I Don’t Want to Sell My Mitzvah — The Shabbos That Changed Everything in Tzfat

It was meant to be a peaceful, uplifting Shabbos in the holy city of Tzfat. Families from around the world had gathered for an inspiring Shabbaton, led by renowned speaker Rav Chaim Zaid. But no one could have imagined that this Shabbos would turn into a story of open miracles, unshakable faith, and the priceless power of one mitzvah.

Early Shabbat morning, as Rav Chaim made his way down to the hotel pool to use it as a mikvah, a common practice for men, he noticed something strange. A visibly shaken Chassidic man was rushing out of the pool area, drenched, breathless, and pale. Behind him was a little boy, no more than six years old.

“Rabbi, go find his mother, now!” the man pleaded. “This child almost drowned!”

The boy’s name was Yoeli. He had quietly slipped out of his family’s room early that morning while his parents were still asleep. Wandering the quiet hotel halls alone, he found his way into the pool area and fell in, without anyone seeing.

The man who had spotted him just in time was Rabbi Eckstein, who had also come early to use the mikvah. Incredibly, he walked in at the exact moment Yoeli was drowning. Without hesitation, he jumped into the water, pulled the boy out, and performed CPR, ultimately saving his life.

Rav Chaim helped locate the family. They banged on the hotel room door until Yoeli’s stunned parents awoke. Chaos and tears followed as they realized how close they had come to losing their precious son.

As word of the miracle spread throughout the hotel, the atmosphere shifted. Shabbat Seudah that day was electric with gratitude and awe. The boy’s grandfather, Mr. Naiman, a well-known philanthropist from New Jersey who had brought his extended family to Tzfat for the Shabbaton, was especially overcome. On Motzaei Shabbat, he pulled Rabbi Eckstein aside and told him, “You saved my grandson’s life. I owe you everything. Please, let me show you my gratitude.”

Then came the offer.

“I want to give you a gift. Not a token, but something real. I want to give you 26 million shekel,” he said. Roughly $6.8 million dollars.

Rabbi Eckstein was stunned. But after a moment, he shook his head.

“I’ve thought about it,” he said. “And I can’t accept it. I don’t want to sell my mitzvah.”

He explained that the merit of saving a life, pikuach nefesh, was a gift from Heaven. To take money for it would cheapen the spiritual jackpot he felt he had won. “It’s not about the money,” he said. “This mitzvah is priceless.”

Mr. Naiman tried to insist. “Please take it. I have more. You deserve it.”

But Rabbi Eckstein stood firm. “No. I don’t want it. I can’t accept a single shekel.”

Rav Chaim Zaid, witnessing all this, was moved beyond words. He turned to Rabbi Eckstein and said, “You gave up 26 million shekel? We need to go to my rebbe. You must meet Rav David Abuchatzeira.”

Rav Zaid, a close student of the legendary mekubal, brought Rabbi Eckstein to Rav David that very week. When Rav David heard the full story, he was overwhelmed by the magnitude of the sacrifice.

“You gave up millions for a mitzvah?” Rav David said. “You’ve made a tremendous Kiddush Hashem. Right now, the gates of Heaven are open wide. Ask for anything.”

Rabbi Eckstein hesitated. “What I want… it’s not possible,” he said quietly.

“Nothing is impossible,” Rav David replied. “Ask.”

Rabbi Eckstein’s eyes welled with tears. “I’m 47 years old. I’ve been married many years—and I’ve never been zocheh to have a child.”

Rav David closed his eyes and said, “In the merit of your selflessness, and in the zechut of your holy forefathers, I bless you that this year, you will have a baby boy. And don’t invite me to be the sandak, I’ve done too many. Let Rav Chaim Zaid be the sandak.”

The bracha came true.

That very year, Rabbi Eckstein and his wife welcomed a baby boy into the world. They named him Yoeli, after the child he had saved.

Rav Chaim Zaid, who had seen the miracle from beginning to end, was honored to serve as sandak.

This story is real. Rav Chaim Zaid not only told it over, he witnessed it with his own eyes. And it leaves us with one unforgettable truth:

Every mitzvah is priceless.

We live in a world where everything has a price. But mitzvot are eternal. They are gifts from Heaven that cannot be bought or sold. Rabbi Eckstein was offered a fortune, and turned it down, because he understood what many of us forget: that a mitzvah is more valuable than gold, more eternal than time, and more powerful than any material reward.

We may not face such dramatic choices every day. But we do face quieter ones: whether to daven with kavanah, to give tzedakah with an open heart, to do a chessed without expecting anything in return. And when we choose right, we, too, are declaring:

“I don’t want to sell my mitzvah.”