If only we would focus our thoughts on one simple word our personal and public lives would be significantly different. That word is: ramifications. If we would just take a brief moment before we do or say something and think what the ramifications of that word or deed will be how much more pleasant and productive our lives would be.
A case in point: It’s not every day that hundreds of Yidden find themselves spending a week in close proximity to many non-Jews some of whom may have never met a Yid before. The Pesach hotel business provides just such a venue. Hundreds of Yidden converge on a facility staffed by dozens of non-Jewish workers who are there to service their well-paying guests over a holiday that seems to be filled with the strangest customs. How these workers are treated and spoken to and the conduct that they witness may constitute their picture of what Orthodox Jews are like for the remainder of their lives.
Participating in such a venue with more than a thousand wonderfully behaved Yidden I had the opportunity to bring this simple idea of “ramifications” to their collective attention. I provided two contrasting examples that took place within a couple of days of each other.
During the second Seder a waitress who was carrying a tray of bowls of soup tripped over a child’s toy on the floor and almost dropped her whole tray. Despite her best efforts some of the bowls spilled and the hot soup spilled all over her shirt. She quickly cleaned herself off to the best of her ability and continued working. A short while later a woman at one of the tables approached the Hispanic waitress and said to her “I could not sit here enjoying my holiday meal while you have to work the rest of the night with a wet and dirty shirt so I went back to my room” — she climbed 11 flights — “and got this brand new silk blouse. I planned to wear it later in the holiday but it’s the same black color as your shirt so please take it and put it on. It’s yours to keep and take home with you.” When the waitress recounted this story the next day she could not stop crying at the kindness shown to her by this wonderful Jewish woman who personified Kiddush Hashem.
