Pnina Souid
Tony (not his real name) found himself driving in Williamsburg when suddenly – boom! – his car bumped into the car of a local chassid.
A former U.S. marine and current personal trainer, Tony not only looked formidable with his broad shoulders and impressive biceps, but he also had a temper, which he knew how to keep in check. When the man got out of his car, he began screaming at Tony.
“Look!” the man demanded. “Look at this dent! Look at this scratch you made in my car! Why didn’t you watch where you were going?!” You could almost see the steam coming out of his ears beneath his payos.
Tony flashed back to his time in Vietnam. As he felt the trauma rising, he felt like responding aggressively. Instead, he took a deep breath. “Baruch Hashem it wasn’t worse,” he said in an even tone. “It’s just a scratch and a dent; it’s not your life. This is not something to get so upset about.”
Baruch Hashem
The man stopped in his tracks. He recognized that Tony was clearly not Jewish. “What did you say?” the man asked, incredulous. Did you say, “Baruch Hashem? Where in the world did you get that?!”
Tony explained that he learned those words at the gym, where he works as a personal trainer. The gym is owned by Mike Cohen, known as the Mitzvah Man. Tony learned from Mike’s Jewish clients that everything in your life comes from Hashem, so no there’s no need to ever get upset. When someone asks them how business is going they answer “Baruch Hashem it’s good.” When they get to work late, they say, “Baruch Hashem, at least I got to work.” Anything that you might complain about, they do not. They just say, “Baruch Hashem.”
The man was astonished.
He said, “You work at a gym as a personal trainer, right? What’s the name of the gym?” Tony replied, “Mike’s Gym.”
Immediately, the man said, “Incredible! I see you are familiar with Jews. I and my 17 Chassidishe friends are looking for a personal trainer. Could we hire you to train us?”
“Of course!” Tony responded with a smile. He booked all 18 new clients.
Lessons Learned
Mike Cohen gives us the recap of this story’s lessons:
- The non-Jewish personal trainer gave this Jewish man mussar – teaching him that everything is from Hashem
- Tony booked all 18 clients, which would earn him a significant sum. And he saw how Hashem rewarded him right away.
- The clients at my gym made a tremendous a kiddush Hashem without even realizing it.
When you praise and thank Hashem you never know who is listening and will learn from it.
Make a kiddush Hashem, say, “Baruch Hashem.”