Related for Taanit 49:20

An illustration: Rabbi Ḥiyya the Great and Rabbi Shimon ben Ḥalafta were sitting to study the Torah in the great study hall of Tiberias on the day before Passover, and some say that it was the day before the great fast [Yom Kippur]. They heard the sound of people crying.¹³³Because they were too poor to buy food for the holiday. He [Rabbi Shimon ben Ḥalafta] said to him [Rabbi Ḥiyya]: ‘Those people, what will they do?’ He said: ‘One who has, will buy, and one who does not have will go to his employer and he will give them.’ He said to him: ‘If so, I too will go to my employer, and He will give me.’ He went out and prayed in the cave by Tiberias and he saw a hand outstretched to him with a pearl. He went and brought it to Rabbeinu [Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi]. He said to him: ‘From where did you get this? It is priceless. [Do not sell it;] rather, here are three dinars for you,¹³⁴He lent him the three dinars so that Rabbi Shimon ben Ḥalafta would not need to sell the pearl in order to make preparations for the holiday. go and make preparations in honor of the day, and after the holiday we will publicize it, and whoever offers the highest price will take it.’ He took the three dinars and went and bought his purchases and entered his house. His wife said to him: ‘Shimon, have you begun to steal? All your property is worth only a hundred maneh,¹³⁵Ten thousand dinars. She is presumably utilizing hyperbole. and [so] what are these purchases? He immediately related the incident to her. She said to him: ‘What do you want? That your canopy be one pearl smaller than that of your colleagues in the World to Come?’ He said to her: ‘What should we do?’ She said to him: ‘Go, return the purchases to their owner, the dinars to their owner, and the pearl to its owner.’
When he heard, Rabbeinu was upset. He sent for her and she came to him. He said: ‘You caused all this distress to this righteous one.’ She said to him: ‘What do you want? That his canopy will be one pearl smaller than yours in the World to Come?’ He said to her: ‘And if it will be smaller, are we not able to make it up [i.e., make up whatever is missing from his merit]?’ She said to him: ‘Rabbi, in this world we have been privileged to see your face;¹³⁶But not in the World to Come. did Reish Lakish not say: Each righteous person will have a compartment for himself?’ And he [Rabbeinu] conceded to her.¹³⁷He prayed for God to take the pearl back, and a hand emerged and took it. Moreover, it is the way of Heaven to give, but it is not its way to take. The latter miracle was more difficult than the former. When it [the pearl] was taken, the hand was lower, and when it gave it to him, the hand was higher, like a person who lends money to another.

An illustration: Rabbi Ḥiyya the Great and Rabbi Shimon ben Ḥalafta were sitting to study the Torah in the great study hall of Tiberias on the day before Passover, and some say that it was the day before the great fast [Yom Kippur]. They heard the sound of people crying.¹³³Because they were too poor to buy food for the holiday. He [Rabbi Shimon ben Ḥalafta] said to him [Rabbi Ḥiyya]: ‘Those people, what will they do?’ He said: ‘One who has, will buy, and one who does not have will go to his employer and he will give them.’ He said to him: ‘If so, I too will go to my employer, and He will give me.’ He went out and prayed in the cave by Tiberias and he saw a hand outstretched to him with a pearl. He went and brought it to Rabbeinu [Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi]. He said to him: ‘From where did you get this? It is priceless. [Do not sell it;] rather, here are three dinars for you,¹³⁴He lent him the three dinars so that Rabbi Shimon ben Ḥalafta would not need to sell the pearl in order to make preparations for the holiday. go and make preparations in honor of the day, and after the holiday we will publicize it, and whoever offers the highest price will take it.’ He took the three dinars and went and bought his purchases and entered his house. His wife said to him: ‘Shimon, have you begun to steal? All your property is worth only a hundred maneh,¹³⁵Ten thousand dinars. She is presumably utilizing hyperbole. and [so] what are these purchases? He immediately related the incident to her. She said to him: ‘What do you want? That your canopy be one pearl smaller than that of your colleagues in the World to Come?’ He said to her: ‘What should we do?’ She said to him: ‘Go, return the purchases to their owner, the dinars to their owner, and the pearl to its owner.’
When he heard, Rabbeinu was upset. He sent for her and she came to him. He said: ‘You caused all this distress to this righteous one.’ She said to him: ‘What do you want? That his canopy will be one pearl smaller than yours in the World to Come?’ He said to her: ‘And if it will be smaller, are we not able to make it up [i.e., make up whatever is missing from his merit]?’ She said to him: ‘Rabbi, in this world we have been privileged to see your face;¹³⁶But not in the World to Come. did Reish Lakish not say: Each righteous person will have a compartment for himself?’ And he [Rabbeinu] conceded to her.¹³⁷He prayed for God to take the pearl back, and a hand emerged and took it. Moreover, it is the way of Heaven to give, but it is not its way to take. The latter miracle was more difficult than the former. When it [the pearl] was taken, the hand was lower, and when it gave it to him, the hand was higher, like a person who lends money to another.