Mishpacha newspaper this past week reported on a story of chessed saving from tzurres.
A young couple, living in Bnei brak who often go to yerushalayim for shabbos. Generally, when they go, they offer their empty apartment to be used by others who need apartments to host guests (for a simcha generally). Instead of the apartment sitting empty, they get to use it for chessed.
Recently they planned late in the week to go away for shabbos and decided they would not lend it out that shabbos. They did not have the time needed to set it up and make it available for guests.
Shortly before shabbos a neighbor approached them that they need the apartment desperately for guests. They agreed and made the effort and lent the apartment out.
That Friday night, the guest noticed a toothpick was stuck in the lock. He thought it was strange and looked around at the doors in the rest of the apartment building. three other doors also had toothpicks stuck in them. He realized it must have been put there as a sign (for which apartments are empty and can be burgled).
He removed all the toothpicks from the doors. Later that night, in the building next door, a number of apartments had been broken into and burgled.
The police found that the group of robbers find out about empty apartments and mark them so they would later know which to break into. They obviously had found out the couple was going away for shabbos but had not found out that they had lent the apartment to the neighbors.
Because they did a chessed, they were spared from being the victims of a burglary.
How did the robbers find out? It sounds like they might have an "in" in the building.
ReplyDeletedon't know. I don't think it is too hard to find out when people go away. you sit across the street and watch who leaves. you ask if an apartment is available for shabbos. the taxi driver who picked you up to take you to Jerusalem. etc..
ReplyDeleteWhen I used to live in jerusalem, there was a time where there was a rash of break-ins of people who had been traveling. they would go to the airport and then their apartment would be burgled. The suspicion was the taxi driver or nesher driver was telling someone about empty apartments of people who traveled. I used to have the taxi pick me up from a building 2 buildings down from where I lived, or across the street, so they would not know where I really lived...
They knew that they were leaving, yet they didn't know that other people were staying there. Watching from across the street wouldn't give them that information. I'm curious when the toothpicks were put in. Maybe during the Shabbat meal? But if you were to go out to, say, a shalom zachor, you would notice the toothpick when you came back.
ReplyDeleteI guess that is what happened. They did not know someone else was going to be staying there, so they marked the door (kind of like the blood on the doorposts in Egypt). The guest noticed the mark and removed it...
ReplyDeletetoo tired to rant about these silly stories - also, i don't want to upset yaak again. so i'll just say " awwww, how cute".
ReplyDeletelol...
ReplyDeleteI should have mentioned the title was taken from the title of the article quoting a passuk
To quote Shaya:
ReplyDelete"Awwww, how cute".
:)
ReplyDeleteI'm so happy now!