There once was a wise Jew in whom Torah and greatness coexisted – Rabbi Samson Wertheimer from Vienna of the Habsburg Empire. The emperor learned of the rabbi's merits and entrusted him with his home and the kingdom and all his possessions. And all the empire knew it was so.
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The archbishop of Vienna, who was not a lover of the Jewish people, sorely resented the Jew's control of the entire empire. The Emperor busies himself with trivial matters and leaves decision-making to Rabbi Wertheimer, thought the archbishop. He decided he would slander the Jew. But the rabbi was a righteous man, honest and upright and kind to all. Yet the archbishop whispered in the emperor's ear, "That Jew is wicked."
Finally, the emperor relented and said to the bishop: "How should I test him? Should I listen to gossip and slander and throw out such a loyal man? Do this – ask him for a statement of his assets." The bishop summoned Rabbi Wertheimer, who realized something was afoot. The rabbi asked: "When does His Majesty wish to receive the statement?" "You have one month," said the bishop. "I can bring it tomorrow morning," said the rabbi. The next day he brought a thick ledger. "This is my statement of assets," he said.
The emperor rejoiced. He called the bishop and said: "You suspected him? Here is the rabbi's statement of assets." The bishop studied the ledger for a few minutes and said: "I told you he's a liar, a thief, a swindler. You gave him a castle in Salzburg with an attached wing. Who knows what else he's hiding?" The emperor said: "I'll ask him." The rabbi was summoned and the emperor said to him: "How can you say this is your statement of assets? Where is the Salzburg castle?" The rabbi answered: "Salzburg? Is that mine? You entrusted it to me and I see it as a deposit. These are the sums that cannot be taken away from me, and these are the sums I gave to charity, as is right. 'Righteousness will go before him, and make his footsteps a way.' The right I did goes with me everywhere."
That is how this week's Torah portion begins: "The Lord said to Moses: Speak to the people of Israel, that they take for me an offering; from every man whose heart makes him willing you shall receive the offering for me." The offering you give to the temple, or for the sake of holiness and kindness, is one that you take, rather than give. It stays with you forever.
They say of Sheldon Adelson that he was the richest Jew in the world, or the second richest. In my humble opinion, he was the richest Jew in many generations, because everything that he gave was his. That which is his, cannot be taken away from him. He gave wholeheartedly.
He gave with grace, kindness, and mercy. There is today no organization or institution important to the Jewish people, above all "Birthright," that his heart did not hold dear and enjoy, for that was his way of giving.
That which he gave, he took with him one month ago. His work spread out from Las Vegas to Macao and all the places in between, but his heart was here, in Jerusalem. Here he started his family with Miri. Here we attended his son's bar mitzvah.
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Here his heart lay. Though as a child he may have been far from such matters, though his family and education did not lead him in this direction, he found his way to an eternal bond with the people of Israel, the state of Israel, with Judaism in general. He came here, which is why this place suits him so well. From his resting place one can see Jerusalem, the Temple Mount, the Old City. How fitting it is that a Jew from Boston, Massachusetts, who embraced the world, should be laid to eternal rest here. As is written, "And eternity is Jerusalem."
Yisrael Meir Lau served as the Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv, and Chairman of Yad Vashem. He was the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel from 1993 to 2003.
