There was a great rabbi called the Admor (Hasidic leader) of Kozhnitz. One time, there was a farmer and his wife who had been married for many years. They couldn't have children, and it had already been 10 years. If you look in the Ketubah (marriage contract), it says that if they are married for 10 years and cannot have children, he has a right to divorce her. That's the halacha (Jewish law). He wants to have children. She cannot have children, if it's her fault, let's say. She can't have children, and he wants to have children, so he's allowed to divorce her.
So the rabbi told him, “Listen, you have to divorce her; it's been 10 years.” It was very, very sad. Anyway, a student of the rabbi from Kozhnitz happened to be staying at the farmer's house for Shabbat. The farmer said, “I'm very sad. It was Shabbat, a very sad Shabbat.” The student asked, “Why are you so sad?” The farmer said, “No children, 10 years, and now we have to get divorced.”
The student asked, “Did you go to my rabbi?” The farmer asked, “Who's your rabbi?” The student said, “The Admor from Kozhnitz. Go to him; I'll give you a beracha (blessing).” The farmer said, “I never heard of the guy.” I heard of him. Go there and get a beracha. Go. He goes to the rabbi. “Rabbi, we're married 10 years.” “You'll have a baby.”
“On one condition: you have to put 52 gold coins on the table for tzedakah (charity) for my yeshiva.” “If I save 52 gold coins, if I live three lifetimes, I won't make half that amount. Where am I going to get 50? Ask for half a million dollars? Where am I going to get 52 gold coins from?” That's the thing. “Rabbi, Rabbi, can I give—I'm a poor man, I'm a farmer. If I give one gold coin?” “Which? To me, it's like a thousand gold coins. 52 coins is the numerical value of ben (son). You want to have a ben? 52.” He tells us what kind of ben it is. “What kind of racket is this? What kind of beracha is this?”
So now he goes home and collects whatever he has. He's collecting, he's selling, and he comes back with 28 coins. He says, “Rabbi, Rabbi, I have nothing left to my name. I came, I sold everything. This is what I have: 28 coins.” He puts it on the table. The rabbi says, “52 coins.” So the guy gets so upset that he turns to his wife and says, “What are we relying on this rabbi for, for 52 coins? Let Hashem give us the baby.” The Admor says, “Now you're going to have it. Now you have it. I was talking about it.”
He says, “So what were you doing?” He says, “As long as you were relying on me: ‘I'll give the rabbi 52 coins.’ I needed to put you to a point where you will not be inspired by me or something. You'll be self-motivated to turn and pray to God. Once you relied on God for your miracle, that's right: if you had a baby, then the next year, you can have it.”