Moshe was overwhelmed by this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. He did not, however, have the amount of money in cash that the squire had named. Moshe's wife offered the following solution. "If we sell all of our valuable possessions, our silver and my jewelry, even our home, we will be able to come up with the money. Whatever we lack, I am certain we can borrow from friends and relatives. Thus we will be able to take advantage of this opportunity G-d has given us."
Moshe followed his wife's advice and set out for the squire's estate with the money. Along the way, he heard a blood-chilling shriek. He ran in the direction of the cry and found himself at the doorstep of a small home. He entered and saw a man lying dead on the floor, surrounded by a woman and her seven ragged children. Moshe sized up the situation and gave the purse of money to the widow.
At first the distraught woman refused to accept the money. But after much cajoling, Moshe managed to convince the woman to take the money.
This incident caused a tremendous tumult in heaven. This Jew had given away all of his earthly possessions, and the opportunity to become a very wealthy man, for the sake of a mitzva (commandment)! The Heavenly Court was deciding what kind of reward to bestow upon this person when the Adversary complained, "Before any of your righteous are given gifts from Heaven, they are tested. I propose that I be allowed to descend to the world and test this man, to see if he is truly deserving of such a reward."
Elijah the Prophet quickly intervened. "Let me be the one to administer the test. Even a tzadik would be hard put to pass a test administered by this one!"
Moshe had not returned home after giving the purse full of money to the widow and orphans. He decided to wander from town to town, trying to eke out a living and find a new place to settle. That first evening, though famished and fatigued, Moshe's happiness in having performed so great a mitzva was not lessened. At nightfall, he found a small shul (synagogue) and sat down to begin studying Torah. At that time, Elijah the Prophet, disguised as a wealthy businessman, descended to this world.
The businessman asked Moshe what had brought him to this town and Moshe began to tell the listener his tale. The businessman was very moved. He said to Moshe, "Thank G-d, I have been blessed with a very successful business. I have more money than I could every possibly use in my lifetime. I would like to offer you enough money to support your family for the rest of your lives in exchange for the merit of the great mitzva you performed today."
Moshe was exhausted. His empty stomach cried out. The offer was so tempting. But he answered, "G-d gave me the rare opportunity to do this tremendous mitzva with utter self-sacrifice. I will not part with my mitzva for all the money in the world."
The man persisted. "Your mitzva was indeed tremendous. I am therefore willing to keep my part of the offer for just one-half of the merit of your mitzva."
Again Moshe refused. And again, the businessman made a counter-offer. Moshe would not even part with one hundredth of the mitzva, for enough money to support himself and his wife for the rest of their lives.
The businessman revealed himself. "I am Elijah the Prophet. You are indeed blessed. Not only did you perform a great mitzva, but you also withstood the temptation of selling even the smallest amount of the mitzva. You may have one of three rewards. Either you and your wife will live long and healthy lives, or you will be granted great wealth, or you will be blessed with a son who will grow up to be a great tzadik and leader."
Without a moment's hesitation, Moshe answered, "My wish is to have a son who will become such a righteous person. For what are riches and long life compared to being blessed with such a child?"
"Your son," answered Elijah, "will be so great that his holiness will light up the entire world. But, if this is the reward you chose, know that you and your wife must accept upon yourselves to always be wanderers."
Moshe quickly traveled home to consult with his wife. She too, agreed, that they should rather be blessed with such a child than riches or long life. Lovingly they would live a life of wandering for the merit to bring this child into the world.
Within a year, a son was born to the couple who grew up to be the learned and holy Reb Menachem Mendel of Rimanov.
