This Midrash requires explanation. Why does the Divine wait to repay the donor's generosity until he stands at the ''gates of death''?

Why does the Divine not reward him before that time and under more pleasant circumstances? The Dubno Maggid, in Ohel Yaakov (Leviticus 25:35), offers a profound solution to this question: The donor gave the poor man a mere penny, but that penny made it possible for him to buy a piece of bread with which to assuage his hunger and extend his life. How much life did that single roll give the poor man before he would once again face starvation? The satiation may have lasted for eight to ten hours, and thus the donor has given the poor man this additional gift of life. How will the Divine pay the person back for his act of kindness? The Divine ''stores'' these hours of life for a time when the donor finds himself in a dire situation. It is then that He grants him those additional hours of life.

LESSON FOR LIFE — LITERALLY
It is well known that the immediate aftermath of a massive heart attack, stroke, or serious accident is a very critical time. If the patient pulls through this dangerous period, he will often go on to recover fully. Similarly, the kindness of the Divine is that He ''saves'' these hours of reward for a critical period when the man's life hangs in the balance. At that time, the gift of a few hours of life can mean survival for many years to come.

Rabbi Pam would illustrate this concept with an incident from his own life when he clearly saw this measure for measure attribute of the Almighty.

In late summer of 1976, Rabbi Pam and his wife were spending a short vacation in Bethlehem, New Hampshire. Rabbi Pam fell ill and developed a very high fever. Suddenly he felt extremely weak, about to faint. His wife ran out to the hallway of the rooming house where they were staying. She banged on the door of a neighbor and came back with a lemon. ''Bite into this! Bite into this!'' she said. Rabbi Pam, with the last of his waning strength, bit into the lemon and sucked out all its juice. Despite its intense bitterness, the lemon felt like an elixir of life to him and temporarily revived him.

A few days later, Rabbi Pam described to his son what had happened to him. He said that he was surprised at how he had sucked out the juice from the lemon in such an uncharacteristically coarse manner. He had never seen a person eat a fruit in such an unrefined way. As he was speaking, he reminded himself that many years earlier he had, indeed, seen a person suck out the juice of a fruit in such a strange way . . .

In the 1950s, Rabbi Pam had gone to visit an acquaintance in a nursing home. He brought along a few oranges to give the man, who refused to take them, saying that he had enough food to eat. Rabbi Pam then offered them to another patient who was almost totally paralyzed. Rabbi Pam peeled the orange and placed a piece into his mouth. The man hungrily sucked the juice from the orange with such unusual relish and appetite, as if his life depended on every drop of juice! The man could not speak but his eyes conveyed his intense feelings of gratitude for the fruit. Rabbi Pam was awestruck by this unusual scene and it made a strong impression upon him.

In remembering this scene of decades earlier, an insight flashed through Rabbi Pam's mind as he recognized the Divine kindness that he had experienced. The verse in Isaiah (40:31) says, Those who hope in the Divine will experience an exchange of strength. The Almighty had made an exchange of strength: a lemon for an orange. Rabbi Pam's gift of an orange to a paralyzed old man had been repaid twenty years later with a lemon which had revived Rabbi Pam and saved him from collapse! The Divine had safeguarded his reward for his act of kindness for a time when it would be of critical importance!

This attribute of measure for measure is alluded to in the words of the verse, Send your bread upon the water, for after many days you will find it (Ecclesiastes 11:1).

On a basic level, this means that when one fulfills a religious duty or act of kindness, he should not abandon hope of seeing his reward from the Almighty, because even if it takes a long time, it will eventually come. But, in a deeper sense, for after many days you will find it, is another aspect of the G-d's mercy. Instead of paying a person immediately for his kindness, the Almighty intentionally ''stores it'' and saves it for a time when the reward will spell the difference between life and death.

Or HaChaim, in his comments on the verse in Exodus (20:6): He shows kindness for thousands (of generations) , alludes to this idea as well. It is the Almighty's infinite kindness to His people that He does not pay them immediately for their good deeds. He stretches the reward for generations to come and doles it out at times when it is most critically needed, and thus most beneficial.