Martin made a quick calculation. He had $90,000 in his savings account. Would he be crazy enough to spend it all?
350 Talmidim attended a wonderful Talmud Torah in Brooklyn, New York. This Talmud Torah was located just off the BQE Highway, and right across this highway stood a massive billboard.
Every day, after hours of sweet Torah learning that filled the minds and Neshamos of many talmidim, the boys left the school to be faced with… the billboard. Usually, the billboard contained silly and irrelevant commercial advertisements, but billboards tend to change.
One day, a truck came and plastered a new massive 60-foot picture on the board. To the horror of teachers and parents, the picture was very immodest – not tzanua at all! Every day, the boys still left the Talmud Torah, but now they were faced with a picture that should not be anywhere near a Jewish home or school.
The school management were quite beside themselves. They figured that this will quickly pass, but it seemed that this ad had become a permanent fixture on the street! Time went by, and the ad remained.
Now listen to the amazing turn of events.
Martin, a frum member of the community, was driving down the highway. As he was driving, he couldn’t help noticing the massive billboard (and its unsavory contents) on the side of the road. “That’s New York for you,” he thought silently to himself. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed dismissal at the Talmud Torah across the road, and watched with frustration as young boys streamed out of the school. Thoughts began swirling. “This can’t be allowed! This cannot continue!”.
That night, Martin was really bothered. How could it be that pure children at the Talmud Torah were exposed daily to such inappropriate content? He decided to act.
The next morning, on his way to work, as he passed the billboard, Martin took down the number of the advertising company and later called them up. “Hi. I saw you have a billboard on the highway just outside Brooklyn. How much would it cost to take down the ad on the board?” “Hi, Sir,” came the reply. “The billboard you’re calling about is one of our more expensive ones, on a highway with a large volume of viewers. To hire it would cost you $1000 per day!”
Martin made a quick calculation. He had $90,000 in his savings account. Would he be crazy enough to spend it all?
“If I was to wire you money to hire the billboard, would you be able to take it down within the next few hours? Like before the kids leave school?” “Yes, Sir. For the right price, we would start a new contract with you within the hour!”
Martin started trembling. “I’ll wire you $90,000. I want the billboard for 90 days. I will send you the money within the hour, on condition that the as is down before school is out today!”
With that, Martin continued to work, trembling and wondering whether this was the right thing. I guess the Torah says be’kol me’odecha – with all your resources – so you need to serve Hashem even with your savings. Martin wired the money. The ad and its offensive went down. An empty billboard.
Later that day, the company called back – “Hey Mister. We took the picture down – but what do you want in its place? You just want to leave it blank? Time is running out. There are now only 89 days left! What should we put on the billboard?”
Martin hadn’t thought about that. “What do I want in its place?” he wondered. “Should we just make a countdown?” joked the agent. “Yes, that’s exactly it! Make a countdown! Tomorrow will be 89, then after that 88, all the way down to 1.”
The next day, a 60 foot “89” adorned the highway. The school management, as well as parents and teachers, breathed a deep sigh of relief, but everyone else was puzzled. 89? What kind of commercial is that??
The next day it was 88, then 87. People realised it was a countdown. Wow. What for? Everyone started talking about the sign on the BQE. It became a news item – and puzzled the entire Brooklyn community. “Who’s investing all this money in a countdown?” The radio stations began picking up on it – and speculations began to go wild! “We have inside information…” “It must be…”
But of course, WE know it was Martin’s mesirus nefesh.
The billboard was down to “4” when the phonecall came in. Martin was sitting in his home when an agent called.
“Hi, my name is Andy, and I represent Coca Cola. Everyone is talking about your countdown. We called the advertising company, and they gave us your number. We don’t know where the countdown is heading, and we’re not interested. We want to do is to buy it from you! On the day after Day 1 we’ll display a huge Fountain of Coca Cola. For the spectacular campaign we’re willing to pay $3 million.”
And so it was that Martin’s $90,000 payment brought him an income of $3,000,000. Is this simply another story of Hashgacha, or is there something deeper?
Martin felt deeply for Hashem and for the Jewish People. He was Mekadesh Shem Shamayim, but had no desire that people should know about it! The Kiddush Hashem was there for everyone to see, but it was done quietly.
Yehuda and Yosef. Two brothers. Two Leaders. Both were Mekadesh Shem Shamayim. Yosef did so in private, and Yehuda in Public. Yosef – the son of Rachel (whose characteristic is silence) – always wanting to remain private. Yehuda – the son of Leah (whose characteristic is public thanks-giving) – always leading in public.
The moment of connection is in Vayigash. Yosef is hidden behind the visor of viceroy. Yehuda steps forward and lays all his cards on the table.
Both are consistent. Yosef in his hidden role, Yehuda in his open one.
Our Martin is quietly saving the day. When we make a Kiddush Hashem quietly, and no-one knows about it, Hashem rewards us secretly. We don’t know who Martin is. All we know is that investing in Kiddush Hashem is always a winning investment.
