Big Talker

The judge walked out of the elevator into the parking lot and quickly walked over to his car. Suddenly he stopped, for right near the car lay an attaché case. Greedily, he picked it up.

He looked to all sides: the coast was clear. He opened the car, shoved in the case and was on his way.

At the first light, he opened the case. To his pleasant surprise, in it were beautiful diamonds. Wow! I’m not returning this!

Every few days, he sold another diamond, and his bank account slowly began growing. All was well, until that Sunday three weeks later…

The phone rang. “Hello? Is this Judge Davidson? Umm… a few weeks ago I left my attaché case in the parking lot of the court house. Do you by any chance have an idea what might have occurred?”

“I’m sorry, but no.”

“Thanks.”

An hour later the same caller called back. “Are you sure you don’t recall anything? Your car was right near where I left the bag?”

The judge was irritated; “I told you I don’t know anything; nothing changed over the last hour!”

A few hours later there was a knock on the door. Three journalists presented the judge with video footage of the parking lot three weeks prior, and of him opening the case at the red light. His shocked expression was hard to hide…

WHAT?????

It soon transpired that these journalists had taken on a project to put those morality enforcers to the test. Do they just talk the talk or they also walk the walk…? This judge failed. Miserably.

It’s like this. If you keep laws because they make sense, then you adhere to them in the court room where everything is run according to the books. But when the money is laying before you begging you the take it, all may be lost. However, if you keep them because G-d says so, then they apply equally in the basement as they do on live broadcast.

And think about it: imagine if the judge knew he was being filmed. What are the odds that he would have walked off with the booty?

Duh! None!

This is the certainty that comes with fear of G-d, knowing that He is always watching our every move.

Let us not only preach about a better world; more importantly, let’s begin to live better lives.

A special thank you to my dear friend Rabbi L. Feldman for his assistance with this thought.