In a city in Israel, a group of people decided to expose certain electricians who were dishonestly inflating their prices at the expense of customers. They secretly wired a home with hidden cameras and instructed the homeowner to plug a sabotaged appliance into an outlet, short-circuiting the entire electrical system of the house. She then called several electricians to fix the “problem.”
The first two electricians did not even bother inspecting the house, instead announcing that the entire system would have to be rewired, to the tune of 2 or 3,000 shekels. But the third electrician, a religious Jew, carefully inspected the house, discovered the appliance, and quickly repaired it. He charged a mere 120 shekels for his services.
The instigators of the scheme emerged from their hiding place and confronted the first two electricians, demanding an explanation for their outrageous quotes. The electricians tried to deny what they had said, but they had been caught on videotape.
Then the men turned to the frum electrician and asked why he had not inflated his price as well. He replied simply, “Hashem is watching me, and He will know if I lie! My parnassah is decreed on Rosh Hashanah. I cannot change it by being dishonest.”
A prominent kiruv professional related that when the story was made public, the frum electrician’s integrity and emunah moved an entire family, with whom he had been working for months with little success, to become religious.
Reproduced from Living Kiddush Hashem by Rabbi Shraga Freedman with permission of the copyright holders, ArtScroll/Mesorah Publications, Ltd.
