כי לא יחדל אביון מקרב הארץ (ראה טו:יא)

One harsh winter, the frigid weather raged across the town of Kosov (Kossov, Romania). The poor townsfolk came to their Rav, the tzaddik Reb Chaim of Kosov zt”l, asking him to have pity on them and implore the rich townsfolk to supply them with wood so that they could heat their homes—for without wood, it would be סכנות נפשות —their lives were at stake.

The Kosover Tzaddik invited the rich people and asked them to help the poor, but they argued that they could not be expected to help the needy inhabitants again and again. 

Sometime later, the holy Rebbe of Ruzhin zt”l visited the town of Kosov for Shabbos and the Kosover Tzaddik asked him to impress on the rich townsfolk to help out the poor residents since the situation was life-threatening.

The Ruzhiner Rebbe addressed the affluent members of the community and told them: “The Torah says כי לא יחדל אביון מקרב הארץ – there will never be a lack of poor people amongst the Yidden.  It is destined from Heaven how many poor people there should be.”

He continued: “You now have a choice! If you want to help the poor people and keep them alive, then you will remain wealthy and they will remain poor.  But if they die from cold, the world will lack poor people, and you might have to take their place”.

The words of the Ruzhiner Rebbe shook up the wealthy townspeople, who immediately donated large sums of money to assist the poor.