The Friday-Night Shiur
Asked to stay in Vienna for Shabbos to raise more funds, the Rav of Nitra declined, because the money existed only for teaching his talmidim.
It is told that in the early years of the war the Nitra yeshiva was nearly out of money, and Rav Shmuel Dovid Ungar traveled to Vienna to raise funds. The Jews of Vienna welcomed him and urged him to remain for Shabbos. If he davened and spoke among them, they reasoned, many more people would hear of him, and the yeshiva would benefit.
The Rav declined. On Friday night he gave his talmidim a shiur on the parsha with Rashi, and he intended to be back in Nitra to give it. The askonim (communal activists) could hardly believe what they were hearing. They asked how he could refuse to give up a single shiur when so much support for the yeshiva was at stake.
His answer was short. The money, he said, was needed so that he could teach his talmidim. If he did not teach them, he saw no reason to be collecting it.
Chassidim of Nitra relate this story to show what the yeshiva meant to him. Fundraising was a means, and the learning was the purpose. He would not let the means crowd out the thing it was meant to serve, even when the need was real and the offer was sincere. The talmidim in Nitra, for their part, had their Rebbe at the head of the table that Friday night, as they did every week.
Source: Dei'ah veDibur, "Sparks of Glory" (HaRav Shmuel Dovid Ungar, zt'l, the Rov of Nitra), 3 Nissan 5773 (14 March 2013). Told of the Rav in that feature without a further attribution.
Many of us work hard at something and slowly lose sight of why. This week, name the one thing your effort is meant to serve, whether your children, your learning or your community, and check whether your schedule still protects it. If a good opportunity would crowd it out, you are allowed to say no, politely and without apology. Choose one fixed time this week that belongs to what matters most, and keep it even when something attractive asks for it.