By Rabbi Nissan Telushkin
Back in Russia, I knew a Chossid who had a leather store and often supplied to shoemakers. They would purchase on credit, and rarely paid him back in a timely manner. He was constantly in debt and his livelihood was a pittance.
There was one cobbler who owed him a lot of money. Eventually, the store owner refused to supply him with leather.
One day, the cobbler came begging for leather because someone had ordered a pair of shoes. The cobbler desperately needed the money to feed his family.
He offered his kapota, a Shabbos frock coat, as collateral for some leather. The store owner had mercy and supplied the leather.
Still, the cobbler could not pay for the leather, and his kapota, indeed, was turned over.
For months, the cobbler would pick up his kapota on the eve of Shabbos frock and return it to the store owner.
When summer came, the store owner was worried the frock would get ruined by moths. So during the week, some three times, he would even shake it out outside.
He kindly did this for months until he finally decided to ignore the debt and returned the kapota despite not having been paid.
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