A True Mitzvah.

This story made me smile. And then it made be sad, because I am a horrible, horrible person by comparison. But then again, so are we all...

A North Shore philanthropist yesterday paid out $5 million of his own money to restore the retirement savings of his employees who lost their nest eggs to admitted swindler Bernard L. Madoff.

Robert I. Lappin made up for the lost savings of the 60 employees of his company, Salem-based Shetland Properties Inc., and of his private charity, the Robert I. Lappin Charitable Foundation, whose 401(k) plans were managed by Madoff.

“Restoring his employee benefits speaks to the type of guy he is,’’ said Pierce, who also serves as president of the Jewish Historical Society of the North Shore. “He’s always been the most philanthropic and generous of people in the area of charities. He’s done it without fanfare and he’s done it generously, even though he’s suffered some significant setbacks with the Madoff scandal.’’