We’ve all dreamed about winning the lottery. You know, the really big one that suddenly puts gazillions of dollars in our bank account! Imagine the good you could do with that much money. Imagine how many people you could help.
But what would you do if you won a really small lottery… say, just a couple hundred dollars? How much good can you do with that?
Quite a lot, as it turns out.
Take Sofia Andrade, who recently won $200 playing one of those scratch-off lottery cards. She was driving in her car on a frigid winter’s day in Boston when she saw a homeless man panhandling on a street corner without a coat.
With her newfound lottery winnings still warm in her pocket, she bought him a cup of hot coffee, and - after learning that all of the area shelters were full - paid for a motel room to get him out of the cold. She then - via Facebook and a website called GoFundMe - enlisted others to help. Together, they changed his life. (It's a touching story. You can read more about it by clicking here.)
In Pirkei Avot 2:21 it states: “Lo alecha hamlacha ligmor, v’lo atah ben chorin l’hivatel mimena” – “You are not expected to complete the task, but neither are you free to desist from trying.”
We don’t need to win millions of dollars in order to change the world. As you can see, a couple of hundred dollars - coupled with a willing heart - do just fine, in a pinch.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Michael
