Acts of loving-kindness never take anything away from you. Quite the contrary, they may benefit you many times over.  

A wonderful story happened to a Jew named Michael. On a Friday morning, after services, Avraham, one of the congregants approached him to request a favor: “ I need an urgent 500 NIS loan until Sunday. Could you kindly lend me this sum?”  

Upon hearing this request, Michael was slightly embarrassed. His heart hesitated, although this Jew seemed totally honest, he only knew him superficially. How could he lend him this important sum? But, given the urgency of the situation, he decided to act mercifully. His hand reached his pocket automatically and he took the bills from his wallet and handed them to Avraham.

Avraham took a piece of paper that he entitled: “Acknowledgement of Debt”. He wrote his name and last name but was taken aback because he didn’t remember the name of the lender. Embarrassed to ask, he simply wrote: “I, the undersigned Avraham So and So, recognize I received a loan in the amount of 500 NIS and commit to reimbursing the lender this coming Sunday”. Michael took the piece of paper and stuck it in his wallet.

As agreed, both men met on the following Sunday at morning services and the borrower returned the money to the lender. Avraham was surprised to notice that Michael was overjoyed as he was handed back the bank notes. The latter explained the reason for his good mood: “I took a bus to travel somewhere for Shabbat and upon returning on Motzei Shabbat, I realized I had lost my wallet which was stuffed with an important sum of money. My wallet has no identification signs, other than bank notes. This is why I am overjoyed to receive the 500 NIS you borrowed: This is what I could save from the loss of money and it is critical for me today”.

But this is not the end of the story. Michael recounts: “That same evening, upon returning home, the phone rang. It was Avraham announcing joyfully: “The lost wallet is waiting for you!” But how was it found?” I asked.

“It’s quite simple. The person who found it was riding on the bus Saturday night and found a wallet stuffed with bank notes. He sought identification signs but all he found was a piece of paper entitled: “Acknowledgement of Debt”. My name appeared clearly, so he made a few calls to locate me. He asked whether I knew the owner of the wallet. “Of course”, I replied “we pray together at the synagogue and I am the one who gave him the “Acknowledgement of Debt”. This morning, when I returned the money, he told me he had sadly lost his wallet with an important sum of money: “I asked the finder for his contact details and told him I would instruct the owner of the wallet to call him, as soon as he got home”.

That evening, to everyone’s great joy, the wallet was again in the hands of its owner. Michael thanked Abraham and said: “I thus need no further explanation about the teaching of the Sages that says: “The poor man does more for his benefactor than the latter for the poor man”.  I didn’t only save 500 NIS, but thanks to the mitzvah of giving a free-interest loan, I recovered my wallet and the big sum of money”.

We can draw a great moral lesson from this story. Sometimes it is decreed that a man must lose money. But Heaven gives him an opportunity to annul the decree by sending an opportunity to do Chessed his way. Not only will he recover the money, but also receive a salary for the merit of performing a mitzvah.