“Go out buy a shingle and hang it in a place where there are no other lawyers” Ari his best and only friend from college said to Meir’l after three failed law firm internships.
And that’s exactly what Meir’l did because Meir was the type who — although he was average or even under average and although he started the study group at university and then had to beg to be admitted — did what he had to do.
Meir’l went out bought a shingle and hung it in the least likely place any lawyer would think of hanging his shingle.
Days went by and not a single client. Weeks went by. And then Meir’l went to his rebbe.
“Just show up every day ” his rebbe said.
Meir came from a long line of rebbes. His grandfather’s favorite description of their family tapestry was that “if you only look at it close up you may get stuck in a patch of black.” Both this image and his lineage had taught Meir’l how to stand back.
Meir’l waited and waited and then on one wild day of luck as some called it it happened.
A heavyset black woman with a cane walked in the door and explained how she’d been hit by a bus and how she knew he was Jewish and how she knew he was smart because he was Jewish and could he take her case?
So he did his research. He found out she’d be disabled all her life. He also found out the bus driver had negligently driven onto the sidewalk when he hit her and had permanently damaged her left leg.
This took place many years ago before the courts had set limits on how much a person could sue for. The sky was the limit and a poor man could become rich overnight.
In the end Meir’l’s client won $12 million and he got half.
It didn’t take long for the neighborhood to hear about it and start bringing all their cases to their local magic Jewish lawyer.
This was the story Meir’l told Ari his best and only college friend as the two walked to Meir’l’s opulent home from the Long Island shul where Ari found himself collecting. The next day Ari packed his bags and headed back to Israel.
And it was this story that Meir’l’s best and only friend in college now recalled some 30 years later. He repeated to his family (and to himself) how his rebbe had told him to stay put in Israel and not to wander the world in search of money but to do his hishtadlus to show up for his life and work every day and to believe that Hashem would send what he needed. And to truly believe what his rebbe had told him: “Your curse is your blessing.”
But Ari had to work hard to stand back and to stand in one place to look at the whole of his tapestry.
By not moving or hunting or grabbing he came to realize that the point of everything was faith and that his life’s whole picture was lit by that light alone. Because the minute he lost that the whole thing would go black. He’d lose his patience he’d lose his balance and harmony but the minute he tapped back into faith the light came back on.
As it says the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. It was a week before Ari’s son was scheduled to leave Israel to go in search of the world’s treasures. That’s when he told the story of Meir’l to
his son.
The story about just showing up.