Small Choices, Big Outcomes Greatness is built upon our seemingly insignificant daily choices. by Sara Yoheved Rigler Early one morning Sean Levi was in his San Diego jewelry shop before opening hours. Roger, a diamond merchant, came in, eager to sell Sean some small diamonds. They haggled over the price. A volatile man, Roger stalked out, hurling venomous words behind him. A traditional Jew, Sean always brought his tefillin with him to work and would put them on and say, “Shema Yisrael,” and other prayers. That day, Sean took the tefillin out of their boxes, and started to don the tefillin of the hand when he noticed something shiny on the floor. He picked it up and saw that it was a large diamond, around five carats, probably worth $50,000. It must have fallen out of the diamond merchant’s pocket. Sean decided he would call Roger as soon as he finished his prayers. He was not a thief. Keeping a diamond that didn’t belong to him was not even in his realm of choice. Sean proceeded to put on the tefillin of the hand, wrapping the straps around his arm and fingers. Then he put on the tefillin of the head and picked up his prayerbook. At that point his true choice hit him: How could he pray when he had property that didn’t belong to him in his possession? How could he commune with God when another person must be in major distress searching for his missing diamond? On the other hand, Roger had treated him nastily that morning. Why should he interrupt his prayers just to calm Roger down? What would be wrong with letting Roger squirm for 15 minutes? Sean knew the Biblical story of Abraham and the three nomads. Abraham was in the midst of a prophetic encounter, communing with God, when he noticed three nomads passing. He interrupted his mystical experience in order to bring the nomads into his encampment, refresh them, and feed them. The lesson, explains the Midrash, is that it’s better to be like God than to commune with God. Sean made his choice. He put down his prayer book, picked up the telephone, and called the diamond merchant. “I can’t talk now!!” Roger yelled crossly into the telephone. “I’ve lost a 5-carrat diamond that didn’t even belong to me. I’ll be paying it off forever!” “You have nothing to worry about,” Sean informed him. “I found the diamond in my store. It’s waiting for you right here, safe and sound.” Having delivered his message, Sean then turned his attention back to God and recited his prayers. The jewelry shop was open for barely a half hour when an unshaven old man wearing dilapidated clothes stopped in front and peered into the window. He beckoned to the salesgirl to come outside. The man looked like a homeless vagrant who couldn’t even afford a cup of coffee, let alone Sean’s least expensive piece. The salesgirl flashed Sean a look, but dutifully went outside and asked, “Can I help you?” “How much does that necklace cost?” the old man asked, pointing. Trying to suppress her laughter, the salesgirl replied, “That necklace costs $20,000.” “And how much are those earrings?” the old man queried. The salesgirl, playing along, replied, “Those earrings cost $10,000.” “I’ll take them both,” the old man announced. He entered the shop, and, reaching into a torn leather pouch he was carrying, counted out $30,000 in cash, as Sean and the salesgirl watched in shock. A couple hours later, a bag lady came into the store. Wearing frumpy, mismatched clothing, she put down her bags and started browsing. She picked out a few pieces, totaling $20,000, bought them, and trudged out. From these two unlikely customers, Sean sold $50,000 worth of jewelry within a few hours of returning the $50,000 diamond.
Posted on: Sun, 28 Dec 2014 02:29:59 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015