This mitzvah is not for sale

The other week, Rabbi K. told us a story about Rabbi Yitzchak Eisenbach who came from a prominent family who lived in Jerusalem. One Sabbath afternoon, he was walking through a neighborhood densely inhabited by Arabs when he noticed a gold coin on the sidewalk.

"The value of the coin was such that it could support a family the size of his own for two weeks. The poverty in his home was wrenching, and he was thrilled at the prospect of being able to help his parents in their struggle for their family's survival.
However, because it was the Sabbath (and the money was forbidden to be handled), he would not pick up the golden coin. He immediately put his foot on the coin to hide it from view, and decided to stand there until nightfall (after the Sabbath), when he would take the coin home to his family. For another child his age, the time element might have posed a problem, but for the determined Yitzele there would be no difficulty, even though there were four hours left to the Sabbath!
After Yitzele had been standing immobile in the Arab street for more than an hour, an Arab teenager approached him and asked, "Why don't you move on? Why are you standing here like a statue?"
At first Yitzele didn't answer, but when the larger and stronger boy persisted, he replied innocently, "I have something under my foot that I can't pick up because it is the Sabbath today. I'm watching it this way, so that after the Sabbath I can take..."
Before the last words were out of Yitzele's mouth, the Arab boy shoved Yitzele to the ground, swiftly bent down, plucked up the coin and ran off. Yitzele lay in the street, stunned. By the time he got up, the culprit had long since disappeared over a fence, and Yitzele knew it would be hopeless -- perhaps even dangerous -- for a Jew to chase an Arab in that neighborhood.
Late that afternoon a dejected Yitzele made his way back to the synagogue of the Chernobyler Rebbe, Rabbi Nachum Twersky (1840-1936), where his father prayed Minchah (the afternoon prayers) and ate the third Sabbath meal. Yitzele usually helped set up the chairs and tables and put out the food for the men who sat down to eat with the Rebbe, but today he sat in a corner by himself.
The Rebbe, who loved little Yitzele, realized that something was amiss because the chairs and benches were in disarray. He looked around for a moment and then saw Yitzele sitting in a corner by himself, downcast.
The Chernobyler Rebbe approached the child and asked, "What's wrong? You look so unhappy. We all need you at the table."
Yitzele told the Rebbe what had happened earlier that afternoon, and explained how he felt about the opportunity he had lost. The Rebbe listened intently, then, taking Yitzele by the hand, he said, "Come to the table with me now, and after the Sabbath come into my house."
After the Sabbath, Yitzele followed the Rebbe into his home which was connected to the synagogue. The Rebbe opened a drawer and removed from it a golden coin similar to the one Yitzele had seen near the Jaffa Gate that afternoon. "Here, this is yours," said the Rebbe. "However, I am giving it to you on one condition: that you give me the reward of the mitzvah that you did this afternoon."
The startled young child looked up at the Rebbe. "The Rebbe wants the reward in exchange for the coin?"
"Yes," the Rebbe said. "You made a great Kiddush Hashem (sanctification of God's Name) by not picking up the money because it was the Sabbath. The coin is for you, though. I just want the reward."
Yitzele was astounded. Was the mitzvah that great? Was it really worth so much? He looked at the coin and thought fleetingly about what it could buy for his family. He looked up at the Rebbe and said, "If that is what the mitzvah is worth, then the mitzvah is not for sale."
The Rebbe bent and kissed the boy on his forehead."
http://www.innernet.org.il/article.php?aid=370

by Rabbi Paysach Krohn
Excerpted from "In the Footsteps of the Maggid." Published by ArtScroll/Mesorah Publications http://www.artscroll.com