The Man Who Refused to Forgive: Rabbi Reuven Karlenstein’s Story

Rabbi Reuven Karlenstein zt"l, the beloved preacher, was known for his deep love of peace and his tireless efforts to bring reconciliation between people. During the days of shivah after his passing, a visitor shared a remarkable story that revealed how Rabbi Karlenstein’s words continued to bring healing even after his death.

A Partnership That Ended in Ruin

The visitor recounted that two men who had grown up together as friends became business partners and achieved great success. Over the years they built a prosperous enterprise and became wealthy.

Eventually, however, one of the partners made a disastrous business deal. He persuaded his partner to sign notes and guarantees, and when the business collapsed both men were ruined. The partner responsible for the failed deal sold his house and remaining assets and fled abroad, while the other partner remained in Israel with nothing. Forced to sell his home and rebuild his life from scratch, he refused under any circumstances to forgive his former partner for the tremendous losses he had suffered.

A Final Request for Forgiveness

The partner who fled overseas never recovered from the collapse. After some time he developed a malignant liver disease, and the doctors told him that he had only a few months to live.
With a trembling voice he began calling each of the people to whom he owed large sums of money.

“I have only a few months left to live,” he told them. “I ask you to forgive my debts.”

One after another, the creditors agreed and forgave him. But there was one exception: his former partner. The debt was enormous and the pain still raw, and he refused to forgive.

The sick partner eventually passed away, and Rabbi Reuven Karlenstein, an old friend from their youth, came to the funeral.

The Ride Home

After the burial, the surviving partner approached Rabbi Reuven and offered him a ride to Bnei Brak. Rabbi Reuven agreed.

As they drove, the man explained why he had come to the funeral.

“I wanted to make sure they really buried him,” he said. “I suspected they might deceive me even about this. Now that I saw them lower him into the grave, I am calm.”

Rabbi Reuven was deeply shaken by these words.

During the half-hour drive he spoke earnestly to the man about the suffering of a soul that must stand before the Heavenly Court after handling other people’s money dishonestly.

“You have no idea what pain his soul is going through,” Rabbi Reuven told him. “For every penny that was not repaid and not forgiven there is judgment. A person can return to this world in reincarnation for every single penny.”

He added that there could also be a claim in Heaven against someone who refuses to forgive and described the spiritual consequences that such a refusal could bring.

But the former partner remained unmoved.

“I cannot forgive him,” he insisted. “I simply cannot.”

Rabbi Reuven answered gently: “Do not decide today. Tomorrow speak with rabbis and seek advice. Do not decide alone.”

They arrived at Rabbi Reuven’s home. He thanked the man for the ride and went inside. From that point on they never met again, and it seemed that the story had come to an end.

The Story Continues

During Rabbi Reuven Karlenstein’s shivah, the continuation of the story became known.

The visitor who shared it turned out to be the son of the partner who had passed away. He told the mourners what had happened the day after the funeral.

“My father’s former partner came to the house of mourning,” he said. “When one of my brothers saw him, he ran out of the room and locked himself inside because he thought the man had come to fight.”

But the visitor stood quietly and said: “Gentlemen, last night after the funeral I drove Rabbi Reuven Karlenstein home. He spoke with me about the suffering of the soul after death."

“I dropped him off at his home, took my wife home, and then drove back to the cemetery. I sat on the fresh earth where your father had been buried and cried all night."

“At daybreak I said to him: I forgive you for everything you did to me. Forgiven, forgiven, forgiven. Everything is forgiven.”

Words That Saved a Soul

Rabbi Reuven Karlenstein never knew that his words had borne fruit.

He simply did his part, speaking from the heart and trying to awaken compassion and forgiveness. As the Sages teach, “One who has fear of Heaven, his words are heard.”

Through those heartfelt words, Rabbi Reuven merited to help bring peace between two souls and to spare one from further suffering.

His legacy reminds us that even a single conversation, spoken with sincerity and faith, can change a life, and perhaps even eternity.