Tales from the Ethical Plumber: Yankel and the Baal Shem Tov

With arctic temperatures busting plumbing pipes left and right, work was no problem for Pinchus the Baltimore plumber.

 "I'm getting home at 8:30PM every night, he told me. Every muscle in my body aches.
The problem is the money,"

"What do you mean?" I asked him.  

"Some of my customers don't have enough money to pay me," he explained. "But I can't leave them without heat and water in the middle of winter."

"You're racking up blessings, " I told him.

"I don't know," he replied. 

The uncertainty of this good hearted plumber reminded me of a story of my holy ancestor, the Baal Shem Tov. Once there was a poor man named Rav Yitchak and a rich man named Yankel (name changed to protect the innocent). One day Rav Yitchak, who couldn't afford any luxuries at all, had an urge for tobacco. He went to the Beit Knesset, siddled up to Yankel the rich man and begged for a pinch. 

"You come in to the Beit knesset with your smelly clothes and dare to ask for a pinch of tobacco," he replied."Get out."

This rebuff on top of all the other tribulations of poverty was too much for the gentle Rav Yitchack, who fainted on the spot. At that moment, a decree was made in Heaven that all the money of Yankel the rich man would pass over to Rav Yitchak. Over the next three years, opportunities opened up for Rav Yitchak, and his fortunes grew, and grew, and grew. At the same time, Yankel the rich man was plagued with bad luck and his wealth dwindled, dwindled, and dwindled. To the exact measure that Rav Yitchak's fortunes increased, Yankel's  sank.  

At the end of three years, Rav Yitchak was a wealthy man. In the afternoons he showed up at the bet Knesset in clean perfumed rich man's clothes. He was respected by everyone in the community. Yankel was now reduced to poverty and walked around in poor beggar's clothes, bemoaning his losses. He went around from Rabbi to Rabbi asking for answers. How did  his fortunes abandon him? What was the cause of his bad luck? He didn't remember the tiny affront he had made to Rav Yitchak at all. Finally, someone suggested he go visit the holy Baal Shem Tov. 

Yankel made the pilgrimage to the home of the holy sage. He was met at the gate by the worker in charge of charity (gabbai tsedahkah). Everyone who came to the gate of the Holy Bal Shem Tov received a ruble for their trouble. Only those with more serious problems were invited in. The  gabbai handed Yankel a rubble, but Yankel angrily threw it to the ground .

"What use is a ruble to me," he said. "I used to deal every day in thousands of rubbles until my fortunes changed. You know the rules, give charity to a man up to the level he is used to. This one ruble is nothing."

"Calm down," said the gabbai, I will let you in to see the Baal Shem Tov. Explain your problem to him." 

Yankel stood before the holy wonder worker and asked him what was causing his current poverty.  The Baal Shem Tov proceeded to explain to Yankel his whole story.

"When you refused to give Rav Yitchak a pinch of tobacco, a decree was written in the Heavens that all your money would transfer to him."

"What can I do to get my money back?" asked Yankel.

"You must ask Rav Yitchak for a pinch of tobacco," said the Baal Shem Tov, "and if he refuses to give you some, the decree will be reversed and all your money will return to you."

Yankel returned home with one thought on his mind; he must ask Rav Yitchak for tobacco in a way that will make him refuse his request. The next day he showed up at the Beit knesset in his dirtiest smelliest beggars clothing. He siddled over to Rav Yitchak, and boldly asked him for a pinch of tobacco. 

"A Jew asks for some tobacco, how can I refuse," replied Rav Yitchak.

Without hesitation he pulled out his silver tobacco case and gave the beggar a pinch.

"Drat," thought Rav Yankel,"he gave me some." 

Not to be defeated, Yankel waited until the next time Rav Yitchak was called to the Torah.  Just as the rich man was walking towards the bimah, Yankel  strode up and demanded more tobacco. Rav Yitchack turned, pulled out his silver tobacco case, and handed him a pinch. 

"A Jew asks for some tobacco, how can I refuse," he said.  

Darn again," thought Yankel. "Next time I'll ask at an even more difficult time."

Yankel waited until Rav Yitchak was marrying off his daughter. The wedding was a splendid affair and all the townspeople were invited. Beggars could also attend and a small table was set for them in the corner. Yankel marched through the crowd of wedding guests in his filthy beggar clothing and stode up to Rav Yitchak who was at that moment attending to the Ketuboth (marriage contract). 

"Rav Yitchak," he said, "give me some tobacco." No please, no grace, just blunt words coming from Yankel's mouth. Without a seconds delay, Rav Yitchak pulled out his silver tobacco case and gave the poor townsman another pinch of tobacco.  

 "A Jew asks for some tobacco, how can I refuse,": he said.  

Yankel was very depressed at this turn of events, and decided he would try one last time. Just as Rav Yitchak was escorting his daughter down the aisle in front of all the guests, with beautiful wedding music playing in the background, Yankel run up behind him, pulled on his jacket in the most obnoxious way possible and asked for tobacco. Rav Yitchak paused, turned around, pulled out his silver tobacco case, and gave the miserable beggar some more snuff. 

 "A Jew asks for some tobacco, how can I refuse,": he said.  

This final development was too much for the poor Yankel who abruptly cried out and fainted on the spot. The defeated beggar was laid out on a couch and after he revived he explained the whole story to the patient Rav Yitchak.

"If the holy Baal Shem Tov  told you that my money came from you, then it must be so; consequently, I will give you half of my wealth."

We see from this story that little acts of charity make great waves In Heaven, which is why the honest Baltimore plumber who gives free or reduced service to poor customers in winter is truly collecting great blessings.

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The story is courtesy of 1st Choice Plumbing Inc. ; 3502 Taney Road, Baltimore, Md. 21215; 410-967-6547 ; http://www.1stchoiceplumbinginc.com

Why Select a Plumbing Company with a Video Camera

Intro: I recently worked as a plumber's assistant for three days, and now my respect for the profession has grown immensely.


When one of your drains blocks up and you need a plumber, selecting one who owns an electric auger and video sewer camera can potentially save you days of work. A short plumbing job can stretch out into a long one when a plumber without a camera tries to clear a blocked drain by inserting a plumbing auger into the pipes. If it won't make it through, he must look for an access point below the blockage. If the metal pipe cleaner can't break up the clog from below up, his options include tearing through the floor and walls, so he can visually inspect the pipe, or else installing an additional drain line. I saw this first hand when I moved my office to a new site and my new landlord asked me to assist him with a plumbing task. My Internet and phone were not yet installed and I had some free time, so I accepted his invitation..

My landlord once worked as a professional plumber; however, he didn't own a video camera. On the other hand, he wasn't willing to pay money to a plumber with video inspection equipment. He much preferred to fix the problem himself. He called me into the project a few minutes after he discovered his sewer rod wouldn't break up the clog and he asked me to try breaking it up. I inserted the auger into the pipe repeatedly shoving the metal rod back and forth against the unseen obstruction, but whatever it was, it refused to give in the least. Perhaps this was a tough clog, I thought, or maybe the auger had reached an acute turn in the pipe and was only pushing against pipe wall. An electric auger could have turned any sharp bend, but not the mechanical rod the landlord gave me to use. If a tough obstruction was blocking the way, the electric auger's cutting blade could have hacked through it in seconds. We both tried passing the rod upstream from an indoor sewer culvert, but neither of us had any success. At this point the landlord decided we would circumvent the whole blockage by installing a new drain segment. With a video camera, I thought, he could have visualized the actual blockage in seconds. A job that would have taken a technician with a video camera and  electric auger under an hour stretched out into a project that took the two of us three and 1/2 days to finish up!

I won't bore the reader with every gritty detail, but I will furnish some of the particulars. Let me start off by mentioning that if you're like me and have never done plumbing work more difficult than pouring a little Draino down the sink, or attempted to push out a clog out with a plunger, then your totally naive about what plumbers go through almost daily to expose plumbing pipes that sit underground and pass through walls. Essentially, the professional plumber will tear through anything between him and the pipes including tiles, brick, concrete, wood, underlying stone, and dirt that lie beneath your home's floor. This aspect of the plumber's task is back breaking work that necessitates using a jackhammer, sledge hammer, and other tools for prying loose broken tile and stone. Tiles that are being broken into pieces subsequently form razor sharp edges that can tear through thin work gloves. During the three day project, the tile shards literally sliced tiny patches of skin off my hands, and by day three, they stung like the dickens whenever I touched anything.

During the course of the project we not only had to install a new toilet drain, we had to reroute both the shower drain and kitchen drain in not one but two apartments. Once that phase of the project was completed, we had to fill in the trench, level the top, and place new tile on top of that. I had to lug 100 pounds of sand, lime, and concrete mix to lay the new tiles. By the end of the third day, my fascia and connective tissue compartments were in significant distress.

I was totally inexperienced in plumbing and therefore had to settle for minimum wages. You can imagine the cost if two professional plumbers were to do a job like this over three days. The lesson this story teaches is that before you hire plumbers to fix your clogged drains, make sure they have a video camera and electric auger with a cutting edge.


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Resources; 1st Choice Plumbing Inc.; 3502 Taney Road; Baltimore, MD. 21215. Call (410) 967-6547 Baltimore Combi Boiler