The Man Who Returned my Daughter’s Wallet–Against all Odds
This morning my home-phone rang. Truth is, I don’t often answer my home phone. It’s almost always my kids’ friends or telemarketers. But after a few calls, I finally picked up and heard an unfamiliar man’s voice: “Hello, is this the home of Moriya Weisberg?”
When I said yes, the man let out an audible sigh of relief. “Good, I found Moriya’s wallet at the gas station in Ein Gev.”
Moriya drove up with two of her younger brothers to the Kinneret yesterday. Ein Gev is a secular kibbutz on the Kinneret near where they were travelling.
“Thank you so much! How did you find our number?” I asked, “Is there a phone number in the wallet?”
“No,” the man answered, “there’s just a credit card and a drivers’ license. I didn’t know how to get in touch with you so,” this complete stranger continued:
“I called the credit card company.
“And the police.
“And the department at the Ministry of Transportation responsible for producing drivers licenses. But nobody could help me.
“So I called directory assistance at 144, and I asked for the phone number of the Weisbergs at the address that appears on the drivers’ license.
“I tried calling earlier, and there was no answer. So I kept trying until you picked up.”
“Wow, I can’t thank you enough! I will call Moriya right now. Where can she pick up the wallet from you?”
“I’m at Ein Gev. My name is Avi.”
I was blown away by this story. So after Moriya picked up her wallet, I wrote to ask Avi if I could share his incredible act of kindness online. He was reluctant, since he didn’t think there was anything out of the ordinary about what he’d done:
“Dear Chana, There is nothing special about returning a lost object, I was glad that the owner was found. In such situations I always think how I would expect others to act if such a thing happened to me or a member of my family.
Shabbat Shalom, Avi Ochion, Kibbutz Ein Gev.”
At that point, I googled Avi’s name, hoping to find information about as well as a photo of our hero. I assumed Avi was an elderly retiree who had extra time on his hands in order to search high and low for a wallet’s owner.
I was shocked to discover that Avi Ochion is none other than the Director of Operations at Ein Gev’s popular vacation resort. Which means that this August morning, during Bain HaZmanim, one of the busiest weeks of the year for Israeli tourism, Avi Ochion decided that instead of all the other pressing things on his to-do list, he would make it his top priority to return my daughter’s wallet because that is how he “would expect others to act if such a thing happened to me or a member of my family.”
May God bless Avi Ochion and his family. And may God bless Israel and the people of Israel in the merit of people like him, who quietly, without fanfare, live in accordance with the Torah’s commandment to love their neighbors as themselves.
Shabbat shalom!
This is really moving. I can only echo your blessing – may G-d bless Avi and his family and give them parnassa and good health. What a nation we are!