A Sickening Career
A Jew whom I knew from Paris once asked for my blessing to find his right match. I blessed him warmly and then asked what he did for a living.
The man hemmed and hawed. He evasively said that he worked for his living. But I would not relent. Finally, he admitted to working in a company which ensnares the public in the worst of sins.
I shuddered at his words and chastised him severely for the terrible things he did. I told him that his deeds deserved to be punished with karet. Who knew if he would ever merit having children, and if so, if they would live past infanthood? Who knew if he himself wouldn’t be struck down in mid-life?
“You should know,” I told him, trying to calm down, “Hashem is prepared to suffer all forms of sin. He patiently awaits the day when one will repent his misdeeds. But I am not sure that He foregoes the sin of immorality, one of the three cardinal sins, which one must rather give his life than transgress. It is well-known that many of the tragedies which occur come in the wake of immodesty and immorality.
“Listen to me. Stop your job cold turkey. Do complete teshuvah immediately!”
The man promised to think it over.
A few months later, I met the man again. “Rabbi David,” he began, “please forgive me. I am so ashamed to see you again. But would you bless me once more?”
“Did you abandon your immoral practices?” I demanded. “Did you change in any way since our last meeting?”
He lowered his gaze and said that he still hadn’t left his place of work. It was his only source of livelihood and he found it hard to leave.
This time, I was livid. “Is this your definition of livelihood? The money you get from it is tainted. It is more than that. It stinks! I cannot take any donation from you because your money is filthy.”
I tried my best to discourage him from continuing in his line of work, but regrettably, he paid me no heed.
Some time later, I was informed that this man had contracted Aids, a very serious disease. First and foremost, he had to leave his place of work, forfeiting everything he had invested in.
When I next met him, disease-ridden, I instructed him to donate all of his money to charitable causes. I admonished him to repent his wayward ways. He saw with his own two eyes how his illicit line of business brought him to the brink of death. Now he could never marry or have children. Who knew if he would even recover from his devastating illness?
Sadly, he succumbed to his illness, while yet young, and with no one to carry on his memory.
But I learned a powerful lesson from his life. Kohelet states (12:14), “For G-d will bring every deed to judgment, even everything hidden, whether good or evil.” Let us be wise enough to act accordingly.
