Rabbi Avi Avraham's Person of the Year: Guy

Moving house or renovating is an extended period that lets you meet various professionals, some of whom you regret getting to know due to poor service. Yet, there are rare pleasant surprises—special individuals who become friends for life, with the transition being a mere opportunity to meet them under these circumstances.

Such is Guy, a locksmith by trade.

Not just any Guy. "Hi Guy". A tall and distinguished Jewyou can learn so much from.

I learned a lesson from him in simple faith and another lesson in repentance through love.

During the Rosh Hashanah meal at our home, we chose to summarize the year like the media does, by selecting our own 'Person of the Year' and the 'Event of the Year' that impacted us the most.

I asked everyone at home to share who our 'Person of the Year' is—a figure who had a positive and memorable influence on them during the year, along with an event—good or bad, that they found defining and transformational.

After each child shared in an interesting and original way and we discussed it, I also chose my Person of the Year—Guy.

As mentioned, we recently got to know Guy when he came to install our living room vitrines before the New Year.

Guy is a Jew who doesn’t wear a kippah, about 45 years old, who impressed us all with his calm and collected demeanor, his generosity, joyful spirit, and rare positive outlook that always influences those around him.

When I asked Guy what his secret was, and shared my frustration and envy, wishing to apply it myself, he modestly replied, "That I should teach you? Honestly, I made a change ten years ago, I simply believe everything is from Above, and that everything not going my way is just nonsense! I truly live this way"...

Guy continued to share that same day, seeing the Talmud resting on the stand, that he regularly studies Tractate Kiddushin in depth with his rabbi. "Sometimes we're stuck on a few lines in the Talmud for an entire day," he proudly boasted. Mindful of others, Guy also offered us on the eve of Rosh Hashanah to pass him a note with names for a prayer, as his next stop was the home of Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, may he be well, where he planned to ask for a blessing...

This week, when Guy called to ask if we were satisfied with the result, I shared with him that he was my 'Person of the Year' and that this year I prayed on Rosh Hashanah "to be a bit more like Guy..."

He was genuinely moved and immediately downplayed it, saying it comes easily to him without any special effort. It's because his worldview is to live simply, without overthinking or complicating things, and that's how he chooses to educate his children/p>

In life, you have two choices

It's not that he hasn't faced challenges...

Before Guy switched to locksmithing, he was the manager of one of Jerusalem's prestigious event venues. He invested his whole heart and finances there, also seeing it as an act of kindness to donate the leftover food to the needy. But an unfortunate collaboration led him to massive debts that he is still paying instead of his partners.

When one partner developed a conscience and wanted to reconcile, Guy insisted the meeting be in the presence of a rabbi and not just a "meeting over coffee". The partner agreed, then deeply apologized for his wrongdoings and deceit.

Guy had the opportunity to confront him and legally reclaim his money, but his wise wife simply advised: "You deserve the money. You have two options, either get it through force and a fight with him, or let it come from another channel through Hashem. Either way, what’s meant for you will reach you, the question is what will you do to get it..."

Guy chose to move on with his life.

Earning a living and facing the debts isn't easy, but Guy says he sees faith clearly. As he describes his close relationship with divine providence, I feel a wave of envy again.

"I put on tefillin every day," he reveals to me, "but about a month and a half ago, I decided to sanctify the business and start putting on tefillin there instead of at home. The intention was good, and it went well at first in the workroom, between the rabbinic photos on the wall.

"But what could I do, the new routine overwhelmed me somehow, and I just stopped putting on tefillin for a month.

"That month, something dramatic happened at work. It simply stopped. There were no work orders. I had to inform my five workers they had no reason to come to work.

"Suddenly, I understood that it's connected!

"I decided to return to my usual routine of putting on tefillin and praying at home. I told Hashem: Okay, I got your message, I'm back!".

"You won’t believe it, Avi," he tells me, "on that very day, I received no fewer than 20 job orders, from everywhere." Our order also came to him that very day.

How do you say?... "Return to Me and I will return to you," Guy explains this famous verse in his simplest, most innocent, and sweet way.

"Blessed is the man who does not forget you, and the son of man who strives with you."

Guy gets to see Hashem every day. So, of course, he doesn’t have to try hard, and it’s not difficult for him when things are handled this way.

Even his repentance comes from love, just like that. "Return to Me and I will return to you."

What a good choice I made this year in my Person of the Year.

Rabbi Avi Avraham is a counselor and emotional therapist, director of the KUMA Center for Promotion and Empowerment. For comments and contact: Merkazkuma@gmaul.com