Reb Yaakov Meir Schechter
Rabbi Biderman shares a story from Reb Yaakov Meir Shechter Shlita: Baron Rothchild had a clever manager who took care of all the Baron’s businesses. The Baron became extremely wealthy due to this manager’s counsel and skills.
Naturally, the Baron promoted him to a very high position. There was a problem, though. The manager understood the Baron’s success was due to his management, and he became haughty. He treated his boss, Baron Rotchild, with so much disrespect that it appeared as if the Baron was working for him!
Initially, the Baron accepted this situation. He figured it was worthwhile for him to suffer some humiliation from his manager if his businesses were prospering. But as time went on, matters became worse. The manager almost entirely disregarded the Baron’s opinion and did what he felt was better. The Baron fired him.
The manager wasn’t afraid of that. He was certain that many other wealthy people would hire him to run their businesses. He had a lot of experience, and he had made the Baron wealthy; who wouldn’t want to hire him? But he remained unemployed for months. No one was hiring him, and he didn’t know why. He began to advertise that he was looking for a position, but it didn’t help. His savings were shrinking, and he felt the need to find a position, quickly.
After investigating, he found out that when wealthy people considered hiring him, they would speak to Baron Rothchild to ask about him. The Baron would reveal to them that with time, the manager will begin to feel like he is the boss and will begin making his own decisions. Furthermore, he will totally disregard and humiliate his boss. This report prevented him from being hired.
The manager told his family what was happening to him. They replied, “The Baron is renowned for being a kind person. He certainly doesn’t hate you or want to take revenge on you. It must be that he knows that if you are hired, you will be fired soon afterwards because no one can possibly tolerate your behavior. The Baron figures that your emotional well-being shouldn't be hired to another position, rather than to be hired and fired soon afterwards."
The family said, “Therefore, you shall do the following: Tell the Baron that you recognize what you did wrong, and that from now on, you will always recognize your place, that you are merely a hired worker, and you won’t act like the boss. When you tell him this, you will see that he will speak favorably about you to others. Even more, he will hire you once again because the Baron knows, more than anyone else, the good job you can do.”
Reprinted from the Parashat Ki Tisa Dvar Torah of Jack Rahmey based on the Torah teachings of Rabbi Amram Sananes.
