My friend was a faithful and good man, Short of stature, yes, but you shouldn’t think to cross him. He would not forget that. Nor would he ever forget a kindness shown to him.
He was a business man all his life, in fact, he was a salesman and a student of human nature. He knew the right things to say and the right questions to ask to establish a relationship with a client that would make the guy want to buy whatever my friend was selling.
At one time, as a salesman for the family business he sold furs. When I knew him, he sold high end collectibles to people (mostly men) who had so much money they didn’t care the price of an item. No matter, they wanted the thing. My friend would sell it to them. Both were happy.
Yes, it is hard to be good and a business man at the same time. You know too much. You have all the advantage. The client, though, receives what he wants and happy with his purchase doesn’t care much about why the businessman is selling.
My friend looked at money in a slightly different way from most of his clients. Take donations. He’d peal off several hundred dollars to send to a missionary who was building a clinic for poor indigenous in Mexico. He called it “casting bread before the waters.” I took that to mean my friend trusted that giving away without strings attached was the way to be a just man.
He once sent me a parcel of knishes which took a thousand mile trip to my doorstep. It was a spontaneous gift because he remembered that I loved knishes. He made them himself and when I tried to thank him he just said, “Hey, enjoy!”
He was raised in a strict Jewish household of parents who also came from generations of observant Jews, He was taught to smile and he loved a good joke. Both he shared with his friends.
Recently, I learned that for some Jews a special day is set aside where the worshiper goes to a river and throws morsels of bread into the current while confessing their sins. The bread and the sins are carried away. This day, called “Tashlich,” occurs between Rosh Ha Shana and Yom Kippur.
I don’t think its a coincidence that Christians pray for daily bread in the most sacred prayer of the Savior. Bread is fundamental to cultures throughout the world. To eat bread is life-giving. To toss it upon the waters is sacrificial.
So, goodbye, good friend. I’ll miss contact with you. I always considered you the richest man in town.