But it was what happened just four hours later that day that sealed the deal for Lahav

Reb Elimelech’s Story

The Background

I was leaving a bookstore in Geulah when a Yid named Reb Elimelech Zeretsky approached me and told me the following incredible story.

MY

wife and I are in the kitchen business, so we went to a trade show in Las Vegas. That’s where we met Lahav, who was manning one of the vending stands.

“Rebbetzin,” he called out to my wife as we passed by, “maybe you want to buy something here l’kavod Shabbos?”

Of course, that was an original line. We stopped to get to know him a little bit. He made sure to let us know that he was shomer Shabbos. I was surprised to hear this, since Lahav didn’t look particularly religious. I told him I was impressed, since a lot of the business in his industry was specifically transacted on Shabbos.

“I am more impressed with you,” he replied. “I know how empty life is without Shabbos, but you don’t. I was lucky enough to learn the truth, so now it’s not a test for me anymore.”

Since Lahav hadn’t grown up in a religious home, I asked him why he decided to keep Shabbos. He related that a rabbi in America had been mekarev him, at first just persuading him to come to yeshivah to learn. After a few weeks of Gemara, the rabbi could see how Lahav was enjoying it and encouraged him to start keeping Shabbos.

“I asked the rabbi how I could possibly keep Shabbos,” Lahav said. “I told him that was the day I made my money. I did all my business at the conventions and trade shows that day. He had arguments for all my points. In the end, he won. I committed to start keeping Shabbos.”

But it was what happened just four hours later that day that sealed the deal for Lahav.

“Something major started happening on my website. Lots of traffic from one of the biggest kitchenware companies in the world. Half a year earlier I had done a presentation for them, but I hadn’t heard from them since. Suddenly I received ten orders from them — it was the biggest deal of my career. I made more money that day than I had made in the three previous years.

“That’s when I really understood that Shabbos takes care of us more than we take of it.”

Even though it’s been a few years since I met Lahav, I can still see his shining face as I remember his story of how he was given a chance to see beneath the surface.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 1067)