It is told that the great Hasidic rebbe, Rabbi Yitzchak Meir of Gur (the author of Chidushei ha-Rim) was taken for a carriage ride by a maskil (“Jew of the Enlightenment”) who lived in his city.
This man mockingly said to R. Yitzchak Meir, “Tell me, rebbe, it is written in the Shema that if a person sins, the clouds will not give their rain, the earth will not give its fruit, and he will quickly disappear from the earth. But I have been committing sins my entire life and I don’t perform any commandments—yet my land is fruitful, I am wealthy and honored, and I lack nothing.”
R. Yitzchak Meir told him, “It is clear from your question that you have recited the Shema at least once in your life. You should be aware that all of the good in this world is not enough to reward you for that one time that you recited the Shema. As for your sins, however, that will be subject to a different reckoning.”
—Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz