Tuvia had signed a contract with a construction company to build a staircase in a multistory building. He was supervising several projects at the time and was running behind schedule, so he employed a worker to finish the stairs. The worker assured Tuvia that he was experienced and capable of completing the job by himself. As it turned out, the worker was not capable of doing the work himself. Tuvia had to stand over him and instruct him every step of the way, costing him a great deal in time and money. It would have been easier for Tuvia to complete the job himself.
As they were finishing the job, Tuvia asked the worker for his honest opinion. “Do you really think I should pay you for your work?” The worker shrugged and kept silent. Tuvia said he would think about it. When the man arrived at work the next day, Tuvia still had not decided, and he let the whole matter slide. Suddenly Tuvia’s work orders stopped coming in. Tuvia had to start calling people who had previously given him building projects to see if they had any new business for him, something he had never been required to do before. Since no work turned up, Tuvia retired to the Bet Midrash and started to learn rather than to waste his time.
In the course of his learning, he came across the incident with Rav Huna in Berachot (5b) which tells about Rav Huna’s large store of wine that turned into vinegar. When Rav Huna asked the Rabbanim what might have caused all his wine to have gone sour, the Rabbanim asked him if he had paid all his workers. Rav Huna replied that he had not paid all his workers in full because he knew they had been stealing from him. He therefore felt justified in withholding part of their wages. The Sages ruled that he must pay his workers in full even though they had been stealing from him.
Rav Huna immediately went and paid the workers the wages he owed them and, the Gemara says, there was suddenly a huge demand for vinegar; Rav Huna was able to sell all the wine-turned-vinegar for a handsome profit. (Some say the vinegar turned back to wine.) In any case, Tuvia remembered instantly that he had not paid that worker any wages. He decided on the spot that he would seek out that worker and pay him, even though his bank account was practically empty.
Tuvia tracked down the man and paid him. That very day, when Tuvia returned home, he found three faxes with orders for major construction jobs awaiting him. The contracts he signed subsequently were so lucrative that Tuvia’s earnings compensated him for all the money he had lost during the previous six weeks when he had no income. (Excerpted from the Judaica World book – “When the Time is Right”)
Reprinted from the Parshat Shemot 5786 email of Rabbi David Bibi’s Shabbat Shalom from Cyberspace.
