The maxim of the Chafetz Chaim concerning this pasuk is well-known. Only what someone designates for kedushah, holiness, remains his. One does not take his financial portfolio with him to the next world. Eitz Chaim hee la’machazikim bah; “It is a tree of life to those who hold on to it” (Mishlei 3:18). We must hold onto the Torah and follow it. The Torah does not need our support. On the contrary, we need the Torah to keep us afloat. I came across a poignant story, followed by a comment of Horav Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler, zl, that is powerful and well worth remembering.
In 1947, Rav Dessler joined the Ponovezh Yeshivah as its Mashgiach. He spent an entire year there before returning to Gateshead, England, to take leave of the yeshivah he founded. He spoke to his talmidim, offering them his observations, glimpses of the elevated spiritual character of the residents of Eretz Yisrael. Among his vignettes was the following: He was told about a well-to-do member of the Yerushalayim community who had been blessed with a large family. He was in the process of marrying off his children. He had a wonderful custom that, whenever he ordered nice clothing for his children to be worn at the upcoming wedding of a sibling, he did likewise for ten orphans. When he married off a daughter, he ordered ten dresses to be delivered to the Weingarten Orphanage. Likewise, when a son was married, he would deliver ten suits to the Diskin Orphanage. The speaker was underscoring the elevated spiritual level of the Eretz Yisrael Jew, who was a product of the holy environment in which he lived. Rav Dessler was quite impressed, adding that, in Europe, such behavior had yet to be in vogue.
When Rav Dessler met with the kind man, he augmented his statement. He lauded the man’s generosity and compassion for the less fortunate. The man added that, while he purchases garments for the orphans, the quality of the material is not as expensive as what he purchases for the members of his family. Rav Dessler commented that the man’s business acumen was faulty. The clothing that he was purchasing for the orphans would have a much longer shelf life than what he was purchasing for his family. His children’s garments are temporary – worn only in this world. The clothing he provides for the orphans will accompany him to his eternal life. Would he not want the finest material?
