The Only Jew In Bangladesh

Every detail, every encounter and every step of man is directed by G-d. That’s what the Chassidic masters have taught us, that’s what you’ve heard me say countless times and the following story that I shared on Yom Kippur is just another great reminder of its truth.

My brother shared the story with me. He heard it from Kevin. Kevin is an English gentleman who represented a UK business, and has lived for many years in Bangladesh. Max is another English gentleman who lives mostly in the UK but travels often to Bangladesh for his own company. Both of them are Jewish, but for the ten years that Kevin lived in Bangladesh he called himself “the only Jew in Bangladesh” because he knew of no other one. Max, who is Chassidic Jew, was encouraged by his Rabbi, who knew Kevin, to make contact with Kevin on his next trip to Bangladesh. Max tried on a few occasions to reach out, but was unsuccessful in making contact. Max left a prayer book with his Muslim business partner Ahmed, and asked him to try and get it to Kevin.

Fast forward a year: Max is sitting in his trade show booth at a fair in Germany, his booth boldly listing Bangladesh as his business location. That, along with the sight of Max, looking his part as a Chasddic Jew with his Yarmulka. and beard, caught Kevin’s attention as he walked past.

He approached Max and exclaimed in surprise that he thought he was the only Jew in Bangladesh… was Max really doing business there too?!

After introductions, Max assured Kevin that he had actually heard of him and had even tried to make contact. At that moment, Ahmed, Max’s partner, returned to the booth and realized that two of them had actually done business together…Ahmed was one of the suppliers at Kevin’s factory. Max, at that point took the liberty of letting Ahmed know that Kevin too was Jewish… and he was the intended recipient of the prayer book that was left with Ahmed to send.

When Kevin repeated this whole chain of events to my brother, he said that when this “Jewish introduction” was made he was actually really angry at Max…Here Kevin had manage to keep his Jewish identity a secret for the entire ten years of being in Bangladesh and in one careless moment, Max “spilled the beans”. Kevin never wanted that info out there because he worried it wouldn’t serve him well, and might even have negative consequences in his line of work. But as a proper English gentleman, he kept quiet and let the moment pass.

Fast forward another year…Kevin is back in Bangladesh when he gets a call from his company’s headquarters informing him that they have declared bankruptcy and the business has been entirely disbanded. Kevin was completely taken aback when he was told to let all the factory workers go and to close up shop. The entire floor of workers were even more upset and they threatened to hold Kevin hostage unless he paid them all for the full month. They blockaded the exits and told Kevin that only way he was being let out of there was either after he paid up or else in a coffin!

A call back to headquarters did him no good, there was no one there to offer advise or money.

Kevin’s last hope was the business contact he had met personally while in Germany. He made a call to Ahmed, Max’s partner and hoped he could help. He asked for a loan and promised he’d make good on it.. Ahmed came through, showed up at the factory with all the cash needed. He then escorted Kevin out of the area, to pack up his stuff and straight to the airport. He told Kevin, that even though he doesn’t know him well, really nothing outside their business dealings and that one brief encounter at the trade show, he helped because he knows Kevin is Jewish and he can therefore be trusted to pay back the loan!

And that’s the end of that story. You can probably draw your own conclusions on what my message there might be. Aside from recognizing, as I said in my intro, that every detail is designed by G-d, it’s also a reminder to be a proud Jew. On Yom Kippur I encouraged all those who attended, not to leave their Jewish pride in the synagogue, but rather to take it out with them to work, to school, to social interactions and wherever else they may be. Non-Jews respect Jews who are proud Jews. It took Kevin a while to realize that truth, so allow his story to inspire your pride too.

Wishing you a Shabbat Shalom and joyous Sukkot holiday!