“And zat is vy I chave concealed carry, you know. In case of trespassers!”

IN

the course of my eiruv travels, I try to be conscious of opportunities to make a kiddush Hashem. Truthfully, the goal of my work, to increase people’s adherence to halachah, is in itself a kiddush Hashem. Still, I’m often on the lookout for ways to showcase the chesed and integrity that is intrinsic to frum Jews. Sometimes the opportunities come about in unexpected ways.

I was kneeling down to angle my drill into the bottom of a utility pole in Cleveland, Ohio, when I heard a deeply Russian and very disgruntled, “Chey! Vat you’re doing to my property?!” (It wasn’t private property). I looked up into the aggressive eyes of a babushka lady standing over me.

I jumped up, straightening my reflective vest. “Oh, I’m a third-party contractor, just doing some work on the utility poles, ma’am,” I replied airily, trying to gloss over inconvenient explanations. “No vay,” she growled suspiciously, “you chave Illinois license plates. Zere is no vay you are chired by Cleveland Public Power. You are trespassing, zat is vat you are doing!”

As I was debating exactly what to say next, she continued, “And zat is vy I chave concealed carry, you know. In case of trespassers!”