The Closing That Came from Closing

The Closing That Came from Closing

Reb Dovid* was an ordinary working Jew living in Ramat Gan. He earned his living as a real-estate broker, specializing in homes in one particular area of the city.

Then Covid struck.

From March 2020 until March 2021, Reb Dovid worked tirelessly without managing to close a single sale. In real estate, there can be plenty of work without any income. A broker can spend weeks showing properties, making calls, arranging meetings, and negotiating, but if no deal is ultimately signed, he earns nothing. And for more than a year, that was Reb Dovid's reality.

Month after month passed without a closing, while the bills continued to arrive: office expenses, rent, municipal taxes, accounting fees, and the ordinary costs of supporting a family. Eventually, his bank debt climbed to more than 100,000 shekels.

He had nowhere to turn but Upward.

Then, at the beginning of March 2021, the phone rang. On the line was a Jewish businessman from Cyprus who was planning to move to Eretz Yisrael. He wanted to purchase a home in precisely the area in Ramat Gan where Reb Dovid specialized. His budget was substantial, approximately eight million shekels, and more importantly, he was serious.

The businessman explained that he was extremely busy. He had cleared his schedule from Friday morning until Sunday evening for one purpose: to fly to Israel, find a home, purchase it, and return to Cyprus on Sunday night with the deal completed.

For Reb Dovid, after more than a year without a single sale, this sounded like the opportunity he had been waiting for. He immediately went to work, preparing a list of approximately ten villas that matched the buyer's budget and requirements. They arranged to meet at 9:00 Friday morning and spend the morning viewing the properties.

Friday morning at 8:00, Reb Dovid's phone rang. It was the buyer. "I'm delayed," he said. “I won't be able to make it this morning. I can come after chatzos."

But Reb Dovid knew exactly what that meant. “I'm sorry,” he replied, "but I don't work on Friday afternoon."

The businessman was taken aback. “What do you mean?"

"The Shulchan Aruch says that one who performs melachah on Erev Shabbos after chatzos does not see a siman brachah from it."

The businessman could hardly believe what he was hearing. "You understand that you're not the only broker in Ramat Gan," he said. "There are plenty of other brokers. If you won't take me, someone else will."

Reb Dovid understood that very well. He also understood what was at stake. More than a year without a sale. Over 100,000 shekels in debt. And now, an eager buyer with millions of shekels to spend was practically knocking on his door.

Still, his answer was firm. "You're right. There are other brokers. But my parnassah comes from the Ribbono Shel Olam. Hashem does not need me to make a deal to support me. Chazal say, 'Ein adam shomea Li u'mafsid.' A person never loses by listening to Me." They wished each other well and hung up.

And the other brokers were only too happy to take over.

On Sunday morning, Reb Dovid called the businessman. “So," he asked, "did you buy anything?"

"No." The businessman explained that other brokers had shown him numerous properties before Shabbos.

Reb Dovid began going through the list he had prepared. "The house on this street?"

"I saw it."

"The villa on that street?"

"Saw that too."

One by one, Reb Dovid worked his way through the list. Every one of the ten properties he had planned to show the buyer had already been shown to him.

Apparently, the opportunity was gone. Or so it seemed. “Well,” Reb Dovid finally asked, “What did you think? Did you like any of them?"

The businessman sighed. "I'll tell you the truth. I didn't like any of them. None of them felt like the home I'm looking for."

Reb Dovid thought for a moment. Then something occurred to him. “I may have an idea,” he said. “There's one house I hadn't even considered showing you." It was a beautiful home in the area, owned by a Jew from America. The problem was the price. The owner had been asking twelve million shekels, far beyond the buyer's eight-million-shekel budget.

Still, the house had been sitting on the market for quite some time. Perhaps something had changed. Reb Dovid called the owner. “What's happening with the house?" he asked.

"I need the money desperately," the owner replied. "I'm prepared to come down to nine million."

Reb Dovid was stunned. Three million shekels had just disappeared from the asking price. "Do you have a key with someone in Israel?” he asked. “I have a serious buyer, and I'd like to show him the house."

There was a brief pause. Then came another surprise. “I'm in Israel."

The American owner had arrived the previous day for a brief visit, and at that very moment, he happened to be near the property. They arranged to meet.

Before entering the house, Reb Dovid pulled his client aside. "Whatever you do," he warned him, “don't let the owner see that you love the house. If he sees how excited you are, we'll lose our negotiating position." The businessman understood.

At least, he understood until he walked through the front door.

"What a room!" he exclaimed as he entered the living room. "Look at those windows!" He stepped onto the balcony. “What a view!" Reb Dovid could only watch as every bit of his advice went out the window.

From room to room and floor to floor, the businessman's excitement only grew. By the end of the tour, there was no longer any question whether he wanted the house.

There was only one issue remaining: the price. "I'll give you eight and a half million," the buyer said.

The American owner countered. "Eight million, seven hundred thousand."

The buyer extended his hand. Mazel uʼbrachah.” They had a deal.

They immediately went to an attorney and signed the contract. Then each side paid Reb Dovid his commission: two percent from the buyer and two percent from the seller. After more than a year without completing a single transaction, Reb Dovid earned 348,000 shekels from one sale.

There are various halachic considerations and leniencies regarding work on Erev Shabbos. But what makes this story so remarkable is the conviction of an ordinary working Jew who was more than 100,000 shekels in debt and suddenly found himself staring at his first serious opportunity in over a year.

It would have been so easy to tell himself that this time was different. Instead, Reb Dovid chose to honor Shabbos. And then he watched the pieces fall into place.

The Friday appointment he had given up allowed the buyer to eliminate ten houses he would never have purchased. The one house Reb Dovid had not planned to show him suddenly dropped three million shekels in price. Its American owner happened to arrive in Israel just when Reb Dovid needed access to the property. And the buyer who had found nothing he liked before Shabbos walked into that house and knew he had found his home.

Reb Dovid had been afraid that closing his business for Shabbos might cost him the closing. Instead, it led him straight to it.

Reb Dovid closed for Shabbos. Hashem took care of the closing.