As I was delivering a fundraising appeal one day, a Yid told me that he owns several apartments which are bound by strict rent control laws. As is known, it is near impossible to raise the rent for such tenants. But the costs for maintaining the buildings were constantly going up, and the low rents were increasingly not covering the expenses. As it stood now, the Yid said, he was starting to suffer serious losses. Whatever he tried doing to raise the rent didn’t work out.
One day, this Yid decided that he would include Rav Yeshayala in his business. For each tenant he succeeds in gaining a rent hike, he resolved, he would donate a sum to Rav Yeshayala’s tzedakah to help feed children in Eretz Yisroel.
The unique partnership paid off in a matter of days. The first rent increase came through, and since then he has succeeded in raising the rents of many apartments. For his part, he has fulfilled his obligations in the partnership — the children in Eretz Yisroel are refreshed and Rav Yeshayala is looking down from above and kvelling.
