The sages taught that on the day of judgment, every soul will be asked why it did not devote itself to Torah. Three common excuses will be raised — poverty, wealth, and youth — and three famous Jews will rise as living refutations.
To the poor man who pleads, "I had no means," the court points to Hillel. Hillel worked all day as a laborer for a pittance, and half of that pittance he paid to the gatekeeper of the study hall just to be let in. One winter day he earned nothing. Unwilling to miss the lesson, he climbed onto the roof and lay down by the skylight to listen. Snow began to fall. When the room below grew dark, the students looked up and saw Hillel half-buried, still listening. They dug him out and warmed him back to life. After that, tradition says, no one was ever again turned away at the door.
To the rich man who pleads, "I was too busy managing my affairs," the court points to Rabbi Eleazar ben Harsom, who owned a thousand ships and a thousand cities and yet was so immersed in study that his own slaves did not recognize him. Once, when he went to ransom Jewish captives, his own servants seized him and set him to forced labor, swearing "By the life of our master Eleazar ben Harsom, you shall work all night!" Only when he revealed who he was did they let him go.
To the young man who pleads, "The pleasures of the world overwhelmed me," the court points to Joseph, whom Potiphar's wife tried to seduce day after day (Genesis 39:7-12). He was young, beautiful, far from home, and serving a household eager to ruin him — and he still served the Lord.
Gaster's Exempla of the Rabbis (1924, No. 91) uses these three witnesses to close every door a person might try to slip through. Poor, rich, or young — someone Jewish has already walked that road, and chose Torah.