I’m a Better Businessman | Rabbi David Haber

It was in late July, in the throes of the summer heat wave, and the air conditioner we had recently installed in our home clearly needed a bit of a tune up. And so we called the installer, a gentleman named Shloime, and we said, Would you come down to Deal, New Jersey, take a look at it, maybe it needs some Freon, maybe it needs just a little bit of tweaking. And so he diligently came down, took a look at it, and was working outside the home in scorching 100-degree weather. I came outside and I said: Listen, Shloime, it's boiling hot outside. There’s sweat across your brow. Come inside, air conditioned home, have a tall glass of water, and then go back outside and continue the job. He looked at me and he said: No, thank you. Half hour later, I went back out. I said: Shloime, you got to come inside. It's beautiful weather inside. It's a cold glass of water. Have it and go back outside and finish the job. Again he looked at me and he said: No, thank you. As he was finishing up, I said: Shloime, you got to tell me, why not? Why wouldn't you come inside and just have a glass of water, a little respite and a little break from the scorching heat that was outside? He said: I'll explain. You see, if I would have come inside and had your glass of water, chances are you would have engaged me in conversation. I would have engaged you in conversation. We would have started to talk. Maybe about family, maybe about the weather, about politics, about work. He says: If that would have happened, your job would have been delayed. Then the job after that would have been delayed. Then the job after that would have been delayed. And likely I would not have gotten paid my full share for the day's work. He said: And let me ask you this question. How much does that glass of water cost? I said: I don’t know. Maybe just about 10 cents. He says: Well, the check at the end of my day's work is far larger than 10 cents. So forgive me for declining the glass of water. It's just, I'm a better businessman than that. Sometimes in the heat of the moment, the Yetzer Hara is trying as best as he can to pull us in, if only for a second. Just for a little bit. Here, it's getting difficult? Take a respite. Take a break. Look this way. Glance over there. Flip through that. Fly through that. Glide through that. Have a look. But we, in those moments, look at it and say: Here's the thing. How much is that moment worth? 10 cents? The check at the end of our day, at the end of that grueling heat, if we stay in it and remain diligent, it's far greater. So forgive us for declining. We're just better businessmen than that.