The Importance of Values and Environment

Don Ghermezian, CEO of American Dream, shared a personal story on Vayimaen about the importance of safeguarding one’s environment and values. He recounts a family trip to a hotel in Florida where he felt the environment was not right for his family. To ensure their Tzniyus and Kedusha, he paid a significant amount of money to rent a private pool for two weeks and had the area landscaped to prevent anyone from seeing into or out of the space.

During the same trip, Ghermezian faced a challenge when his uncle asked him to bring three additional family members to the Super Bowl, despite him having only four tickets. While trying to figure out how to accommodate everyone without paying a fortune for more tickets, he was approached by Brian Glazer, owner of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Glazer unexpectedly offered him seven free tickets in a row, stating he felt God wanted the Ghermezian family to have them.

Ghermezian notes that the total cost of the seven tickets plus the sale of his original four perfectly equaled the exact amount he had spent to rent and landscape the pool for his family’s privacy, a whopping $238,000! He concludes that whenever someone makes a sacrifice to maintain their personal standards or avoid temptation, they will eventually be rewarded by Hashem.