The reason for this Yid’s confidence is rooted in knowing his chavrusa for so many years. Thus, he can be certain that he has a very good reason for his lateness. Even if he won’t show up at all that day, nothing will change his opinion of his friend. He won’t begin to think, “Why is humiliating me like this... allowing me to sit here and wait for him like a golem? Doesn’t he know that I dropped everything in order to be here on time?!” This Yid has no such thoughts about his friend—because he knows him.
If you know who we’re talking about, there’s are no complaints. Even if you don’t know the details and the reasons, you’re confident that he has a very good reason.
Don’t Show the Foundation to a Fool
This means that to a wise person we can show an unfinished work—because he has the wisdom to know that there are aspects he doesn’t see. But a fool cannot be shown an unfinished work, because he only sees what’s in front of him at this moment.
When we’re building a large, towering building, we will dig a deep foundation. If the donor of the building is a fool, we need to make sure that he doesn’t drive down this block. What?! I thought you’re building up! Why are you building down?! I am not giving my money to this project!
But if the patron is wise, to the contrary, we do bring him over to the building site—because he will wisely understand, based on the strong, deep foundations, that a massive building will be built here.
