Jewish World Review Nov. 20, 2012/ 6 Kislev, 5773

My Friend Mary

By Alan Douglas

http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | It has been four months since my last commentary. I'm not sure if anyone other than Luther K. Lunchbucket, Dr. Dick, The Crusader for Justice, and my other correspondents noticed.

My "revealing mirth" or "appalling drivel", depending upon which of my readers you consult, has returned. The election is over, the people have spoken, and we have elected one of the Harvard men as President again. But that's not why I am back. I am writing once again because I had lunch with my friend, Mary. After lunch with Mary, I came to believe that my life, and all of our lives, hangs in the balance.

The Talmud tells us that there are thirty-six, righteous people on earth, upon whose existence we all depend. The thirty-six, are hidden among the rest. That's right, in each generation or so there are sleeper saints. Without these saintlike human beings the scales would tip in judgment against us.

These thirty-six good people save our species from divine destruction. This is must be quite an honor for these folks, but also; a crushing burden.

From an early age, it was obvious that I was not one of the 36. Every so often, I look around and notice a person in the crowd that looks like Brad Pitt. Or someone driving a car that looks just like Tom Selleck, or some other celebrity. And just as I see celebrities everywhere, I occasionally believe that I get a glimpse of one of the thirty-six hidden saints on earth.

My friend Mary might be one of the thirty-six. She is kind, a wonderful wife, mother, sister, child, and she performs acts of kindness. She makes an effort to do the right thing, to be reverent, and she laughs. As an operating room nurse and a volunteer on missionary trips Mary sees so much that is ugly and nasty in the world, but she can still laugh. She tripped over a misplaced cord in the operating room and was seriously injured. Still, Mary laughed, and through treatments, and procedures, and surgery she was determined to keep working and doing charity work.

But even an earthly saint these days has to deal with the Legal Department and the Human Resources executives. So, Mary found herself facing the quantifying, number crunching process called Workers Compensation that deals with injuries suffered on the job. It was agreed that Mary could do something, despite her disability. But what?

Mary found work at new health clinic being started in her area to help low-income citizens. Not as much money, but worthwhile, and it utilized her years of experience. Mary's employer said they would "assist her in her job search" and they found some jobs for her. It was one of these opportunities that got Mary in trouble. They had Mary apply for a job as a loan specialist at a payday loan company that specialized in offer easy terms, and astronomical interest rates. They were pleasantly surprised to inform Mary that she had been selected for an interview with the payday loan company.

Mary's lawyer warned her that unless Mary went to the interview and explored this opportunity that she would jeopardize her eligibility for Workers Compensation.

Mary went, and being the bright, wonderful person that she is, the payday loan people said they would like to hire her. Mary told them she would accept, but that because of her religious beliefs, she was compelled to give those receiving loans most of her salary to defray the large amount of interest. They wouldn't hire her and the Human Resources and Legal Departments cried, "Foul!"

There are rules in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim and other religions prohibiting usury and as Mishle Yehoshua said, "There are a thousand ways to do injustice without breaking a single law." The payday loan business exists for a reason, and it is legal. Should Mary have to violate her religious beliefs to work there?

This is a more than a clever legal tactic by an attorney; it is an example of gaming the system to the point where the system is wrong. Mary is willing to live with the consequences of her act, and laugh about it.

Me, well, we've already established that I'm not that saintly. Knowing that there are people out there like Mary, who each day live according to their conscience and religious beliefs, with grace and humor, makes me truly believe there are also thirty-five other people like her out there in the world. I may not qualify to be one of them, but at least I can still point them out to you.

As our lunch ended, Mary said, "When are you going to start writing your column again? I miss them". That was enough for me.