The Brin family lived in the Borough Park neighborhood of Brooklyn. At the end of 2001, the father of the family decided to thoroughly renovate their old home. For this purpose, they had to move to a rented apartment for a few months when the renovation work began. The father was supposed to transfer a $20,000 advance to the contractor. This sum, which he had saved with great effort over several years, was deposited by him for safekeeping with one of the owners of the Gemach funds in his area. Mr. Brin asked his wife to go to the Gemach offices and redeem the sum in order to pay the contractor. Early in the morning, Mrs. Brin entered the Gemach offices, received the entire amount, placed it in a white envelope, tucked it deep in her bag, and went out to buy a few more purchases needed for the temporary apartment.
Late in the afternoon, she returned home. Her husband waited impatiently for the envelope to be delivered to the contractor the next morning, but as soon as his wife entered, he realized that something was wrong. With a pale face, his wife told him that she didn't understand how it happened. At some point, she noticed that her bag had disappeared with the envelope inside; she tried to reconstruct where it happened, but without success. The family members tried to search all the places where the mother was, but they found nothing. They returned to their home hunched over, and the father suggested that everyone sit down and pray for God's salvation. All the members of the household sat and recited Psalms with emotion and from the bottom of their hearts. After a long time, a man named 'William' called. The man said that he is not Jewish and that he had found the bag on the street and wanted to return it to them. He asked for their address and announced that he would arrive at their home late in the evening.
The family members waited and prayed that the money would indeed be found in the bag. At eleven o'clock at night, there is a knock on the door. A dark-skinned gentile stands in the doorway with the lost bag in his hand. He hands the bag to Mr. Brim. Mrs. Brin asks for their forgiveness and goes to the bedroom with the bag. She opens the envelope and finds that indeed all the money is found and not even a single dollar is missing. How can we repay you for your kindness? " asks Mr. Brin, and the man replies that he is not asking for anything in return. "Just one thing... I ask that you bless me for a good life, blessing and success. Look," the non-Jew added, "my late mother used to tell us from childhood that the blessing of a Jew has a special value, so I ask that you bless me from the bottom of my heart and that this was my reward. Of course, all the members of the household greeted him with endless blessings; the man thanked them excitedly and turned to return home.
When he arrived at his home, the non-Jew told his wife everything that had happened to him. Instead of rejoicing in his joy over the blessings he received, the woman mocked him, 'You fool, what are the blessings of these Jews worth? It would have been better for you to take the money... I knew my husband was stupid, but I didn't imagine it was that much.'And here in the middle of the night, William wakes up from his sleep, clutching his stomach and moaning in great pain, the woman who has woken up, instead of sharing his grief with his pain. What good did the blessings of the Jews do you?' and he replies, in the midst of his terrible pain, 'My mother never made a mistake, and this time I am sure she was not wrong. William doesn't sleep all night, writhing in pain and not realizing where it comes from. At first light, William calls the manager at his workplace and informs him that he is not feeling well and therefore will not come to work this morning; at the same time, he calls the medical center and arranges a home visit from a doctor. A long hour has passed, and the doctor is embarrassed to come... William didn't understand and began to think, 'Maybe my wife was right? Perhaps there is really no real blessing for the Jews. While thinking about it, the phone rings; on the line was his sister who sounded completely hysterical, "Oh, thank God... William, my dear brother, are you at home? Everything is fine with you.
What happened is that that morning, September 11, the terrible attack on the Twin Towers in New York by Al-Qaeda terrorists took place. The office where William worked was located on the eighty-ninth floor of one of the buildings, and all its occupants were buried along with thousands of other people in one of the most terrible disasters of all time. Gripped with chills and moved to the depths of his soul, William called the Brin family and thanked them warmly for the 'stomach aches' he had 'merited' their blessing. Then he went on to say, 'Now I knowthat my mother was not wrong; a Jew's blessing is worth much more than money... It is worth life literally. The gentiles know this, but do we know it?
