The great nineteenth-century scholar Rabbi Joseph Dov Soloveichik was once sitting with his students when a man approached him with a strange question: "Is it permitted for me to drink milk instead of wine at the Passover

   "Are you forbidden to drink wine for health reasons?" the rabbi asked. 

   "No, it’s just that wine is too expensive. I can’t afford it." 

   Instead of answering the man’s question, the rabbi gave him twenty-five rubles. "Now you can have wine at your Seder," he said. After the man left, a student asked the rabbi, "Why did you have to give him twenty- five rubles? Five would be more than enough to purchase the required amount of wine." 

   Rabbi Soloveichik answered, "If he intended to use milk at the Seder, that means he also doesn’t have money for meat (Jewish law forbids having milk and meat at the same meal), and he probably also doesn’t have money for the other items served at the Seder. I wanted to give him enough so that he could have a complete Seder."

   Now, a twentieth-century version of this story: A couple I know was speaking to an elderly male friend who was suffering from horrendous back pain. The woman asked the man if there was any medication that could relieve the pain."There is,but it costs sixty dollars, and I can’t afford it." That evening the woman gave the man a thousand-dollar check and suggested that he immediately go and buy the medicine. 

   As she explained the large gift to her husband,"If he is in such pain and still is not buying that medication, it must mean that he lacks money for many other things as well." 

   There are many people who ask for too much for themselves, but there are also people who ask for too little. Learn to recognize such people, as did Rabbi Soloveichik and this woman. They understood that sometimes you have to give more than enough if you truly want to give enough. 

This story was used with the permission of Rabbi Telushkin from his outstanding book, The Book of Jewish Values, A Day-by-Day Guide to Ethical Living. We highly recommend you get a copy and share it with your family.

Waitress Receives Full University Scholarship as Tip!  

  Last fall, a waitress in Eilat, Israel received a full university scholarship after she won the hearts of two patrons to whom she served food the past fall.The two older men said they were captivated by the young woman’s friendly disposition and chatted with her about her life’s goals and her dream of attending university."Do you believe in fate?" one of them asked, revealing that they were philanthropists from Israel and Switzerland who had donated money toward building the new Ben-Gurion University campus in Israel’s southern city of Be’er Sheva. The two, who were in town to attend the university’s inauguration of the new campus, went on to offer the waitress a full scholarship worth more than 30 thousand shekels ($7,500). 

   Although the woman doubted the truth of the offer, she arrived at Ben-Gurion the next day to find that she had been registered. "It’s the biggest tip I’ve ever received in my whole life," she said. "The scholarship has shown me that miracles do happen." She said that she had taken the men’s email addresses and that they planned to stay in touch. "I want to thank these two men from the bottom of my heart for making my dream come true. "The two philanthropists, who prefer to remain anonymous, said that there was no ulterior motive behind the story. "We saw a young woman who excelled at her work and we wanted to make her happy."  

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