How Rabbi Chai Tayeb Helped a Businessman Return to Prayer

Calphin had once struggled to make ends meet. But slowly, things began to change. Day by day, his business grew. Before long, he was a respected merchant with a steady income. Then he became truly wealthy.

But as his material success grew, his spiritual life slipped away.

He no longer stayed to learn Torah after morning prayers. Then he began leaving early. Then coming late. Eventually, he stopped going to synagogue altogether and prayed alone in his shop until even that stopped.

It was the tragic fulfillment of the Torah’s warning: “Yeshurun grew fat and kicked.” When things go well in life, a person needs extra care not to forget where the blessings come from.

Calphin’s wife, a righteous woman, saw all this and was heartbroken. She spoke to him gently, tried to encourage him, and begged him to return to the Torah and to tefillah (prayer). But his mind was elsewhere. Business filled every corner of his life. She realized it was time to take action.

They lived near Rabbi Chai Tayeb, a holy and wise Torah scholar. One day, she waited for the right moment. As the rabbi passed beneath their window, she let out a deep, bitter sigh and called out softly, “Master of the universe… how much longer?”

The rabbi immediately stopped in his tracks. Without even looking up, he asked, “What happened? Can I help?”

She shared her pain: her husband’s success had pulled him away from Hashem. He had stopped praying and learning Torah. Rabbi Tayeb nodded in understanding and assured her, “It will be alright.”

The next morning, at a quarter to five, there was a knock at Calphin’s door. When he opened it, Rabbi Chai Tayeb was standing there.

“My dear friend,” the rabbi said warmly, “let’s go to the synagogue. Let’s learn a little Torah and then daven (pray) together. I’ll wait while you get ready.”

Calphin wasn’t excited, but he still had respect for Torah scholars. So he got dressed and went along.

After the prayers and study session, he opened his store like usual. But later that morning, something strange happened. Officials from the royal court arrived, bought a large amount of merchandise, loaded it onto their wagon, and left.

When Calphin asked for payment, they looked at him sternly and said, “We already paid you. Do you want to defraud the royal court and take double payment?”

Shocked and afraid, he stayed silent. When he returned home, he told his wife bitterly, “You see what happened? I prayed just one morning, and look what it cost me.”

The next day, at the same early hour, the rabbi returned again. Reluctantly, Calphin went with him. And again, something unexpected occurred. A well-dressed woman came to his store, bought a large order, loaded it onto her wagon and disappeared without paying.

Now Calphin was certain: praying was causing him to lose money. So the next morning, he got up even earlier, hoping to sneak out before the rabbi came. But when he opened the door at 4 a.m., there stood Rabbi Tayeb, waiting for him.

Caught off guard, Calphin murmured, “It’s still early…”

“There’s a shiur (lesson) on Mishnah, Gemara, and Zohar at the synagogue,” the rabbi said with a smile, taking him gently by the hand.

Later that morning, Calphin opened his store with a heavy heart. Around 10 a.m., a young officer entered, selected a large amount of goods, and told Calphin, “I’m going to get my wagon. I’ll be back.”

The hours passed, but he never returned. Just as Calphin was about to close the shop, he noticed something left behind, the officer’s thick wallet, sitting on the counter.

On his way home, he ran into the rabbi again. Rabbi Tayeb smiled and said, “Everything you lost has now been returned to you.”

Calphin was stunned. How could the rabbi have known? And then the rabbi explained.

“When someone wants to grow spiritually, the Yetzer Hara (evil inclination) fights back. On the first day, it came as a test. On the second day, the one who harmed you was a woman of impurity. It was all meant to discourage you, to see if you would stay strong. That’s why I came. I knew you’d need help.

“But today, the officer was not an ordinary man. He was an angel from Heaven, sent to repay everything you lost. Fortunate are you for standing firm and passing the test.”