Amsterdam Centraal Train Station is the true heart of Amsterdam. It is central not only in name, but it is also the biggest public transport transfer spot in Amsterdam, serving both visitors to Amsterdam as well as its city inhabitants. Every day, 250,000 people go through Amsterdam Centraal Station. Local trains to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport depart every ten minutes from platform 14a and platform 15. It is also where a main Amsterdam tourist office as well as a money changing location are based.
Rav Moshe Aharon Stern ZT”L (1925-1998), the Mashgiach of Kamenetz would often arrive there along with a close acquaintance. In August of 1998, two months after the Mashgiach’s passing, his acquaintance was at the money changing location in Amsterdam Centraal Station, and the gentile woman working there recognized him as Rav Stern’s travel companion. She asked where Rav Stern was. When she heard of his passing she burst into tears.
She explained that years earlier, when she first started her job, the Rabbi came back to her after she had already changed his money and he had left the store. She was incensed. “You should have counted your currency before you left! You cannot come back now to complain!” Rav Stern explained that he believed that she had given him far too much money in the exchange of currencies. She was so amazed at his level of integrity that she told her manager. The manager was so impressed that he announced over the loudspeaker for all to hear what the Rabbi from Israel had done.
The story is inspiring in two ways; Rav Stern’s integrity in returning the money, and the woman’s integrity in relating the story to her manager even though it could have upset her manager as it highlighted an error that she had made.
Note: This week’s edition of the Emes Parsha Sheet is a repeat of a prior edition – the editor is out of town.
