Erev Sukkos – we all know the feeling and the pressure of this special day. A home filled with children, baruch Hashem, and no hot water — this complex reality doesn’t need explanation; we can all imagine the difficulty. And if you connect the two circumstances – it was both Erev Sukkos, and we also suddenly had no hot water – you’ll understand that we were looking for a yeshuah urgently.
I called the plumber and asked him to come and check what was going on. He answered the call, came and checked it out, and quickly gave his psak: the boiler was broken.
“Listen,” he told me seriously, “it’s dangerous to leave the situation as is. I’ll come after Yom Tov and fix it, be’ezras Hashem.”
“Why after Yom Tov?” I insisted. “Why not now? Do me a favor and fix my boiler now, on Erev Yom Tov, in honor of Yom Tov. Then the repair will be counted as Yom Tov and Shabbos expenses, which will come back to us.”
The truth is, it looked like he was enjoying my calculation – as though I had an agreement with an insurance company that if the repair were to happen now, I would get a refund.
But as we all know, Erev Sukkos is not a day that belongs exclusively to me. The plumber had to bring in Yom Tov too. He thought for a bit, then he said, “If you want me to repair it now it will cost you 400 pounds.”
A large sum; a huge sum, due to the timing. I agreed with him that it was his right to ask for such a sum on such a busy day, and I didn’t argue. As I had said, Shabbos and Yom Tov expenses come back to you.
He did his work, I paid the entire sum happily, and we were both satisfied.
Immediately after the plumber left our home, the mailman knocked. He had registered mail for me and asked me to sign that it had indeed reached its destination.
I was very curious, and when I opened the envelope I discovered the surprise I had expected: The “insurance company” had kept its side of the “deal,” and in the envelope was no less than 400 pounds!
I had once taken part in a raffle and had completely forgotten about it. I had never won any raffle before in my life, and here, for the first time ever, I won 400 pounds.
Shabbos and Yom Tov expenses come back to you!
