Dovid and Rochel Berman* had an alarm system installed in their new home in Lakewood*. If the alarm went off, the company called the primary or secondary contact number. If it was a false alarm, the person called would give their name and the code, and the alarm was logged as false. If no one answered to give the code, the alarm was assumed to be a real emergency, and the police were sent to the home.
If there was a false alarm on Shabbos, Dovid and Rochel paid the company for an extra service – a non-Jew would come, and verify that it is a false alarm, so that the police would not come.
One Shabbos, Dovid and Rochel’s alarm went off, and it was a false alarm. The non-Jew did not come, but neither did the police. Dovid called the owner of the alarm company to complain that the service on Shabbos for which he was paying extra was not being provided.
The owner said he would check the log and see what had happened. When checking, the owner heard a recording of someone answering the phone on Shabbos saying, “This is Rochel, and our code number is...”
The Painful Realization of Who was Me’chalel Shabbos
The owner couldn’t believe it! Maybe she got flustered, and thought it was important – but bottom line was that Dovid’s wife, Rochel, was me’chalel [a desecrator of] Shabbos!! The owner tried to avoid Dovid all week, so that he wouldn’t have to reveal this to him.
The following week, Dovid received a call from his daughter in Eretz Yisroel. “Totty, your alarm went off last Shabbos, didn’t it? Interestingly, the alarm company called me right away, as I’m the secondary phone number. It was already Motzei Shabbos in Eretz Yisroel, so figuring it was another false alarm, because you were all home at the time, I used Mommy’s name and gave the code. I hope that was helpful.”
Dovid felt both embarrassed and relieved. He quickly called the owner and explained the story. The owner was even more relieved with the knowledge that Rochel was not me’chalel Shabbos, and that he wouldn’t have to tell Dovid that. Who would have thought?!
Reprinted from the Parshas Nitzavim-Vayelech 5783 email of The Weekly Vort.
