The Steipler Returned The Check: āIām Not Poor, Thank G-dā
JERUSALEM (VINnews) ā In times when Israeli leaders fight to gain tax breaks from the state despite nearly 25% unemployment in Israel due to coronavirus, it is illuminating to see how a rabbinic leader acted during a similar period of economic depression when he received a present in honor of the Pesach festival.
The Kedem auction house is now auctioning a letter from the Steipler, Rabbi Yaakov Yisrael Kanievski, written to the Bnei Brak municipality in 1985, just a few months before his death. The municipality had decided to send him a check for 400,000 NIS (which due to the hyperinflation at the time was worth much less) as āparticipation in the printing of his books.ā The Steipler answered in a letter in which he returned the check, stating that āI do not accept any help except for taxes (municipal rates) which the Torah absolved me from. I am not poor thank G-d.ā The letter concluded with the Steiplerās wishes to the mayor: āI seek his welfare and honor him according to his lofty status.ā
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— ק××× × ×ש×× × (@KobiNachshoni) June 24, 2020
