Special Series - The Aibishter's Money | Rabbi Aharon Dovid Dunner

We all need Parnassah. Parnassah needs Siyata D’Shmaya. Parnassah has tremendous Nisyonos. It’s called Gelt, money. Are we careful that the money that we earn or take or collect is due to us? The Chasam Sofer, every Seder night, used to give a Drasha to his family. It’s printed. He would say: בניי ונכדיי, I want to give you a message. This happened in יציאת מצרים and it’s going to happen in all generations, especially the last generation before Moshiach. And that is... A Yid in Mitzrayim, just before they went out, was ימי חושך. ימי חושך they went and they had a tour of all the Egyptians’ houses, and there they saw all the possessions of the מצריים, their gold, their silver, their jewelry, whatever they had. The Egyptians owed them a lot of money. They worked their Kishkes out 400 years. Their whole life they spent just slaving for them and they didn't get anything in return. There they are, it's all lying in front of them. Take a penny or two! They took nothing at all. They left it all behind. How come? They were burning with anger at the מצריים and they owed them the money. Why not take anything? Emunah in the Ribono shel Olam. They were told ואחר כך ייצאו ברכוש גדול You’ll get it tomorrow, you’ll get it. Have Emunah. They didn't take a penny. Said the Chasam Sofer, This is the key for success in business, for honesty. The Ribono shel Olam looks after everything, every penny that you earn, every penny that comes your way, if you take it honestly, it will work. We learned the other week a story about someone called מקושש. There was a man who was מקושש in the Midbar and he was caught. He was brought to trial. No one knew what to do. They asked Ribono shel Olam. Give him סקילה. Who was the מקושש? If you look in Chazal, we don't know A. who he was. Who he was, once it’s Tzlofchad, someone else. What did he do, this מקושש? We're not sure. One says he collected the wood, one said he cut the wood, one said he went outside the תחום. I don’t know what he did. When did this happen, the מקושש? Not clear. As soon as they came out of Mitzrayim, after the Meraglim, before. You’ve got a story in the Torah I don't know who, I don't know where, I don't know when, I don't know what, and it's a story. If I tell a story like that, I'd be removed from the panel. The תירוץ is we're not storytellers. The point is not the story. What's the lesson from the story? The lesson from the story was to tell you that Shabbos is חמור מאוד. The end of the story tells you that Shabbos is חמור, there's a סקילה, there's a tremendous עונש for it. Everything that we do, if we realize the חומרה of it all, what it means, we’d look at it differently. If we would realize that money is חמור מאוד to take other people's money. Many years ago, I got a phone call from a teire balebos. He said: I had a Din Torah because I was owed money and the man wouldn't pay me. I took him to Beis Din, I claimed my money. I lost. Why did I lose? Because I couldn't bring enough proof. I know he owes me the money. Do I have to be מוחל him? I can't get it from Beis Din, but do I have to be מוחל him? I said: Definitely not. You don’t be מוחל him at all. He owes the money. Until he pays you, you don't be מוחל him if you can't get it. One day, he rings me up and he said: You know, this person died. He owes the money. Should I be מוחל him now? What do I gain by not being מוחל him? He can get the punishment up there. I said: You asked me a good question. Next week I’m by R’ Chaim Kanievsky, I’ll ask him. I'm sitting by R’ Chaim Kanievsky, together with the Rav Zilberstein, his brother-in-law. I asked the question. He says: I'll tell you a story. Many years ago, I was a Rosh Yeshiva, together with the Rav Soloveitchik, R’ Moshe, in Lucerne. And R’ Moshe Soloveitchik tells me, When I was a boy, R’ Moshe Soloveitchik is the son of the Brisker Rav’s brother, R’ Yisroel Gershon. R’ Moshe said: When I was a little boy, I was playing in the garden with my friends when a chicken flew in and laid an egg in our garden. That was יקר המציאות. An egg. It was a lot of money for us. We took the egg and brought it to our mother. The next day, the chicken came again and laid the egg. Wow! Two eggs. The third day, the chicken came again and laid an egg. I went to my father. I said: There’s something wrong here. Something fishy. Three days consecutively, an egg? So my father says: Oh, oh, oh. Just a second. He goes to the drawer, pulls out his book, looks up, oh. There’s someone who owed me money and he's dead. I wonder if he's not being sent as a Gilgul to pay back the חוב. The חוב remains. When the chicken comes tomorrow, call me and see what I'll do. Tomorrow the chicken came again. Tatte, the chicken is here. He came running out and he said to the chicken, מחול לך, מחול לך, מחול לך, I’m מוחל you. The chicken never came again. There's such a thing as a Cheshbon. Money doesn't just finish in this world. A debt of money remains לעולם ועד. If we would realize the חומרה of taking other people's money. Many years ago, someone was going in Bnei Brak in the street and he found, all of a sudden, $500, a long time ago, it's worth money. He goes home and says to his father: I found $500, but there was no Siman on it at all. The father says: No Siman, you can keep it. And you're a child, he was a boy of 10-11 years old, I give it to you. Two days later, rumor got out that the money belonged to R’ Chaim Kanievsky. Oh... He said: No, go and give it back to R’ Chaim Kanievsky. R’ Chaim, the $500. The boy went knocking on R’ Chaim Kanievsky’s door. Have you lost $500? -Yes. Here you got it. No. איך האב שוין מייאש I’ve given up hope. Doesn’t belong to me anymore. All yours. He goes back to his father. He says: R’ Chaim says I can keep it. The father says: No, no, no. If you learn אלו מציאות, you’ll see it says there even if he’s מייאש, אבל לפנים משורת הדין you can give it back. Go and tell R’ Chaim Kanievsky, I'm a child. לפנים משורת הדין I can give it back. He went to R’ Chaim Kanievsky. Here, you can have the $500 לפנים משורת הדין Go and tell your father there's no Chinuch on לפנים משורת הדין. You’re not מחויב to, you can keep the money. Gei gezunt aheit, not my money. Well, what do I do now? So they went to the Steipler. He says: What do I do? I want to give it back to him. So the Steipler says: Go to R’ Chaim and tell him if he takes it from you, he’s doing you a favor, because when you grow up and people will know that you were so honest, it’ll make a good name for yourself. He went to R’ Chaim. He said: Look here. The Steipler gezukt It's good for me, please take it. Nu shoin. If I must take it, I must take it. He took it, but he took מעשר from it again, like new money for me. Gelt has got an address. And if we are careful with that address, then the Ribono shel Olam will be good to us. We've just been learning in the Sugya, If you're careful with the Ribono shel Olam’s gelt, the Ribono shel Olam will give you the right gelt. We all need Parnassah. The Aibishter should help us we should be honest and careful what we do and get Parnassah ברווח, give out Tzdakas ווי עס דאַרף זיין and do the Ribono shel Olam’s will. May the Aibishter bring ישועות, נחמות, הצלחה רבה, אמן ואמן.