Familiar with the laxity of the legal authorities and local police who had little interest in helping a Jew unless strings were pulled in high places, the banker hired a top private investigative company. For a stiff fee, the investigative company brought in prominent investigators and assistants to plumb the depths of the mystery and track down the elusive criminals.
The investigators sat down with the banker in his office, investigated all the employees of the main branch, examined all entrances and exits, and scrutinized all possible escape routes.
At the end of a thorough investigation, the investigators concluded that the robbers had probably left Berlin. They were presumably hiding in one of the small towns of the Berlin area, having had no time to flee further, and were likely waiting until the heat subsided before going on their way.
Unhesitatingly, the investigation company sent several men to one of the towns to catch the thieves. On Friday afternoon, the banker and investigators arrived at the town and settled down in local hotels.
But they faced a severe shock. When the sun was close to setting, the banker informed the investigators that all work must cease on Shabbos since he was employing them.
“We will wait at the hotel until Shabbos ends!” the Jew announced. “Meantime, you can rest and gather strength!”
At first, the investigators adamantly refused to stop, arguing that the entire operation might collapse by waiting a whole day. The thieves would certainly take advantage of the long delay to escape the town and disappear, perhaps even moving beyond Germany’s borders. However, the Jew was stubborn and subtly threatened that if work continued on Shabbos, the company would be immediately dismissed.
The banker forgot his troubles by immersing himself in Torah and tefillah throughout Shabbos and avoided thinking of mundane, weekly matters. For does not the Mechilta state in parashas Yisro (Masechta DeVachodesh, parashah 7): “For six days you shall labor and do all your work (Shemos 20:9). But is it possible for a person to do all his work in six days? Rather, [it means] rest as though all your work is done. Another interpretation: refrain from any thought of work, as it says (Yeshayahu 58:13-14), If you restrain your foot because of Shabbos, etc.,’ and it says, Then you shall delight in Hashem." This Mechilta is mentioned in the Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 306:8). See there and in the commentaries.
Shabbos passed peacefully and pleasantly. As soon as Havdalah was recited and the investigators were preparing to search the town, the Berlin police officers informed them that they had already caught the thieves and even laid their hands on the entire stolen treasure!
During Shabbos, they received information from a local police officer about suspicious activity in a building at the edge of the town. The Berlin police promptly rushed to the scene with reinforced forces, surrounded the building, broke in, and captured all the thieves as they were preparing to leave and abandon the town.
The police officers said that the investigative company was wise not to conduct searches on Shabbos. Had the thieves felt they were being pursued, they would undoubtedly have taken extra precautions and left immediately. In addition, the thieves would have avoided roaming around the town, making it impossible to discover their whereabouts. However, since the company refrained from searching for them on Shabbos, the thieves let down their guard, and the local police officer noticed them. And so, thanks to shemiras Shabbos, the entire gang was captured together with the loot.
Keep the Shabbos Day to Sanctify It
"Keep (shamor) the Shabbos day to sanctify it, as Hashem your God commanded you (Devarim 5:12).
The word shamor can also mean to wait. The Sidduro Shel Shabbos (volume 2, drush dalet, chapter 2, paragraphs 2-4) therefore explained as follows:
"Moshe Rabbeinu said in the Ten Commandments, 'Wait for the Shabbos day to sanctify it,’ meaning to wait and anticipate the Shabbos day, asking when the day we hope for will arrive so that we can fulfill the commandments of Hashem by observing Shabbos. For the word shamor can also mean waiting, as the Gemara states (Berachos 3a; see Rashi), ‘And someone came and waited (shamar) for me at the door,’ The same applies to all the commandments. However, Shabbos was singled out because it is equal to the entire Torah and includes the entire Torah.
“And thus the paytan (poet) hints in the Shabbos song (Kol Mekadesh), ‘Draw your loving kindness to those who know You, etc. Those who wait for the seventh day, to fulfill remembering and keeping it.” We ask Hashem, “Draw your loving kindness to them” and pay them for their loving attitude towards Shabbos, measure for measure.
"And regarding waiting for mitzvos, the pasuk says (Vayikra 26:3), If you walk in My statutes and wait for (tishmoru) My commandments. There are two categories here: a) If you walk in My statutes, fulfilling My statutes perfectly and beautifully when they come at hand. And b), even more so, 'Wait for My commandments.’ Your love for Me in your heart should grow until you wait in expectation for My commandments even before they are at hand. Waiting like this is an aspect of the love of chesed and a fulfillment of the pasuk, To love Me... with all your heart (Devarim 11:13).
"Hashem says that for this chesed, I too will bless you with all kinds of blessings, 'And I will supply your rains in their time, etc.' The blessings here total eight (more than the number seven that represents the physical world), for the level of loving chesed is to give as much as the receiver can accept [miraculously and] without measure."
