. In a decadent society that we live in, when the challenges are so intense and so overpowering, and a person feels: I can't part with this so-called satisfaction. And then he finds the inner strength, and he looks away. Can you imagine the value that that has? Only the Aibishter can truly calculate how much that is worth. In a world that's so immoral, there are so few people that are doing this. The world out there is going lower and lower, and the Aibishter, so to speak, is desperate that there should be one more Yid to be part of this Vayimaen, that can find that strength, that can find that energy to say no. I am connected to something higher. And He is faithful to pay his reward. And the Aibishter Himself will repay every single one of us for every single time we conquered this Yetzer Hara.