The Needs of Orphans

Rav Bentzion Yadler, zt”l, founded the pioneering Beis Yaakov HaYashan in Yerushalayim. Although today it is a well established school with hundreds of students, when he was first starting out, he had few students and money was very tight. Understandably, he went to any address he could to procure much needed funds for his fledgling institution, but even with all of his efforts, he only managed to eke out the minimum expenses to prevent the school from closing.
When Rav Yadler approached Rav Yitzchak Yerucham Diskin, zt”l, the head of the well established Diskin Orphanage, he was astounded to receive not only encouragement, but a large donation from the coffers of the orphanage.
Rav Yadler could not stop himself from blurting out, “It is true that every penny makes a big difference, but how can I possibly accept this generous donation? Do our sages not teach that one may not take money from orphans even for mitzvos?”
Rav Diskin immediately reassured Rav Yadler. “This donation is for the orphans, since if there are no suitable schools for girls, how will I find then brides with yiras shamayim?”
Rav Diskin then told a story about his father, Rav Yehoshua Leib Diskin, zt”l. “My father would take this much further. It was his practice to hire avreichim to go from apartment to apartment checking people’s mezuzos. When I asked him how he justified this he explained that regarding mezuzah the verse states, 'למען ירבו ימיכם וימי בניכם'. Since good mezuzos lengthens the life spans of parents, making sure mezuzos are valid is an excellent way to ensure that there are less orphans and therefore more money for each individual orphan!”