Adapted from: Flashes of Inspiration by Rabbi Shlomo Landau

Shimon owned a grocery store in a busy town in Eretz Yisrael. In addition to the many shelved groceries, he also had a meat department that sold meat and chicken. Like many Israeli stores, one approached the counter and placed an order, which was cut, prepared, and packaged on the spot.

One day, as Shimon stood behind the counter, a woman approached and placed a modest order for a few pieces of chicken, some bones, and the cheapest cholent meat he carried. Shimon cut and wrapped the order, weighed it, tallied the prices, and told her what she owed.

The woman balked. Clearly, she hadn’t anticipated that her items would cost so much. To Shimon it was apparent she couldn’t afford the full amount. She began to haggle.

“The price of your chicken is exorbitant,” she said. “Your cheapest meat costs more than it should. You should reduce the price.”

Shimon responded with compassion but stood firm. “Geveret, while I’d love to help you, this is not the shuk. The prices here are competitive and fair. I’m sorry, but this sale is not negotiable.”

She continued trying to get him to lower the price, but when she realized he wouldn’t budge, she asked him to remove a few items from her order — even though he had already cut and packaged them — paid for the rest, and left.

Waiting next in line was a young fellow who had witnessed the exchange. He was taken aback by Shimon’s unwillingness to accommodate the woman’s situation.

“I don’t get it,” he said. “Clearly the woman was struggling. Why couldn’t you just give her a discount? It’s sad she had to put back items her family probably needed. I’m sure you’re a charitable person — why not give her a break?”

“Had she come to my door for tzedakah,” Shimon replied, “I would have helped her generously. But you can’t run a business where prices change for different people. It just doesn’t work.”

The two of them continued to argue but couldn’t come to a meeting of minds.

Finally, the young fellow said, “Listen, I have an idea. I’ll open an account in your store, and whenever you find yourself in a similar situation, where someone is putting back items because they can’t afford them, tell them to take the items and then add the difference to this account. This way you can continue to run your business properly while at the same time the needs of these unfortunate families can be met.”

Shimon appreciated the idea and on the spot opened an account. The young fellow told Shimon to swipe his credit card for five hundred shekels to get started and asked Shimon to place any additional expenses on his tab. He assured Shimon that he would come by from time to time to pay the balance on the account.

Over the next few weeks and months there were a number of occasions when Shimon realized that a particular customer was in a difficult financial predicament, and without making a big deal out of it he gave them a discount and charged the difference to the young fellow’s account.

One day the young fellow came into the store to inquire if he owed anything on the account. Shimon checked the account and shared with the fellow that there was a balance of 1,050 shekels. He explained that there had been quite a few people who were in a bad place and that he had discounted their orders.

The young man smiled, pleased. He handed Shimon his credit card and told him to charge 1,050 shekels.

Shimon swiped the card, entered the amount, and hit the green button. The transaction went through and printed a receipt. When he looked at it, his heart stopped — he had mistakenly entered 15,000 shekels instead of 1,050.

Panicked, he tried to reverse the sale, but the machine refused to cooperate. He tried again and again, to no avail. Flustered, he turned to the young fellow and apologized profusely.

“Please call your credit card company and have them reverse the charge,” he said. “My machine isn’t working. I feel terrible.”

To his astonishment, a small smile crept across the young man’s face. He remained calm.

“Don’t worry,” he said softly. “Let’s just keep the fifteen thousand shekels in the account so you can continue to assist anyone in need.”

Shimon stared at him, stunned. Fifteen thousand shekels was a small fortune.

Seeing his confusion, the fellow explained. “Since I opened this account, I’ve experienced otherworldly success in my business. It seems the more I give, the more Hashem gives me. Clearly, the fifteen-thousand-shekel charge wasn’t a mistake but a message from Hashem to increase my giving.

“I’ll take the message to heart, and with Hashem’s help, as I push myself to assist others, He will assist me and my family.”   * Name has been changed.