David Seidemann: The little black book

Opinion: From the other side of the bench

By David Seidemann

Issue of Feb. 27, 2009 / 3 Adar 5769

The other day a friend called me and asked if he could send a Rabbi from Israel to my office to solicit a donation. Before I could answer, he said, “Before you say no, let me tell you a story about another Rabbi.” Here is what he shared with me.

A certain Rabbi, head of a prestigious institution in Israel, had never ventured to America before to raise funds for his institution. But times had changed, and he found himself in the undesirable position of having to make the trip. He was a scholar, not a fundraiser, and had few if any connections in New York.

Before leaving Israel, he sought the blessing of one of the generation’s leading Torah scholars. As he was leaving, the elder scholar reached into his pocket and handed his protege a fifty dollar bill. “Here, let me be the first to contribute to your worthy cause and may this donation encourage others to give and be a harbinger of success.”

Other “collectors” in the business had given this Rabbi the names of three businessmen in New York, a few in Philadelphia and two or three in Chicago who they thought would receive this Rabbi warmly. The Rabbi noted these names in his personal pocket telephone book which looked like it had survived armageddon. It was filled with names and numbers, whiteouts and crossouts, pages taped and others stapled, all left over from his days in Yeshiva when he was in his teens and twenties.

His wife, the more organized of the two, called ahead and scheduled these appointments for her husband. Appointment number one didn’t go well. Actually, it didn’t go at all. The Rabbi showed up and was told that Mr. “Schwartz” was called away on business, out of town for at least a week. It was an omen, a bad omen, of events for the rest of the day.

His second appointment was out sick and the third appointment was “too busy” to see him. Crestfallen, he decided to move on to Chicago. The only thing standing in the way of boarding the plane was his ticket which he forgot at his host’s apartment. He returned to the apartment, grabbed his ticket, looked at his watch and concluded that he would not make it to Chicago before Shabbos. His hosts were going away for Shabbos, so staying with them wasn’t an option. Out came the little black book and he nervously thumbed through it looking for a name, any name of a person he might have known in years past.

One phone call later, he was reunited with an old friend from his Yeshiva days in Brooklyn. The friend had married and together with his wife raised seven children. As they sat around the table that Friday night, the guest from Israel was struck by the utter poverty of his hosts. Broken furniture and barely enough food were the surroundings as they reminisced about old times throughout the Shabbos.

As the Rabbi from Israel was about to leave, Saturday night, he presented his host with a little gift from Israel. The host thanked him and said, “hosting you for Shabbos was a gift in and of itself and I wish I had money to donate to your cause. Perhaps I can make a phone call for you.” One phone call to one friend prompted that friend to call one of his friends and so on and so on. Within an hour a posse of 10 assembled in the host’s living room.

The Rabbi cleared his throat and began to speak. “I’m used to speaking to students, not to adults. I’m used to inspiring people to learn, not to give money. I really am not sure what to say that would motivate you to give of your precious funds to help me support a program thousands of miles away, benefiting children that are not your own.”

Out of nervousness, he placed his hands in his pants pocket and began to jingle his change. It was then, that his hand brushed upon the crisp fifty dollar bill given to him by the Torah sage in Israel.

He pulled the fifty dollar bill out of his pocket and held it for all to see. “I don’t know what else to say to you other than to tell you that Hagoan, Harav ____, the leader of our generation, known for his huge heart and equally as small available funds, saw fit to contribute. In doing so, he told me that this fifty dollars should inspire others to give. So look at it, my friends, look at it and see if you have similar funds and a similar inclination to invest.”

As he winged his way to Chicago, he counted the checks totaling in excess of $20,000 and added 10 more names and addresses to his little black book already bursting at its seams.

David Seidemann is a partner with the law firm of Seidemann & Mermelstein. He can be reached at (718) 692-1013 and at ds at lawofficesm. com.