The famous Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchak of Lublin, Poland, was known as the Chozeh of Lublin. One of his chasidim, Avraham Mordechai of Pintshov, was a pauper with no means to marry off his three daughters. Avraham Mordechai had no recourse than to go to the Chozeh and pour out his heart.
The Chozeh gave him a few coins and said "Go to the town of Kreshnik and there you will be saved." Avraham Mordechai hurried home, told his wife what the Chozeh had said, and set off to Kreshnik with no idea what to do there.
Three days later he arrived, checked into the only Jewish hotel. Each day after reciting the morning prayers, Avraham Mordechai would wander around Kreshnik for an hour or two. He would then return to the hotel to eat, study Torah for a few hours, and then wander around the town some more.
Late one evening, about ten days into his stay, there was a knock at his hotel room door. "Who is it?" Avraham Mordechai asked.
"Can I talk to you," was the answer. Avraham Mordechai opened the door and a religious Jew about 40-years-old entered, sat down, and spoke quietly as his eyes filled with tears. "I won't tell you my name and please don't ask. I have something I want you to give to the owner of this hotel."
The man produced an envelope from his coat, opened it and took out a stack of large denomination bills. "It's ten thousand rubles," he said. "It belongs to the hotel owner and I want you give it to him. Will you do this?"
The man saw that Avraham Mordechai was confused and he began to explain. "Ten years ago I worked here for the innkeeper. I was a private Torah teacher for his five wonderful children. We were like family, he trusted me implicitly. One day, I was teaching his youngest son and I noticed that the innkeeper entered his office in the room adjoining. I saw him take a large stack of money and put it in a desk drawer, lock it and put the key behind a picture on the wall.
"Seeing this planted an evil seed in my heart. At first I pushed it off as foolishness, but it didn't go away. I became overpowered by the thought that I needed the money!
"Finally, one night when everyone was out of the house I went to the office and found it unlocked. I entered, found the key, opened the drawer, took the money and a minute later I was in the back yard burying it in the hole I had prepared there. The robbery was not discovered until a few weeks later.
"Of course, no one suspected me. I was the epitome of faith and honesty, the last one in the world that would steal. After a month everything calmed down and life returned to normal. I worked for another year or so, told them I had work elsewhere and we parted the best of friends.
"But my conscience bothered me. A hundred times, a thousand times I thought of returning the money but I didn't. I was afraid maybe someone would catch me digging it up. Or maybe the innkeeper would get mad when I confessed and have me put in jail.
"For ten years I have been going insane from regret but with no solution in sight. Until a week ago something told me the time had come. I came back here in the middle of the night, dug up the money and waited till the morning in front of the hotel wondering what to do next. When I saw you come out I knew that you are the one. Help me erase my sin and clear my conscience. Please, ask the innkeeper not to ask any questions and give him the money back for me."
Avraham Mordechai stared in wide-eyed disbelief. Should he do it? Maybe he would get into trouble himself! But something inside told him this man was genuinely repenting, and so he agreed. The next morning Avraham Mordechai asked the innkeeper if they could speak privately.
Avraham Mordechai pulled the envelope from his pocket and put it on the table. "Here is the ten thousand rubles that were stolen from you ten years ago," he said. "Someone gave it to me to give to you and requested that you ask no questions."
The innkeeper picked up the money, began to count it and when he was finished looked up and, still under the impression of this dreamlike experience, wiped his brow and said, "But can I ask who are you? What are you doing here? I've seen you leave and enter and have heard that you just wander the streets. Why are you here?"
Suddenly Avraham Mordechai snapped back into his own reality and told the innkeeper who he was and how the Chozeh of Lublin had sent him for a solution to marry off his three daughters.
The innkeeper understood the Chozeh's intent. He immediately counted out one thousand rubles and handed it to him. "Here is enough money to marry off your daughters and buy them houses as well. And I would like to see your Rebbe and thank him personally for the miracle and for the chance to give this charity."
When Avraham Mordechai returned to the Chozeh and told him what happened the Chozeh just replied. "I had to do it this way...the power of the repentance of that teacher didn't allow me to sleep at night!"
