This story was recently reported in the frum news.
A shmitta mashgiach from the Machzikei Ha'Das (Belz) kashrus organization was supervising in the fields of the Bika Al Gerbiya area.
The Machzikei Ha'Das organization provides shmitta kosher vegetables for many supermarkets around Israel including chains such as Zol Po and Shefa. It sends mashgichim every day to Arab owned fields to ensure the produce being purchased from those fields really come from there and are not being transferred through third parties from other fields (as is known to often happen as a way of selling shmitta prohibited produce). Machzikei Ha'Das sends its mashgichim to the fields before the produce is picked to make sure they know which fields are producing how much crops and that other produce is not being mixed in from other sources.
The masgiach stopped his car on a path in a field. He got out of his car to check something. Suddenly he felt something on his body. He noticed a venomous snake slithering up his leg. He was going to try to shake it off and realized that might aggravate the snake. He stood perfectly still, not even reaching for his cellular phone to call for help.
He stood there for 15 minutes trembling and breathing heavily thinking these might be his last moments alive. In the meantime the snake was slithering up and down and around his body..
After 15 minutes, the snake disembarked from the mashgiach and found its way into the car. The mashgiach, relieved, called his boss at the kashrus organization. The boss called the Arab who owns the field and told him what happened.
The owner got a snake catcher who came a few minutes later and caught the snake.
The head of the organization said, after hearing the story, that this is another proof that those doing mitzvos do not get harmed. He added, the difficulty to acquire and supply fruits and vegetables with the mashgichim putting their lives in danger on a daily basis in order to ensure that people can keep the laws of shmitta in a mehudar way is the guarantee for their returning safely.
that was a let down. I was expecting you to say that after the snake let him go, he called the field and there was a massive explosion and nothing was left.
ReplyDeleteBut instead, someone came to get the snake... how disappointing...
yeah, but what a miracle!
ReplyDeleteI thought it was going to say that the snake bit him because he was supervising the growing of produce from sonei yisrael, instead of getting produce from Jews who are yirei shamayim and give their produce to beit din.
ReplyDeleteright but then the story would not have made the papers... :-)
ReplyDeleteRafi: Depends on the paper...
ReplyDelete;-)
It was a warning to the mashgiach to use OBD produce instead of produce that our enemies grow.
ReplyDeleteHeed the warning.
i AM VERY PROUD TO SEE ALL OF YOU COMING OVER TO THE DARK SIDE OF CYCICISM WITH ME!
ReplyDeleteI thought I was the only one who read this and said, oh, god is telling him to cut the crap and just get out of the field.
should have said "cynicism"
ReplyDeleteI was born cynical, achi.
ReplyDeleteAnd you believe this bubbe ma'aseh?
ReplyDeleteA snake crawling up and down someone's body for 15 minutes?
Eizeh Shtuyot.
Amazing.
A story whose "mussar" is totally consistent with the self-serving interests of its narrator!
Too bad that the snake crawling up and down his body is no where near as dangerous as the snakes from which these guys think they're doing such a great mitzvah in buying from.
i just haerd of another great miricle. a real mofes!
ReplyDeletethere was an israeli farmer that did teh heter mechirah on his fields and he went out to see his fields and got out of his car in a path in the field, a NO SNAKE WAS IN SIGHT!!!
The head of the organization said, after hearing the story, that this is another proof that those doing mitzvos do not get harmed - and do not even get themselves in a makom sakanah.
y - you have won the contest for best comment of the day!!!
ReplyDeletethat was intense!
ReplyDelete