Welcome to the Daily Holy Story.
About 110 years ago, the Turks of the Ottoman Empire ruled over Yerushalayim (Jerusalem), and the Jewish people at that time were very, very poor, literally starving for food. There was a man in Yerushalayim who was a mohel (ritual circumciser), and he was fortunate enough to have a golden coin in his home. That golden coin was enough to feed a family of four or five for an entire year.
One day, his seven-year-old child wanted to buy candy. He saw the golden coin on the cabinet and picked it up. He didn't know what the coin was worth. All he knew was that he could take a coin to the candy store and get some candy or nuts. So he took the coin to the store and bought candy.
The father came home and noticed there was no golden coin on the cabinet. He turned to his wife and asked, “Do you know where the golden coin is?” She said, “I have no clue.” All of a sudden, the boy walked in with the candy in his hand. They turned to him and asked, “Did you take a coin off the cabinet?” He said, “Yes, I did.” They asked, “What did you do with it?” He answered, “I went to the candy store, and I bought candy.”
“You bought candy with the golden coin?” the mother said. “Show me the candy store.” The boy took his mother to the candy store. She walked in and started screaming at the man, “You crook! You robber! You took a golden coin from my boy, and you gave him candy for a golden coin? Give me the golden coin back.”
The man looked at her and said, “Lady, I don't know what you're talking about. I gave him some candy, but all he gave me was a copper coin.” She said, “What copper coin? He gave you a golden coin.” He replied, “No, he didn't. Give me a copper coin.” The lady became agitated and started screaming at him, “You dirty crook!” She summoned her son and asked him, “Where did you get the coin from?” He said, “I got the coin from the cabinet in our house.”
The lady turned to the candy man and said, “You see, we only had one golden coin in the house, nothing else. And you got a golden coin. You're a crook.” She started screaming at him. People started gathering around. They saw her accusing him of stealing his golden coin, and him denying it. Finally, they had no choice but to go to court. They went to Beit Din (rabbinical court).
At the Beit Din, the husband and wife told the judges that the candy store owner had taken a golden coin from their son. The man said, “No, I didn't. I deny it. It's not true. All I got was a copper coin.” At the end of the day, the judges turned to the man and said, “You know what? You have to swear that you didn't get a golden coin.” He said, “Well, I'm trying to convince you that I didn't get a golden coin. And if it has to be, I'll swear.”
The father, of course, said, “What am I going to gain by letting him swear? He's going to make a shevuah (oath) in vain. You don't have to swear.” So he didn't have to swear. In the meantime, all the people in the town started suspecting the candy man of being a crook, and they stopped buying from him. Little by little, he, his wife, and his children had literally everybody talking negatively about them. They had a terrible life. He had to close his business and went out of business.
About a year later, the mohel who had the golden coin got a letter in the mail. There was a golden coin in the letter. It said, “To my dear friend, your son was walking around in the streets about a year and a half ago with a golden coin in his hand. I looked at the boy with the golden coin in his hand, and I said to myself, ‘What is he doing with a golden coin? It must be in his house. They're drowning in golden coins.’ So I said to myself, ‘I could borrow the golden coin. My wife, my children, and I are starving. We have no food.’ So I went over to the boy and asked him to look at the golden coin. I started playing with him. I played with the coin. Without him realizing it, I switched the coin. I gave him a copper coin, and I took the golden coin. I borrowed it and said, ‘I'll pay it back when I have the money.’ Now the war is over, and I'm sending you back the golden coin.”
The mohel turned red in the face. He couldn't believe that they had wrongfully suspected the store owner of taking the golden coin. He really hadn't taken the golden coin, and he really had received a copper coin. That's what Chazal (the Sages) tells us: B'tzedek tishpot amitecha. Always judge your friends, favorably.
Thank you for listening, and have a wonderful, wonderful day.