Rabbi Hanoch Teller, scholar and aptly-named weaver of tales, includes the
following story in his book of travels, taxies and cabbies, "Hey, Taxi!"
Rabbi "Arthur Moskowitz" took the position of Executive Director of the
yeshiva "Darchei Torah," only to discover that the yeshiva teetered on the
edge of bankruptcy. They had been living on loans, and now their bank was
calling in the outstanding debt. Rabbi Moskowitz needed to raise $100,000
in six months for the yeshiva to survive. He tried and tried, and with five
weeks left to raise fully 60% of the funds, called up a wealthy past
supporter hoping for a loan or gift in order to prevent the yeshiva from
closing down.
Unfortunately, poor Rabbi Moskowitz made a wrong turn on his trip, when he
left the highway to find a rest stop. He wound up finding no gas stations,
but only the memorial home of "Bnai Zion" Cemetery -- which was in the
middle of a funeral!
What could he do? He was already going to be 30 minutes late, and the call
of nature was growing ever louder. He went in, signed the guest book with
his name and address, used the facilities, stayed a few minutes to pay his
respects, and was good and late to his appointment. Whether that made a
difference is unclear -- one way or the other, he emerged with a check for
only $1000, accompanied by an offer to consider further help within a
couple of months. For the yeshiva, unfortunately, that would be several
months too late.
Somehow Rabbi Moskowitz raised another $20,000, but the bank decided it
could not offer no extension. With just a week or two left to go, it seemed
as if all was lost, and the yeshiva was going to have to close its doors.
That was the day a check arrived for over $50,000.
Rabbi Moskowitz, it seems, had entered Bnai Zion Cemetery during the
funeral of an extremely wealthy man with, in his opinion, extremely
unhelpful children who had neglected him during his declining years. He
therefore decided to divide his fortune equally among all those who
attended his funeral. The Rabbi may have been in for five minutes, but he
was there, and that's what counted in the will. Thus the yeshiva was saved
-- Rabbi Moskowitz had completed his task, after all.
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