One day, a great rabbi and teacher traveled abroad. Along the way he met a man who greeted him and the rabbi returned the greeting. Then the man asked: “Holy rabbi, where do you come from?” The rabbi answered: I come from a town where there are only scholars and scribes.” Then the man asked: “Would it be the will of G-d that you could live in our city, I would gladly give you 100,000 gold coins, pearls and precious stones.”
The rabbi thought for a moment and replied: “My dear son, if you would give me all the money and all the jewels that are in the whole world, I would not live in a place in which there is no Torah (Scripture). I would live only where there is study of the Holy Word; for when a man dies, there goes with him neither gold nor silver nor precious stones, but the Torah (Scriptures) accompanies him to the other world, as we find it written in the verse of the Bible (Prov. 6:22): “When you go into the other world, it (the Scriptures) will guide you and will follow you even to your grave, where it will keep guard over you, and when you wake up, in the other world, it will plead for you before the L-rd!” Therefore I ask not for money; as King David said in his book of Psalms. G-d said to David: “Your study of the Law is much dearer to Me than 100,000 gold coins” (Ps. 119:72). And G-d says further: “All the silver and all the gold are Mine, and I can make rich whomever I wish” ‘ (Hag. 2:8).
