“If he can give the money to someone who will use it better than we do, let him give it to someone else”

R

eb Meir continued with Eliyahu Hanavi’s incredible response:

“Eliyahu Hanavi said that the man’s request for immediate wealth would be granted and that even before he had gone into his home, he would find out just how the money would materialize.

“The man came home, and before he could even get in the door, his wife ran out and related to him what had just occurred. Their children had just been playing in the garden and they had uncovered a tremendous amount of money. Enough money to last them for the next six years!

“But the righteous woman did not want to simply use the money. Instead, she suggested to her husband that they help others with the money for the next six years, and in the zechus of that, Hashem would surely continue to help them.

“Sure enough, instead of spending their newfound fortune on themselves, they used it to help others for the next six years of their lives. How many people they must have gladdened in those years! How many smiles, sighs of relief!

“And at the end of the six years, Eliyahu Hanavi returned to the couple. He told them that he’d come to take back the fortune, and the man told his wife what the holy Eliyahu Hanavi had stated. Once more, with a heart and mind completely rooted in emunas Hashem, the wife tranquilly replied, ‘Very well. If he can give the money to someone who will use it better than we do, let him give it to someone else.’