There were once three poor men, each with a different longing. The first wanted only to be rich. The second wanted to become a great scholar. The third wanted a good wife. The prophet Elijah, who walks the world in disguise testing and rewarding Jews, met each one in turn.

To the first man Elijah gave a single gold dinar, on the condition that he remain humble and give generously to the poor. To the second he gave an Alpha Betarion, a mystical text of letters, on the condition that he study it constantly and teach others freely. The third man Elijah directed to a woman who seemed bad-tempered at first meeting, but was in fact a person of deep goodness underneath the rough edges.

Years passed. The first man had become wealthy. The second had become learned. The third had married.

Elijah returned in disguise to test them. He came to the rich man leading five orphans by the hand. I need money to ransom my wife from robbers, he said. Please help. The rich man refused. His servants beat Elijah and drove him off. The next morning Elijah reclaimed the dinar he had given. The man's wealth collapsed overnight. He was poor again.

Elijah took the same five orphans to the scholar. Teach these children, he said. Take them in. The scholar refused and had him turned out. The next morning Elijah reclaimed the Alpha Betarion. The scholar's learning vanished from his mind. He died ignorant and miserable.

Elijah then came to the third man's house. The wife answered the door. She saw an old traveler on the threshold, invited him in, gave him the last food in the house, and prepared her best bedding for him. When her husband came home exhausted, she met him outside and said softly: an honored old man is inside. Do not be angry that there is no food. Then she persuaded her husband to slaughter their only calf to feed the visitor.

Elijah revealed himself. He rewarded the couple with everything he had taken from the other two: the wealth of the first, the wisdom of the second. Both now lived in their household, and they lived long and well.

This story from Codex Gaster 66, preserved in The Exempla of the Rabbis (Gaster, 1924), teaches that a gift held for yourself alone is a loan that heaven will reclaim. A gift passed through you to others is yours forever.