There was once a talmid chacham who recounted a personal story that proves a point. When he was young, his father was a contractor who was charged with building the first twenty houses in a new settlement in Eretz Yisroel. This was a huge opportunity but it involved great expense for his father. The biggest expense he had with the construction of the buildings was the cement, for he had to import it at great cost from outside the land.
On one occasion, the cement delivery arrived one Friday afternoon in the summer, hundreds of open barrels of cement. After they had taken the delivery it was already late in the afternoon so all the Jewish workers went home to their town of Yaffo. Suddenly, the sky went dark and it looked like the heavens would open up at any moment and there would be a massive storm.
The workers came running over to the boss and told him they must go back since all the barrels are open and if it rains, the cement will get wet, harden and be ruined, a tremendous loss. “We have to go back and cover the barrels.”
However, with little time left until Shabbos it would be impossible to do the job without desecrating the Shabbos. The righteous builder did not even hesitate for a second. “No!” he said defiantly, “I will not sell Shabbos for all the money in the world. No one should go back and desecrate the Shabbos for me.”
As expected, that Friday night it poured and poured. It was obvious that this man had lost a fortune, however, he acted as if nothing had happened. He maintained a smile on his face, sang zemiros and talked divrei Torah at the meals acting as he would on any other Shabbos, truly personifying that on Shabbos one must feel as though all his work is done.
Soon after Shabbos concluded, he began to think about his great loss and how all the cement that he paid so much for all went to waste. He took his wagon and went to see the damage for himself. As he got closer to his building site, he couldn’t believe his eyes. All his barrels of cement were totally covered-and-sealed, nothing was lost. He couldn’t believe it and wanted to touch the miracle with his own hands. He went over to one of the barrels, took off the cover, ran his fingers through the cement and, yes, it was still dry and good for use, clearly a miracle.
Later he found out that the local street pavers had sent people to go cover their barrels of cement. In the confusion of the darkness and the impending storm, they went and covered the wrong barrels of cement. The barrels belonging to the town were ruined, while the builder’s barrels were all dry and protected, saving him a fortune.
This man, whose dedication to Shabbos was unwavering, who acted like he didn’t have a care in the world on Shabbos, was blessed with Hashem’s protection and as a result Hashem made sure he was taken care of. So, too, if we would recognize that success happens through the hand of Hashem, we too, will be able to really make the Shabbos holy! (Bait Aaron Torah Center)
