“I decided that anytime I see a rabbi,” the gangster drawled, “I’m gonna take care of him”
Naturally, he was on edge throughout his visit, and his tension spiked when a particularly aggressive-looking man waved him over. He was in for a pleasant surprise, though.
“I’m the boss around here,” the man reassured him, “and you’ve got nothing to worry about. And not just you,” he continued, “but any rabbi.”
The gang leader explained that he had once been employed by Rabbi Zeev Rothschild z”l, a well-known Lakewood talmid chacham and proprietor of NPGS, a local grocery store. Rabbi Rothschild, whose magnanimous acts of chesed often went unnoticed even by the recipient, had made an indelible impression on his former employee.
“The rabbi treated me with such respect,” the gangster drawled, “that I decided that anytime I see a rabbi, I’m gonna take care of him.”
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