אין מלוין לו לאדם לא כסף ולא זהב… אלא תורה ומעשים טובים בלבד (אבות ו:ט)

A Yid once met Reb Yosi ben Kisma and said that in his city, everyone is busy in commerce and no one has time to learn Torah.  Therefore, they decided to hire a tzaddik to serve Hashem.  This Yid asked Reb Yosi if he wanted to dwell in their city and learn Torah in their stead and be rewarded with a large sum of money.

Reb Yosi replied: “You are mistaken.  Do you think one person can learn Torah in place of all the city’s townspeople? This is impossible since when a person passes away, the only things that escort him are his own Torah and Mitzvos; the gold and silver he gave to another person to learn the Torah in his stead does not escort him, only if he himself also learned Torah and performed mitzvos according to his abilities.

Reb Yosi advised the Yid: “If you want to do something good for your neshama – soul – you have to learn and perform mitzvos yourself.”