Proud to Be a Jew!

R’ Eliezer Hess gives a Daf Yomi shiur in Roberts shul. After Shacharis on Purim, he was collecting in the shul. Someone in the corner of Shul gave him some money, but at the time, he didn’t chap how much he had given him. Afterward, he checked the amount and saw that he had received a thousand dollars in cash. He was surprised by the amount and realized that he had forgotten to say a proper thank you; he hadn’t realized that it was such a large sum of money. He didn’t even know who the person was; he had never met the person in his life. He went over to the gabbai of the shul and asked him if he knew who that person was that had been sitting in the corner. The gabbai said, “No, why?” He said, “I want to thank him! He gave me $1,000!” The gabbai said that he would check the video cameras of the shul. They checked the video cameras, and the gabbai said, “Oh, he is the son of someone who lives a few houses down.” R’ Eliezer wanted to show his hakaras hatov. He went to the man’s house and told him that he wanted to speak to his son because he wanted to say thank you. His son came to the door, and R’ Eliezer said, “Thank you so much! You don’t even know me, and you gave me a thousand dollars!” The son said, “It’s matanos l’evyonim, what’s the big deal? And I forgot, I only gave for myself. I have to give for my wife. Here’s another thousand!”

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