Anthony came back for a visit, baruch Hashem. He gave me permission to reprint this story in the Daff about something that actually happened to him while he was learning here.
Anthony lost his wallet. Okay, so it happens. But twice in one month can push a person to the limit. This time, he had all of his I.D. and a good chunk of his spending money in the wallet. He would have to wait until he got home to the States to replace the driver's license, student I.D., library card, Social Security card, and wallet fillers that people take for granted until they have to go through the hassle of replacing them. He would have to change his vacation plans because of the revised limits imposed on his funds. He was snapping at everyone for several days until he got a message that someone had called saying they had found his wallet. He was relieved when he called back and an older woman announced that her daughter had found his wallet. When she told him his money was still in it, he was thrilled. The woman was religious and lived in Jerusalem. Anthony said that he would come in that night to the woman's house but she politely suggested a different meeting place. Her daughter wanted very much to meet Anthony, and wouldn't he please agree to a meeting at a certain caf? tomorrow night.
He had mixed feelings, but there seemed to be no choice. He agreed. I should note here that Anthony is a very attractive young man, and his religious journey had already been made more difficult several times by young women whose interest in him was not on an elevated spiritual plane. He realized that his wallet contained several photos of him, and that this young woman had probably become infatuated. On one hand, he was dreading the potential test of his newfound religious observance. He reasoned that since the girl was religious, the test would not be as blatant, but putting off an infatuated young woman that you are not attracted-to is always unpleasant. Speaking with the mother had been congenial until she brought up the meeting with her daughter. Arranged meetings, as practiced in the religious world, were a concept still new and uncomfortable for him. On the other hand, there was a possibility that this young woman was attractive and they might hit it off.
The next night, he set off for Jerusalem with the jitters associated with any blind date. The cafe was in the center of town and it was early in the evening. Anthony stepped into a restaurant that was just beginning its early dinner rush. He scanned the dining room searching for a young girl sitting by herself. He immediately noticed a fairly attractive young girl with long dark hair, dressed modestly in a long skirt, sitting at a table reading a book. As he approached her table, a young man sat down across from her and they began talking as a waitress put menus in front of them. Just then, Anthony heard his name being called. He turned to see a family with several children seated around a table. A twelve-year-old girl walked towards him, holding his wallet out to him. The family invited him to join them for coffee and dessert. They were celebrating. Her class had been learning all week about returning lost items to their owners. At the end of the week, on her way home from school, she had found his wallet on the sidewalk. The family was celebrating their daughter's performance of a mitzvah. Anthony sat with them and watched as the girl was treated like a hero by her younger siblings and praised by her older brother. He learned in a yeshiva in the old city, and solemnly began to test his sister in the laws pertaining to the mitzvah she had just performed. After a dozen questions, he declared his sister to be wise in the ways of this enormous mitzvah. Her parents were beaming with pride and thanked Anthony for agreeing to the meeting. Anthony walked away dazed but glowing. On his way out of the caf?, he passed a man asking for charity. Anthony gave the man a ten-dollar bill. Mitzvahs can be contagious.