קח נא את ברכתי אשר הבאת לך…ויפצר בו ויקח…(וישלח לג:יא)

The Netziv of Volozhin zt’’l used to appear each year before the governor of Volozhin to request permission to keep the Talmud Torah open for another year. He would present the governor with a generous sum of money, and the governor would graciously acquiesce.

One year, a new governor took office. The Netziv approached him with the same request, but this governor became enraged, believing the Netziv was trying to bribe him. The Netziv explained that the money was not a bribe—it was simply a token of appreciation—but to no avail. He left deeply dejected.

When his grandson, the Gaon Reb Chaim Brisker zt’’l, saw his grandfather’s distress, he offered to handle it. He took the money and set out to persuade the governor himself.

It was a hot day, yet Reb Chaim bundled himself in heavy winter clothes, complete with a fur coat and hat. When the governor saw the bochur, he laughed. Reb Chaim explained that his mother had appeared to him in a dream, warning that it would snow and be cold, so he dressed warmly to avoid catching a cold.

Amused by the naïve boy, the governor told him not to make himself ridiculous with dreams. Reb Chaim then proposed a “money deal”: if it snowed that day, it would prove his mother’s dream was true, and the governor would have to pay him.

After sundown, Reb Chaim returned, admitting that the dream had not come true and that he needed to hand over the agreed-upon sum.

Once the governor received the money, Reb Chaim asked, “How should I answer my grandfather, the Netziv, about the Talmud Torah?” The governor, holding the bundle of money, replied: “Tell your grandfather not to worry!”