והשיב את אשמו…ונתן לאשר אשם לו (נשא ה:ז)

He shall make restitution for his guilt in its principal amount…and give it to the one to whom he is indebted. 

A widow once traveled from afar to visit Maran, Reb Yehoshua of Belz zt’’l, to lament the plight of her only son, who was critically ill, in which doctors had given up hope.  Reb Yehoshua wished a Refuah Shlaima – speedy recovery for her son.

Some people who were present had mercy on the widow and told her to come back tomorrow to Reb Yehoshua to ask the Rebbe to promise a speedy recovery.

That evening, the gabbai overheard Maran Reb Yehoshua conversing with someone in his room, though, to his knowledge, no one was in the room. He heard Maran ask, “Do you agree to agree with him?” And a voice answered, “Yes!”

The widow returned the following day, and Maran Reb Yehoshua inquired about her business endeavors, asking if she ever had a business partner. And if yes, is the partner alive? The widow answered that her business partner wasn’t alive, but his wife was still alive.

“Is she rich or poor?” asked the Rebbe. The widow answered that she was poor. 

The Rebbe commanded her to travel to the woman’s home and give her one-thousand silver reinish (currency), and only then will her son stay alive.

Maran, Reb Yehoshua related that the two deceased were business partners – the father of the boy owed his business partner a lot of money that was never repaid.  There was a commotion in heaven; thus, the evil accusation caused the son to become gravely ill. 

When the widow repaid the debt, the evil accusation vanished – and the son recovered.

Filed under Parshas Nasso | The Mittler Rav