The Jewelry Man

Once upon a time, there were pritzim with big dungeons under their castles. Anyone who owed the poretz rent and did not pay, would be thrown into the dungeon.

Unfortunately, a yiddish family was thrown into one such dungeon, because they could not pay their rent. The poretz said that they would not come out unless the came up with five hundred rubles. Until then, the entire family would have to stay way down under the castle, in the dungeon.

Someone heard about the family’s plight. His name was Reb Avrohom, and he wanted to help. Although five hundred rubles was a very high sum, Reb Avrohom began traveling from town to town, to collect the money.

Reb Avrohom did not want to stop to rest. How could he rest when there was a family sitting in the dungeon? So, Reb Avrohom just went on and on, raising money for the family.

Reb Avrohom so far only had twenty rubles, because the people living in the area were very poor. He was very tired from traveling around, and he was collecting very little money.

One day, Reb Avrohom found himself in a certain city. In the city, he saw a very nice looking house with a mezuza on it. He was able to see the mezuza from the street. Reb Avrohom wanted to ask the owner of the house for money to help the family.

Reb Avrohom walked up to the door and knocked. A servant let him in and brought him to the owner of the house, Reb Shimon. Reb Shimon greeted him and listened to his story.

Reb Avrohom related to Reb Shimon what had happened to the family and that now he was raising money for their release. Reb Shimon got very excited. He said with a big smile: “How much money do they need? I would be more than happy to help!”

Reb Avrohom told Reb Shimon: “I so far collected twenty rubles, but I need another four hundred and eighty.”

As soon as Reb Avrohom said “four hundred and eighty,” Reb Shimon jumped up and ran to get the money. He quickly returned with all the money needed. Reb Avrohom thanked Reb Shimon very much, and got up to leave.

Reb Avrohom was of course happy to see that he had all the money he needed for the family. Reb Avrohom was also curious to know why Reb Shimon was so excited about helping the family that was in the dungeon.

Reb Avrohom could not afford to be too curious. He had return to the poretz right away and give him the money. So, Reb Avrohom started walking to leave. But, he could hardly move. He was so tired and hungry.

Reb Shimon noticed that, so he said: “Reb Avrohom, why don’t you stay here for a little. I will give you food, and you can rest here. That way, you will be able to get to the poretz quicker.”

Reb Avrohom accepted Reb Shimon’s offer, because he was very hungry. As Reb Avrohom sat down to eat, Reb Shimon said: “I see that you are curious to know why I was so eager to give you money for the family. Let me explain…”

Reb Shimon then related the following story:

“When I got married, my father-in-law supported me, so that I would be able to sit and learn. It was like that for a few years, but soon, when my family started to grow, my father-in-law could no longer support my family.

“So, I decided that I would have to start working. I got together five hundred rubles, and instead of just spending it, I wanted to start a business with that money.

“I took the money, and went to a city called Lashkewitz. In Lashkewitz, there was a big marketplace. There was so much noise there, a big tumult. From all the noise, there was one sound that ‘stuck in my ears.’

“This noise was not any louder than all the other noise, but it still stuck with me. It was the sound of a woman crying. I looked to see from where the sound was coming. I saw a yiddishe lady crying, with her hand out, begging for money. Next to her was a younger woman, who was also crying.

“I felt bad for these two ladies, so I went over to them and asked what was wrong. The older woman explained that her daughter was engaged and they were going to make the chassunah. But just recently, her husband passed away, and they had to spend the money on other things.

“Now they did not have money for the chassunah. I asked them how much money they had previously. They said that they needed five hundred rubles. The mother said: ‘If we could get five hundred rubles, that would be a miracle!’

“I then remembered how much money I had—exactly five hundred rubles. I thought: ‘This lady needs the money more than I do. I will give it to her.’ Then, without too much thinking, I gave her my money.

“I told her to use the money well, and then I just went on. She was very happy, and I was happy to help.

“Then, as I was walking in the marketplace, I realized that now I was without money for my family. I had given it all to the woman and her daughter. Well, what could I do? I went on walking.

“As I was walking, I saw a jewelry man. The jewelry man was shouting out: ‘Come to the jewelry man! Beautiful jewelry at the best prices!’ He was holding a beautiful necklace in his hands. It was so beautiful, I had never before seen something like that. I stopped, and just stared at it.

“The jewelry man said: ‘Nice necklace, eh? Do you know how much it is worth? I will sell it for one thousand rubles. If you would buy it in the city, it would cost you and extra one hundred rubles. Would you like to buy it?’

“I told him: ‘I would love to buy it, but I don’t have the money.’

“The jewelry man said: ‘If that is the case, then I can help you make money. How would you like to make money?’

“I was very excited. I said to him: ‘Sure, how can you help me make money?’

“He answered me: “It looks like I can trust you to take this necklace into the city and sell it to a jewelry store. The money you make over a thousand rubles will be yours. After you sell the necklace, come back to me and give me the other one thousand rubles.’

“I agreed to the deal,” Reb Shimon continued, “and took the necklace. I left the marketplace, and found a jewelry store in the city. I sold the necklace for one thousand and one hundred rubles, just as the man had said.

“When I returned to the marketplace, I found the jewelry man and gave him the thousand rubles. He was very happy, and offered to give me another two necklaces to sell.

“I did not refuse, and he gave me the other two necklaces. I went back to the city, and sold them as well. I now had another two hundred rubles for myself. I went back to the jewelry man, and gave him the two thousand rubles.

“The jewelry man gave me some more jewelry to sell, and this went on for a few days. I sort of became the jewelry man’s salesperson.

“One day, the jewelry man gave me twenty necklaces to sell. I took them into town, and sold them all. I had a lot of money with me. It was more than twenty two thousand rubles.

“I now returned to the marketplace to give the jewelry man the twenty thousand rubles. When I arrived at the marketplace, something surprised me very much. I could not find the jewelry man.

“I looked around and called his name, but he was nowhere to be seen, even though I had spoken to him just that morning. I asked other people in the marketplace where he was, but strangely enough, no one even knew who he was.

“I waited around, thinking that maybe he had closed up shop for a while, and would come back later. So, I waited, but still did not see him. I thought that he might have just closed early that day and would not come back until the next morning.

“The next morning, there was still no sign of the jewelry man. It was quite strange, because even the person who worked right next to him did not know who he was, and claimed that he never saw him. The person on the other side had never seen him either.

“So, I decided to wait for the next day. But that morning, I again could not find the jewelry man. I went around describing him, but nobody knew who he was. After a while, I decided to just go back home, and if I would ever find the man, I would give him the money.

“I returned to Lashkewitz every big market day, but I never found the jewelry man. I asked a rov what to do, and he told that I the ‘jewelry man’ must have been Eliyahu Hanovi. He said that I could keep the money and forget about it.

“So, with the money I had, I started a B”H very successful business. Now, I wanted to “repay” Eliyahu Hanovi. I spoke to my rov about it, and he said that the same way Eliyahu Hanovi gave me money when I needed it, I should give other people money when they need it.

“So Reb Avrohom, now you know why I so eagerly gave you the money for the family in the dungeon,” Reb Shimon concluded.

Reb Avrohom had finished his meal, thanked Reb Shimon. He now went to the poretz to give him the money. B”H, the family was released from the dungeon, with help from Reb Shimon and Reb Avrohom.