The Missing Cell Phone

“See, I present before you today …” (Devarim 11:26)

The Medrash Devarim Rabbah (4:3) says that when Hashem said these words on Har Sinai, from that time, “evil and good do not emerge from the Mouth on High.” Rather, on its own, evil comes upon those who do bad, and good comes upon those who are good.

The great R’ Elazar Menachem Shach, the Rosh Yeshiva of Ponevezh, comments that we can simply say that when Hashem created the world, He stipulated that sin will beget bad and righteousness will bring about good. Similar to the concept that Hashem made with all of creation that their existence was only on the condition that the Jewish people fulfill the Torah, and if the Jewish people rejected the Torah, He would revert the universe to chaos and emptiness (tohu vavohu).

But the explanation is a lot deeper. We learn (Brachos 33a)that R’ Chanina ben Dosa proclaimed, “It is not the venomous reptile that kills a person; it is his transgressions that kill him.”

The Medrash Bereishis Rabbah (9:7) comments on the words, “And Hashem saw that all He had made … it was very good,” that this refers to death. Our Sages note that death itself is, in fact, not negative, for if one has conducted himself throughout life according to Hashem’s will, then there is no greater good. After that person passes on, he will go to Gan Eden and be crowned with reward and will bask in the shine of the Divine presence.

Death is only dreadful if a person dies without rectifying his sins and his cache of mitzvos is very small.

We understand from this that a person determines his own fate in life. If he fulfills the mitzvos of Hashem and adheres to the ways of Torah, then it will be – as it says in Eishes Chayil – “…vatischak l’yom acharon – she joyfully awaits the last day.”

If a person withstands the nisyonos – the trials and tribulations, the afflictions and pain that he experiences throughout life – he is rewarded and merits to achieve great spiritual heights. Although they may have been challenging and difficult to understand, he will ultimately benefit from them.

On the other hand, whatever rewards and good the wicked person enjoys in this life will actually be the worst experience he could have, because that would mean that he was compensated for any merits he may have accrued, and he has lost his eternal true reward.

With this we can understand that, indeed, good and bad do not emanate from G-d. Man is given the choice to do good or bad. The caveat is that what seems good may actually be bad, and that which seems painful may actually be favorable.

In addressing the Mishna(Avos 2:1),“Know what is above you – a watchful Eye, an attentive Ear …” the Chofetz Chaim noted that the earlier generations were closer to Hashem and were able to grasp the concept expressed in Iyov (19:26),“… from my flesh I see judgment.” They felt Hashem internally. Their faith in Hashem and His Divine Presence was much stronger. However, as the generations went on and people began to trust only what their eyes could see, there was a need for the people to perceive Hashem intellectually, as opposed to merely reading it in a sefer. With that, there was an acceleration in the development of new inventions and the advancement of technology. People saw that they could communicate with others who were very far away. It made it easier to believe that there is “an Eye that sees and an Ear that hears.”

Our Sages teach us (Avos 3:13),“A protective fence for wisdom is silence.”

There was a yeshiva in Yerushalayim that had been established specifically for individuals who were returning to Yiddishkeit. One of its talmidim was a 33-year-old young man from Eilat, a very refined individual, who was seriously intent on growing spiritually. Avi was a diligent student and worked on himself particularly in the middah of respecting another individual.

One day, while Avi was at his place of work in an architecture firm, he became heavily involved in some aspect of his work and mistakenly left his cell phone on one of the desks. Clients had been walking in and out of the place of business, and one young man picked up the phone to check it out. Avi happened to notice, out of the corner of his eye, as this young man slipped the phone into his pocket.

Although people would tend to run over and make a scene in such a situation, Avi thought to himself: People were standing around, and he didn’t want to reprimand the individual in front of everyone. “I’ll wait till a more appropriate time and I will go over to him then.”

The office was really busy, and then suddenly it was not busy, and the man had disappeared together with his phone.

“It was a heavenly decree,” said Avi to himself, and he resigned himself to having lost his phone. He maintained his silence and didn’t tell anyone. He didn’t want to embarrass anyone, even though he had suffered a personal loss.

With no other choice, Avi went to purchase a new phone. The salesman was very helpful, and a pleasant discussion ensued between them. After the sale was made, the salesman asked Avi where he was from and what he does, and Avi told him. After continuing their conversation for another few minutes, the salesman asked Avi whether he would be interested in a shidduch.

“Yes,” said Avi, “it is certainly time.”

The salesman told him that he had a sister-in-law who was a baalas teshuvah and lived in the north. She was eagerly looking to find her partner in life, and he had been praying for her daily.

Avi was very interested and the connection was made. The couple went out several times and were soon engaged to be married.

At first glance, the incident seemed problematic as Avi had incurred a sizable loss. However, a person never knows when a distressing situation can change into a wonderful opportunity in the merit of respecting a person’s feelings, and not embarrassing him.

Avi lost a cell phone, but he emerged a winner because of his determination to do the right thing.