Kindness in the Night: Snake Catcher Helps Holocaust Survivor

Avi Mizrachi's phone usually stays quiet at night, only ringing in exceptional circumstances. 'It happened just after midnight. I get a call from someone who sounds very elderly, trembling with fear and speaking softly: "Hello, is this the snake catcher?"', Mizrachi recounts. 'I confirm it, and he says: "Come quickly, there's a snake in my house".'

The elderly man continued to describe what he was seeing to Mizrachi, a professional snake catcher. At that moment, Mizrachi leaped out of bed, called one of his employees, and arranged a meeting point. 'There’s not even a split second to delay in these situations; the stakes are too high – especially for a frail elderly person like the one who called me,' he explains.

Mizrachi arrived at the address given by the elderly man, entering the apartment to find a 'Holocaust survivor as pale as a sheet, terrified to his core,' as he describes. 'The apartment was in a terrible mess, cluttered with belongings, making it difficult to catch the snake. We worked for several hours into the night, knowing I had a busy day ahead. When we finally caught the snake, the kind gentleman calmed down.'

After the snake was caught, the elderly man asked how much he owed. Mizrachi replied, 'Sabaleh, you've already paid us.' The elderly man was puzzled, saying, 'I have no one in the world, who paid you?' Mizrachi looked at him and replied that it was paid by the municipality. The elderly man smiled, understanding no one truly paid.

"On the way back home, I thought to myself, if I was able to give back just a little to this wonderful man who survived the Holocaust and put a smile on his face, it was all worth it, despite knowing I had a crazy day ahead," Mizrachi wrote in a post that moved readers, concluding, "If you can help too – don't think twice, from the heavens you'll be repaid double!"