Person of the Year: How a Simple Craftsman Taught Faith, Joy, and Trust in God

A house move or renovation is often a long process that forces you to meet many professionals — some you quickly realize you would rather not have met at all, with their poor service and frustrating attitudes. Occasionally however, you encounter someone who’s an unexpected blessing, who becomes a lifelong friend. That was the case with Guy, a metalworker by trade.

Not just any Guy. A tall, noble Jew from whom there is so much to learn. From Guy, I learned a lesson in simple faith, and another in repentance born of love.

This past Rosh Hashanah eve, at our holiday meal, we decided to hold our own little “year in review,” much like the media does, and choose both an “Event of the Year” and a “Person of the Year” who had influenced us most.

I asked each family member to share their choice: someone who left a deep, positive mark on them, and an event that shaped them in some way. After everyone spoke in their own creative way, I also chose my “Person of the Year” — and it was Guy.

We had only just met him a few days earlier, when he came to install glass doors in our living room right before Rosh Hashanah.

Guy, who doesn’t wear a kippah and is about 45, immediately impressed us with his calm, composed manner, his joy in life, and his rare positive outlook that seemed to radiate and affect everyone around him.

When I asked Guy about his secret — and confessed that I envied him and wanted to learn how to adopt his way of living, he answered humbly: “Me, teach you? Really, I made a change ten years ago. I just believe everything comes from Above, and whatever doesn’t go my way is meaningless! That’s how I live, and I really mean it.”

That same day, noticing my Talmud on the table, he proudly shared that he studies Tractate Kiddushin in depth with his rabbi.  “Sometimes we get stuck on just a few lines for an entire day,” he said with undisguised pride. Later, before leaving, he even offered to take down names from our family for prayer, since he was headed next to the home of Rav Chaim Kanievsky to request blessings.

This week, when Guy called to check if we were happy with his work, I told him that he was my “Person of the Year,” and that I prayed on Rosh Hashanah to become “a little more like Guy.”

He was genuinely touched, but immediately downplayed it, insisting that it comes naturally to him. His whole worldview, he explained, is about living simply, with sincerity, without overthinking or complicating life. That’s also how he chooses to raise his children.

Two Options in Life

It’s not that Guy never faced hardship. Before switching careers to metalwork, he managed one of Jerusalem’s most prestigious event halls. He poured his energy and savings into it, and also saw it as a mission of kindness by donating leftover food to the needy. When poor partnerships dragged him into massive debts, he was left carrying the burden alone, still paying it off to this day.

One partner eventually grew remorseful and asked to meet. Guy insisted they meet not in a café, but in the presence of a rabbi. There, the partner sincerely apologized for his fraud and betrayal.

Guy could have taken him to court to reclaim what was his. But his wise wife advised him differently: “You’re owed money. But you have two options: either you’ll get it through endless struggle and fighting with him, or you’ll get it through another channel Hashem provides. Either way, what is meant for you will reach you — the only question is how.”

Guy chose to let go and move on with life. It hasn’t been easy, he admits, but he sees everything with eyes of faith. Describing his close bond with Divine Providence fills me with a fresh wave of awe, and yes, envy.

“I put on tefillin every day,” he told me, “but about a month and a half ago, I decided to sanctify my business and start donning them there at work instead of at home. At first it went well. But soon, work distracted me, and I stopped for a whole month.

“And that same month, something dramatic happened — there was no work. No orders, nothing. I had to tell my five employees not to bother coming in. 

“Then it hit me — this was connected! “So I went back to my usual routine of putting on tefillin and praying at home. I said to Hashem: ‘Okay, I got Your message. I’m back.’

“You won’t believe it — on that very same day I received no fewer than 20 orders, from all over the place.” (Ours was one of them.)

Guy’s eyes sparkled as he explained the verse: “Return to Me, and I will return to you.” He lives it in the simplest, sweetest way. He sees Hashem’s hand every single day. For him, repentance flows naturally from love.

This year, I couldn’t have made a better choice for my “Person of the Year.”