R'Biderman related an amazing story about the great Rabbi the Abarbanel who was the Finance Minister in Spain and a close advisor to the king of Spain in the 1400's. There were a number of other non-Jewish ministers who were extremely jealous of the Abarbanel and his relationship with the king. They decided to fabricate lies about him in order to anger the king and cause the demise of the Abarbanel. They spread a rumor to the king that the Abarbanel ,who was wealthy, had accumulated his wealth by stealing from the state treasury. The king was upset about this information and he asked the Abarbanel to produce for him a documentation of his "assets". The Abarbanel complied with the king's request and returned a few days later with an account of his wealth which he claimed was 700k gold pieces. The king was very upset as it was known that the Abarbanel was very wealthy and most likely had 10 times the amount he claimed. The king though decided he would not say anything to the Abarbanel about it, yet. A few days later the other ministers realized they would need to devise another plan to get rid of the Abarbanel. The Abarbanel had a non-Jewish servant and he was approached by the interior minister who offered him a huge sum to steal from the Abarbanel his log of secret discussions with the king. The servant was happy to comply and he supplied the pages to the interior minister. The interior minister then went to the king and casually mentioned different secret conversations that he had with the Abarbanel. When the king asked the interior minister how he knew this information he explained that he was good friends with the Abarbanel and he told him this information. The king was  infuriated with the Abarbanel and decided he must kill him.

   The Abarbanel was loved by most of the people in the kingdom and the king knew he couldn't just openly kill the Abarbanel without severe backlash. He decided that he would send a letter with the Abarbanel to a brick making plant outside the city. In the letter, the king wrote to the manager, that he should take the deliverer of the letter and immediately throw him into the fiery furnace. The king knew that the Abarbanel wouldn't open the letter. He called the Abarbanel to his palace and dispatched him immediately on this important mission to deliver the letter to the brick plant. He instructed the Abarbanel to make sure to deliver the letter by the end of the day. The Abarbanel set out on the important mission with his servant (the same one who colluded with the interior minister). On the way the Abarbanel met a Jewish man who was in great distress and he asked him what was wrong. The man told him that he was supposed to give his son a Bris that day but the mohel couldn't make it and they wouldn't be able to perform the bris on time (on the eighth day). The Abarbanel who was an expert mohel realized the situation and said to himself he has a command from the king but he also has a command from the King of Kings Hashem. He told his servant to continue on to the brick plant and deliver the letter and he would meet up with him later. The Abarbanel went to perform the bris and stayed with the people there for the meal and festivities. As the day ended, he made his way to the brick plant to pick up his servant. When he got there he inquired about his servant, they told him that the letter was signed by the king and they threw him directly into the fiery furnace. The told the Abarbanel that before they threw him in that he said he was deserving this punishment from the king because he divulged his secrets and admitted to the entire conspiracy that he took part in with the interior minister. The Abarbanel understood what happened and also why the king wanted to kill him. The next day he returned to the king who was surprised to see him. He told the king the entire story who was gladdened by the fact that his trusty advisor in the end wasn't killed and was in fact loyal. The king turned to him and asked him though why did he understate his assets when he asked him. The Abarbanel explained that the king asked him "what did he have", he said all of the assets that I have are not really mine, if the king would have killed me all of my assets would have gone to the king, so they aren't really mine. The figure I gave you was the amount of Tzedakah I have given, these are my only monetary assets as these will stay with me no matter what and can't be taken away!

Shabbat Shalom,

Heath