Grave

Binyamin HaTzadik

The Resting Place of Binyamin HaTzadik - Who Had 22 Years Added to His Life

Yahrzeit - 28 Av;

Burial place - Tzfat;

In the Torah there are two stories in which a person condemned to die has 22 years added to his life - and another one (at least among those known) took place in our own time, with the involvement of the Gaon known as the Steipler.

In a certain small town there lived a man named Binyamin. He performed many good deeds, and so he was called "the tzadik." Since everyone knew of his righteousness and honesty, they put Binyamin in charge of collecting tzedakah, charity. He would take money from the wealthy and distribute it to the poor. One year no rain fell at all - there was a drought. Food was scarce in the market, and what there was cost a great deal. The poor had nothing with which to buy bread. One after another, they came knocking at Reb Binyamin's door, asking for money for food for themselves and their families. But in those hard times there were very few wealthy people who could give to tzedakah. Still, the poor kept coming and coming, until there was no money left at all in the charity box.

Then a widow came to Binyamin to ask for help. She was gaunt from hunger, barely able to walk. She approached quietly, leaned against the wall, and said in a weak voice:

- Rabbi, help me! Give me money so I can buy at least a little bread. I have seven children, orphans. They are all starving. Binyamin felt great pity for her, but he sighed: - What a pity you did not come earlier. What can I do now? You see the box is empty? Not a single coin is left. The widow began to weep:

- Rabbi, if you do not help me, I and my seven children will die of hunger. We have nothing in our house, and we have not eaten in several days. We simply cannot survive another day.

Binyamin saw how greatly she was suffering. Her life and the lives of her children were in danger! Could he let her family perish of hunger? The tzadik Binyamin was not a wealthy man. He himself had little food. But nevertheless he decided to feed the entire widow's family from his own table, and to make do with the very least himself. And so he did for the whole duration of the famine. Soon the Almighty had mercy on the people and sent rain. Grain became cheaper, and the poor could once again buy flour and bake bread. In this way the widow and her seven children were able to survive.

Some time later Binyamin fell gravely ill. The doctors did not know how to cure him and said he had little time left to live. The angels rose up to the Throne of the Almighty and began to plead on behalf of the tzadik Binyamin:

- Master of the World! It is written in Your Torah that the world was created for the sake of one man, Adam, and that whoever preserves a single life is considered as if he had saved an entire world. If so, how can the tzadik Binyamin die, when he preserved not one life but eight - he saved a widow and her seven children from death by starvation? The Almighty accepted the words of the angels and added 22 years to Binyamin's life, corresponding to the number of letters in the Torah, from "aleph" to "tav."

Good deeds and love for others saved the tzadik Binyamin.

(A trip to the graves of the tzadikim in Tzfat)