Burnt Out & Plugged In

Yechezkel Rosenblum of Rosenblum Repair

For the past 15 years, Rosenblum Repair has been repairing appliances across Jerusalem and Beit Shemesh.

Pesach Panic? Not Always

So it’s a little bit of a misunderstanding that I’m busier Erev Pesach than the rest of the year. Baruch Hashem, my time is full all year round. On Pesach, I have even fewer hours because I have my own Pesach preparations to take care of, and there’s more traffic. I’m getting double the calls, but that doesn’t give me more hours in the day to answer them. (I also see so clearly what’s written in parshas HaMan. It’s not the number of calls I get that determine my parnassah. It’s whatever Hashem wants.) But people are under more pressure around Pesach. All year long, I try to figure out what’s wrong with appliances. Erev Pesach, sometimes, I start to wonder what’s wrong with their owners.

One year, a guy called me and said that his son’s toy got stuck in the dryer, and he couldn’t get it out. I told him I would be available in a few hours. Before I made it there, he told me that he managed to dislodge the toy, but now, every time he plugs in the dryer, he blows the electricity in his house.

Turns out that in his attempt to dislodge the toy, he filled the dryer with water.

I told him it would likely dry out in the next six months. (Not only that, he didn’t manage to get the toy out either.)

I got another call about a fridge that knocked out the electricity when it was plugged in. The owner told me he’d brought it out to the porch to hose it down. I’m not sure why people think drenching an electric appliance in water has anything to do with halachah!

Parrots and Power Surges

Once, I was working somewhere and I thought I felt something on my back. I ignored it. Maybe I was just imagining it? Then it began to dig painfully into my back. I reached behind my back and grabbed… a parrot? The family pet clearly didn’t like what I was doing.

Women often ask if they can check my tool bag for chometz before I start work, or if I can take off my shoes. I let them look in my tool bag, but it’s actually difficult to work without shoes, especially when I’m working with heavy things that could fall on my foot.

Less Intense, Less Tense

Over the years, I’ve noticed that people have gotten a lot less intense about cleaning for Pesach. I think that more women work and just don’t have the time that they used to, and people are also learning not to be so tense.

My Nationwide PSA

For other service providers, I’d say that you’ll never lose by being erlich. I recently entered the startup world, something I never imagined doing. Customers from my business have invested in my company and referred me world-recognized clients because they know and trust me.

For customers: Be nice and be considerate! I’m glad that I make you feel like you’re my only client, but there’s a list of people after you waiting for my time. Clear off and prepare the area where you need me before I get there. Don’t start cleaning off your washing machine when I show up.

I’m not Hatzalah. Please don’t call me at 2 a.m., unless you want me to return your call at 4 a.m. Why do people call me at hadlakas neiros? Are you planning to use your washing machine over Shabbos? I do go above and beyond for my customers, and it’s so much easier for me to help them when they treat me well, too.

And one more thing! Don’t wash toys in the washing machine. They get stuck between the rubber and the tub and they make a hole in the rubber — and then it’s done for.

From Boats to Diamonds

I got a call from this guy. The dryer in his beach house in Herzliya wasn’t working. I explained that I didn’t work in Herzliya. Plus, his make of dryer had a known defect and I probably wouldn’t be able to fix it, anyway.

“I’ll make it worth your while. I have a nice boat here. Bring your kids, and when you’re done with the dryer, I’ll take you all out on the boat.”

My wife had just had a baby and the kids were off school. So I figured I’d keep my kids occupied and give my wife a break. I didn’t realize that when he said “nice boat,” he meant “huge yacht.” It was 17 meters with three bedrooms. I almost asked him if he had a helicopter to go pick up my wife. I hadn’t realized that she could have been comfortable on the boat!

In the end, I couldn’t fix the dryer, but my kids and I had a great day on the water.

During a particularly hectic time before Pesach, a woman called while I was in the car. She was pretty sure she’d lost her diamond necklace inside her washing machine and she was about to leave for Pesach. (She’d left it in the pocket of her robe before washing it.) Hashem must have really loved her, because even though I wasn’t going to have any time over the next few days, I happened to be driving right past her street. I was afraid it would ruin her whole Pesach worrying about the necklace if I didn’t make the time before she left.

I had the necklace out in ten minutes. Jobs like that are so rewarding, they’re worth much more than the payment.

Pesach Pipe Dreams

Menachem Wachtel of Apex Plumbing Solutions

Apex Plumbing (also known as Menches with Wrenches) has been serving the Jerusalem area and beyond for the last seven years.

Sinks, Stories, and Stress

So it’s funny, but I’ve noticed I get a lot of calls about leaks behind heavy furniture this time of year. After I’ve dragged an oven or bookcase out of the way, I find a small leak that’s been there for months and months — and, well, you know, before I put that back… do I mind if they just clean behind it? I’m fairly certain they’re just calling me so I’ll move the heavy stuff.

Aside from that, my most common calls this time of year are from people ordering new sinks and faucets for Pesach or emergency calls for pipes that people broke while trying to clean them. That happens a lot. People are in a hurry trying to clean under the sink or whatever and end up breaking pipes.

Also, people want to avoid anything going wrong over the chag, so even if they’ve been ignoring a small clog for months, they’ll call me to take care of it before Pesach, because they’re afraid of what might happen if it gets worse on Chol Hamoed.

Under Pressure

You definitely feel the pressure go up, the closer it gets to the chag. Usually, when people are calling me in, the house is flying. Everything has been moved from its place to clean around and behind it, so it’s a mess, but that’s the way it’s supposed to be at that time.

Plumbing Plot Twist

Well, speaking of issues you don’t want cropping up during the chag… A family called me on Chol Hamoed. I don’t work on Chol Hamoed, but they told me it was an emergency: Their living room had filled up with several inches of sewage water and they had no idea why.

Obviously, I couldn’t leave them like that. I searched for hours, and I couldn’t figure out what was wrong. Finally, I found a hidden manhole under the living room floor! Someone had built the house right on top of it. They’d been living there for 12 years and never knew — this was the first time they’d had an issue.

Too Close for Comfort

Other than that sewer hidden under the living room floor? In one house, I was asking the woman of the house the questions I needed to do the job, and in return, she asked me a lot of questions about what I was doing. Her father, who lived with her, started screaming at her. “Why did you call in a professional if you were going to keep asking him what he was doing?” It was so uncomfortable for me.

My Nationwide PSA

If it doesn’t say “flushable” on the baby wipes package, believe them. You couldn’t imagine the amount of baby wipes I pull out when I open a clog. Also, those little toilet bowl fresheners you hang on the bowl? Make sure to throw them out when they’re finished instead of flushing them. I must find one of those in a pipe at least once a week.

Flushing anything that isn’t supposed to be flushed is always a bad idea. (I don’t have to tell you not to flush your socks down the toilet, do I?)

From Grout to Getaway

I had some clients who were planning to host all their children and a few siblings — about 40 people in all — moving in for the holiday. About a week and a half beforehand, they called me in to switch all the faucets and sinks in the bathrooms and kitchen. A lot of what they had was old, and it was obvious that they were anxious to impress all their visitors.

Then, two days before Yom Tov, the woman of the house called me. She wanted to let me know that she appreciated all the work I’d done for them, but they’d decided that instead of staying home, they were going to go away with the whole family to Eilat.

Dust and Dignity

Yitzchok Reuben of Blessedly Clean

Yitzchok ran an all-year cleaning company for several years. When Pesach came around, he increased his staff’s hours instead of adding short-term cleaners, because he wanted to be sure his cleaners really knew what they were doing.

In Their Space

Actually, I make a point of telling all my employees that when we’re inside people’s homes, we’re entering their private domain. They trust us and we have to respect their confidentiality.

No Two Homes Alike

It’s interesting to see the large variety of lifestyle and how people do or don’t involve their kids. In some houses, the kids are kept out of the way, while in other houses, the kids are really helpful. In still others, the kids are so underfoot that it can be challenging. Some want only natural chemicals, and I have to use a powerful steamer to get the stovetop clean. Others want to be sure that I’m using the most toxic chemicals allowed by law.

During Covid, there were people who canceled because they didn’t want anyone coming into their homes, others who only wanted people who were masked, and others who couldn’t care less. (Even though I had many cancellations during Covid, I worked as many hours as usual because of the people who’d canceled plans to go away and now needed cleaners.) There’s a rule I discovered — the cleaner the house, the more people apologize for the mess.

Closet Confessions

Someone asked me to clean a bedroom with a walk-in closet. I figured I’d start with the closet, but as soon as I opened the door, I smelled a very specific, suspicious (though non-chometz) smell. The owner walked in and said, “Oh, you can just skip the closet.”

Many people call on the day of bedikas chometz, expecting a cleaner to be available, when spots have been booked since Rosh Chodesh Adar — or even Chanukah. So, at least to me, that’s pretty funny, though I doubt they feel the same way.

My Nationwide PSA

Be nice. Be patient. Offer your cleaner something to drink or a snack. It’s so much easier to do my job if I’m treated well. It gives me energy to work better and harder. A little appreciation goes a long way.

The halachah requires so much less than most people do, and people spend a fortune and give themselves agmas nefesh unnecessarily. I’d like to see people just keep halachah rather than drive themselves (and the people they hire) mad.

Don’t plan your cleaning schedule k’chut hase’arah. We know that people are working with limited time frames, and we really try our hardest to run on time, but life happens and unavoidable delays are going to happen. No one can get your cleaner to your house on time if a road was closed unexpectedly.

I once got a call from a man who had a small fire in his home and his walls were covered in soot. He lived outside of the area we serviced, but he begged me to send him someone. I managed to get him a cleaner, but because of the distance, the cleaner only agreed to come if they paid for his cab. I called back with the offer, and the wife answered. “I should pay someone to come clean for me? I don’t need anyone to clean my house.” So I’d say it’s also a good idea for husband and wife to be on the same page before trying to hire someone.

Kohanim, Cleaners, and Chaos

One year, Mrs. B. booked us to clean, as usual. Tragically, she passed away one morning a few weeks before Pesach. We’d heard about it, but one of her sons-in-law still called to cancel in case we hadn’t. I couldn’t believe at a time like that he was able to think of us.

But that’s not all. On the morning she passed away, I had four other cleaners in the same building. This is going to sound like I’m making it up, but I’m not — they were all Kohanim. All four of them! So they had to leave the building while things were taken care of. I had women in those other apartments calling me frantically because their cleaners had left. But what could I do? It never even entered my mind to worry if my cleaners were Kohanim.

The next year, I sent one of those women a cleaner I’d just trained in. He couldn’t have known he was allergic to dust. After ten minutes, he was nearly passed out on her couch. The following year, she called me to book a cleaner: “But not a Kohein or anyone with a dust allergy.”

Accidents Happen. Really.

I took a glass sliding door off its tracks to clean — and when I went to put it back, it slipped out of my hands and broke. I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t know what to do with myself. Of course, I told Mr. S. I would deduct the price of the door from our cleaning fee. He wouldn’t hear of it. He told me that accidents happen and I’m allowed to be human. And he hired me the next year, too.

(Originally featured in Family First, Issue 939)