By James David Weiss
Rabbi Berel Wein tells the story of a man who was a mortgage broker. He owned a business which serviced mortgages too small for the giant firms to handle. One day he received a call from the president of his largest client, the Equitable Life Insurance Company. "Joe," he announced, "I am going to be in town on Tuesday and I'd like to meet with you. We're thinking about enlarging our small policy sector. What is a good time for you?"
Now, Joe was put on a spot. Succot was slated to begin on Tuesday and Joe wondered how this man would take the postponement. "Actually," he replied, "Tuesday is impossible for me."
"No problem, let's make it Wednesday," came the accommodating counter-offer.
Joe wished he hadn't said that. "You know, come to think of it, Wednesday is not very good either."
The president of Equitable became annoyed. "What do you mean?" he asked. "I am giving you two days from which to choose. You know, I don't fly to your town that often."
Joe decided to play it straight. "Let me explain. Perhaps you didn't know but I am an observant Jew and the holiday of Succot falls on Tuesday and Wednesday - my offices are closed on both days."
The president was incredulous. "Surely, you don't mean to tell me there is no one around your offices for two consecutive business days?"
Joe told him the truth, "That's our policy."
"But what if there's an emergency? What if a vital call comes through? We deal in a service business and accessibility to our customers is of prime importance. Joe, if what you're telling me is so, then I'm going to have to reevaluate our whole relationship." With that the president hung up.
Joe attended synagogue that Succot as he did every other Succot. On Thursday morning, upon his return to the office, the first phone call he received was from the president of Equitable.
"Joe, I flew into town on Tuesday and I checked you out. Sure enough, you were closed, so I did some other business. To tell you the truth, I was feeling pretty hot that you couldn't find time for me. Now, I don't know why I did this, but I stayed over and on Wednesday afternoon I called again. I was told by your service that you wouldn't be in until Thursday because of religious observance. Two whole days off when the rest of the world is doing business! Imagine that.
"In this day and age, it's got to take a lot of conviction for someone to do that. Joe, I've changed my mind about you. I'm coming to town next Friday to review our position. I think anyone who has the courage to stand up to the world and stay closed when everyone else is open is my kind of man. I think we're ready to expand in your direction. What do you say?"
"That sounds great. Friday morning is fine," gulped Joe, deeply grateful the president hadn't designated the days of Shemini Aseret and Simhat Torah.
The two have enjoyed a cordial business relationship ever since. (Excerpted from the Shaar Press book – “Vintage Wein.”)
Reprinted from the Parashat Bo 5786 email of Rabbi David Bibi’s Shabbat Shalom from Cyberspace.
