The Bribe That Saves

Rav Farber described the simple faith of the Chofetz Chaim. He addressed Hashem as one would a king standing before him, as a son speaks to his father, and he regarded nothing as chance. In his eyes every event had a spiritual root and a lesson to offer.

While the Chofetz Chaim was in flight with the yeshivah from Poland to Russia, a Jew approached him for a berachah. The Chofetz Chaim laid his hand on the man and began asking questions. Where was he from? Minsk. What was his work? He traded in animal hides. And business? Baruch Hashem, it was going very well.

The Chofetz Chaim could not see how a Jew could do well under the harsh rule of Czar Nikolai, and he said so. The man explained that his customers were the royal ministers. The Chofetz Chaim called them murderers and asked how he dealt with them. By bribery, the man replied. Without it, they would inspect each hide, find every defect, and perhaps refuse to buy at all. With a bribe, they took the whole lot without much checking.

The Chofetz Chaim exclaimed that this is just how it works for us. A person davens and does mitzvos, and the prosecuting angels step forward. One tefillah was not what it should have been, some learning was spoiled by drowsiness or idle talk, and everything seems flawed. What does Hakodosh Boruch Hu do for such a Jew? He summons the good angels to speak for him. They plead that he is worn down by suffering, with a sick wife, a son taken into the Polish army and troubles at home, and that he gives tzedakah to the lonely and the destitute. Then Hakodosh Boruch Hu rescues him from every accuser. That is our bribe, he said: the tzedakah we give and the chessed we do are what save us.