Ben Sabar was a man famous for his tzedakah. When word came that a poor couple in a distant town needed money for their wedding, he packed a sack of coin and set out without hesitation.
The road he took crossed a lake notorious for a dragon that stretched its body across the water like a living bridge and killed anyone who attempted the crossing. Ben Sabar, on his way to a mitzvah, stepped onto the dragon's back as if it were a plank. The dragon, recognizing the protection that surrounded him, lay still. He crossed safely and completed the wedding.
On his return journey, he met an ugly stranger on the road whose eyes held an emptiness no living man's held. Ben Sabar knew at once who it was. This was the Malach HaMavet, the Angel of Death, come to take his soul.
Ben Sabar did not run. He bargained. "Give me time to go home first and put my affairs in order," he asked. "I have property to dispose of and a family to bless." The angel granted the delay.
On the way home Ben Sabar stopped at the house of the sage Shephiphon ben Laish, a master whose learning was said to hold the order of the cosmos in place. Shephiphon welcomed him inside. As they sat together, a cloud descended around the sage's house, and within the cloud stood the Angel of Death, demanding his pledge.
Shephiphon refused to hand Ben Sabar over. He argued Ben Sabar's case before Heaven directly. He cited the dragon, the wedding, the lifetime of charity. He asked for a reward for this man who had risked his life to bring other people joy. Heaven heard the argument. The decree was lifted. Ben Sabar's life was extended, and he went home to a long old age (Gaster, Exempla No. 398).
The tradition teaches that tzedakah saves from death (Proverbs 10:2), and Ben Sabar's story is a practical demonstration. Charity is not merely a moral obligation. It builds, over a lifetime, a legal case that a good lawyer can present to the heavenly court when the angel comes at the door.