NEWS
The Avenger

by Chaim Walder

From the time he was a child, Nochum-Tokum was considered about the most vengeful person on earth. He never forgot an injustice committed against him, and without fail remembered to pay back those who had offended him, by either striking their heads, their hands, or other parts of their bodies.

Nochum espoused the philosophy that a person must not remain beholden to anyone, and must repay his debts at the highest interest rates. Choliloh, Nochum did not include monetary debts in that doctrine, but focused rather on debts which arose every now and then between odom lechavero.

"As befitting a genuine avenger, Nochum had an elaborate system for managing accounts, in which he divided the world into "the good" and "the bad." Nochum's list of "good guys," was nearly hermetically sealed, and was just as difficult to penetrate as the United States Treasury in Fort Knox On second thought, at least maintenance men enter and leave the place where the United State stores its toys, something which could not be said about Nochum's list of "good guys." The list of "bad guys," though, was jammed and entering it was easy, and not considered a complex feat. All that a candidate had to do was to cause Nochum a tiny bit of discomfort, and he would already appear on a comprehensive list of people against whom Nochum planned to retaliate.

Over the years, those who knew him realized that it wasn't a very good idea to have much to do with Nochum, because one could never know which comment or deed might cause one to be regarded as Nochum's emery, and consequently, a butt of his revenge.

The older Nochum grew, the more thin-skinned he became, and his acts of revenge the more painful. Scores of people had been treated to a taste of his vengeance, among them those who had encountered him only one time in their lives.

In one instance, Nochum crossed the street at a red light, something which nearly caused him to be run over by a passing car. The driver let out a loud and long honk, and even made a revolving motion in the area of his temple [to indicate that Nochum was loony]. Nochum was deeply offended, and jotted down the number of the driver's license plate. By hook and crook, he managed to find out the driver's identity, and began making assorted and strange complaints against him to the authorities. At the same time, he would —in the driver's name —say various things to people the driver knew, without the driver having the faintest idea who was behind all that. Of course, the things Nochum said caused the driver quite a bit of unpleasantness.

Truth to tell, if Nochum's methods hadn't aroused so much disgust, it is highly likely that they would have caused people to marvel at him. This was so, because Nochum's acts of vengeance indicated that he had been endowed with a sharp mind and had unconventional ideas. One of the menahalim ruchaniyim of Nochum's yeshiva thought that if Nochum were to use his sharp mind for good purposes, he might become a great gaon in Torah, and if not a gaon in Torah, at least an inventor who benefits the world with his innovations, like Edison who invented the electric bulb. Nochum, though used his intelligence for bad purposes, and the only thing he did with light bulbs, and with electricity in general, was to make the lives of those who had irked him in the past, or those who were fated to irk him in the future, miserable.

No matter how one looked at things, Nochum was a pain in the neck, better not encountered in a dark or even a lit alley, and best of all, not at all.

When Nochum wasn't busy taking revenge, he occupied himself with extorting money from various companies — money he thought he rightly deserved. He would do this in diversified ways, and in an amazing manner.

Whenever Nochum bought a particular product, he would return its wrapping to the company with one complaint or another. Quite soon, he discovered how quickly and easily, the companies would send back gift packages. Actually Nochum listed the companies according to their degree of naivete. Of course, in his complaint letter, he made sure to ask the company to reimburse him for the stamp, in addition to the compensation.

Quite understandably, Nochum's hobbies did not serve to increase his circle of friends and admirers. Quite the opposite was true. The students of the yeshiva in which Nochum studied, recoiled from him, and had they not been afraid of him, it is highly conceivable that they would have thrown him out, without any need for intervention on the part of the administration. However, because those few who had dared to take such steps, or similar ones against him had suffered terribly from his vengeance and oppression, the others were careful not to come in contact with him, accept when they had no choice.

When it came time for Nochum to look for a shidduch, he suddenly discovered that the number of families interested in him as a chosson was no greater than the number of his friends, something which boiled down to the most insignificant one digit number possible, (if one can define zero as a one digit number.) Actually Nochum's popularity rating among families with eligible daughters was rock bottom , and even lower than that among the shadchonim.

.Because Nochum saw that disaster was inching in on him, and that the shadchonim were so corrupt that even money was of no consequence to them, he racked his brain, and came up with a scheme: He equipped himself with a telephone, and a thick blanket, which he would place on the receiver in order to change his voice. Then he would say:

"Hello, is this the Yozofob family? This is Zeichik the shadchan."

"Yes, please."

"I want to propose a match for your daughter, An outstanding boy, with the finest qualities, named Nochum Lempel. Actually, I've already proposed the match to the other side. I still haven't received an answer, but apparently the direction is positive, and they asked me, in the meantime to suggest it to you."

"What's there to say about him?"

"Ho, ho, I don't know where to begin," "Zeichik" the shadchan would intone and begin to praise Nochum, precisely as if he were Nochum himself. And this you should know: No one in the world could praise the qualities of his fellow, as Nochum praised his very own qualities. On this point, he was revealed as a rising star in the matchmaking world.

Many times "Zeichik" the shadchan managed to bring Nochum, the young man, to a meeting or two with a girl. After each meeting, he would rush home, place the blanket on the receiver, and speak with the girl's parents about the young man she had met. Nochum was a totally objective counselor. He suggested that the parents not hurry, because the young man also had to think things over. With a master hand, he played on the nerves of the parents, leaking information to them, and saying in hushed tones — like one revealing a secret — that he many of the young men to whom he had suggested their daughter, had answered negatively for various reasons He would then lower their self-confidence, and express the faint hope that the boy in question would reply in the affirmative. Only after playing quite adequately on their feelings, did he offer a dubious "yes," and schedule another meeting

Nochum, with his many talents, managed to draw the girl and her parents into a bubble which was detached from reality. He would lower their self-confidence, and by means of the power of persuasion, paint a depressing picture which would cause the other side to be so emotionally pressured that they were prepared to make many concessions, as long as their daughter would finally find some sort of a chosson.

Nochum was very careful to maintain total separation between "Zeichik's" personality and his own. This caution was very important, in light of the saddening fact that the two chaps more or less converged in one body.

"Zeichik" was a scattered Yerushalmi who spoke half Yiddish, half Hebrew, and wasn't ashamed to say unpleasant things to people's faces. He didn't hesitate to speak with the father about his financial situation, and to whisper to him that sometimes there's no choice, and that for "a bissel'e nachas," one must shell out money, and most important of all, pressure for another meeting.

"Nochum," on the other hand was quite different than his shadchan. He was a reasonable and logical young man, who weighed every sentence, and didn't laugh a lot. He definitely succeeded in winning the confidence of those who came in contact with him. Not once, the fathers of the girls would ask, "Who is this Zeichik character?" At such times, Nochum would permit himself a small smile, which was part compassion, and part admiration, and with a wink say: "An interesting person. He simply clings to me, and doesn't leave me alone." Both of them would laugh, actually all three of them — the father, Nochum, and of course "Zeichik" himself who would hear what was said about him, and on such occasions only grope about silently.

So if Zeichik was such a great shadchan, why didn't Nochum get engaged?

It seems as if something called a "sixth sense" prevented the families, and perhaps the girls themselves, from reaching a decision. What's more, when the shidduch would go into high gear, and more intensive investigations were launched, "Zeichik" would begin to hear complaints from the family about the boy he had proposed. "Why wasn't the mashgiachparticularly enthusiastic?" "We spoke with the boy whose name you gave us, and he said that he doesn't know him. From his voice, its sounds as if he knows him far too well." "The parents of a certain boy said: Flee him like fire." "Zeichik" and Nochum would listen to these remarks, and know that another shidduch had flown the coop, and that they had to start from scratch, but not before "Zeichik" milked the parents for the names of the boys who had conveyed uncomplimentary information about Nochum. Of course, he promised that he wouldn't tell Nochum their names... and he really didn't.

Of course, those names were added to the list of "bad guys," and suddenly also sorts of strange things, whose why and wherefore they didn't understand, would happen to them.

One time Nochum succeeded in breaking through all the barriers of the clarifications and the meetings and reached the closing stage of a shidduch with a girl from a rich family — the daughter of a wealthy businessman named Eizek Roth. Nochum made gigantic efforts to weave all of the connections. He tried tremendously hard to direct all of the investigations to the right channels. Actually, Nochum improved his approach. In addition to "Zeichik" Nochum presented other names, some of which were actual, and others with which were made up. Yosef, Yaakov and Yitzchok were supposedly boys from the yeshiva. But they were really all Nochum himself. It was no wonder that the family fell into the trap. However, the moment before the parents of both sides were scheduled to meet, the girl's father asked to see the shadchan.

"Zeichik," of course, was shocked by this request, even though he didn't let the father see this. He explained that he was very busy, and that there was no need for a meeting. However, suddenly the father insisted on meeting Nochum had never imagined such a scenario, and began to devise ways to produce some sort of a "Zeichik" for that nudnick. In the meantime, "Zeichik" told the father that he had to go abroad urgently, and that he would appoint a friend in the country, to proceed with the shidduch.

The shidduch was left in the lurch for two reasons. The first was that "Nochum" had no had no friends who could step into "Zeichik's" shoes. The second was that he had no friends at all. The bewildered father decided to call "Zeichik's" number, something he hadn't done since the beginning of the shidduch. And who do you think answered the telephone, without batting an eyelash, if not Nochum?

"Nochum, what are you doing at `Zeichik's' number?" the father asked.

"I just happened to be here," Nochum replied off the bat.

"Where does he live?" the father asked.

Nochum activated all of his gray matter in order to produce a suitable answer, but didn't succeed. He floundered about a bit, and in the end spouted an imaginary address in Jerusalem. It didn't take the father, who had begun to doubt the whole affair, even an hour to discover that there was no Zeichik at that address, and that the entire affair seemed rotten from top to bottom. Eizek wasn't one to let others make a fool of him. He arrived at Nochum's yeshiva, and began to investigate the matter, and quickly reached the conclusion that the whole affair was a prank, and that Nochum Zeichik was none other than Nochum himself. The uproar Eizek made skyrocketed.

The roshei yeshiva reached the conclusion that their agreement to accommodate an annoying pest like Nochum in their yeshiva did not include an additional guest named Zeichik, and that Nochum's having brought Zeichik into their yeshiva without permission was chutzpa-dik. As a result, they threw both of them out of the yeshiva.

Nochum, of course, couldn't remain silent in the face of such an offense. The Roth family easily bypassed all of the names on his list of "bad guys," and jumped to the top of the list, while Nochum launched an unprecedented, defamatory and harassment campaign against the father and his daughter, whose only sin was that they had discovered who was behind the up-and-coming shadchan, "Zeichik," and who by means of this discovery had extinguished "Zeichik's" light forever.

Quite quickly, the vilification's and their source, reached the father, Eizek, who rushed to his rav in order to cry about the uncouth pest who was scheming against his family. "He's ruining my life and my daughter's," Eizek cried to his rav. "He's known to be very vengeful. We're afraid of his revenge. Tell me, my Rebbe, what should I do against him?"

The rav looked at him with a soothing gaze, and said, "Are you afraid of the revenge of mortals? Every week we recite the mizmor, `Keil nekamos Hashem.' Only Hakodosh Boruch Hu can take revenge. You must calm down. No one can take revenge, unless Hashem is interested in such revenge."

It's hard to say that these word's were especially soothing to Eizek. However, the rav could offer nothing more than such reassurances. And so, Eizek returned home, to his frightened family which was terrified of Nochum's acts of vengeance, which were not late in coming. In some way, Nochum managed to latch on to nearly every shidduch offered the Roth family, and to ruin them. This caused the family tremendous anguish. The father once again ran to his rav, who once again said: "Keil nekamos Hashem."

In the meantime, Nochum entered a new yeshiva, and upon his arrival had a fray with a bochur named Meir, who was responsible for arranging the dormitory accommodations.

Meir was a refined young man from a poor and rather plain family. Because he was poor and without yichus, he didn't manage to find a shidduch. Nochum quickly discovered Meir's Achilles heel and his refinement, and decided to wield control over him, and through him to gain control of all of the yeshiva's students.

This you must know: Arranging the sleeping accommodations in a yeshiva is very, very hard work. Out of 500 students, 450 are interested in sharing rooms with the 50 remaining ones, something which is simply impossible to do. The bochur who arranges the rooms has to be easygoing, and liked And that is why Meir was chosen for that job. From his experience in his previous yeshiva, Nochum knew that the way to gain control over the bochurim, and to wield a strong arm against them, as well as to extract various terms from them, passes through the room coordinator. Yeshiva students attach much importance to the identity of the boys who will share their rooms, and if you set up a bochur with a number of characters he doesn't like, you can ruin his mood for the entire semester. In the yeshiva from which Nochum had been tossed, he had controlled the soft-spoken boy who had arranged the rooms, and all knew that he was only Nochum's puppet. The fact that all knew this, gave Nochum extra power, which he used in order to take revenge, as well as to secure things he wanted. The other students had no way of stopping this arrangement, until the day Nochum arranged for certain fictitious character named Zeichik to share his room, an arrangement which caused him to find himself out of the yeshiva, to the relief of the bochurim. When Nochum met Meir, he thought that this time, gaining control of the job would be easier than usual. Meir appeared to him like a person who was pleading to be controlled, and Nochum wasn't exactly the type to ignore such entreaties.

But impressions aside, and reality aside. Meir simply ignored Nochum's eitzas, and arranged the rooms precisely as he saw fit. The eitzas became demands, and then claims, and finally direct threats. But Meir notified Nochum that if he didn't stop threatening him, he would arrange him a large, and multi-leveled room known as the stairwell. These words infuriated Nochum, and he decided to hint to Meir that he would yet taste his revenge.

From the time of his expulsion from his former yeshiva, Nochum was very careful not to make explicit threats. As a result, he told Meir: "I advise you to take a good look at the shir shel yom for Wednesday." Meir, who knew the mizmor by heart, replied off the bat: "Which posuk do you mean? `Ad mosai reshoim ya'alozu', or perhaps `uchesilim mosai taskilu'? I don't know what's going on in your mind. But that really doesn't matter, because `machshovos odom ki heimo hevel.' "

Nochum didn't reply, and decided to get down to business with what is alluded to at the beginning of the mizmor, "Keil nekamos Hashem." He planned to concoct one his biggest schemes yet, and that involved a lot of thought and coolness "One eats revenge when it's cold," he mused, as he recalled the motto which had become his credo. He began to investigate Meir's background, and discovered that Meir was a masmid, who was well liked by his friends. Meir was also endowed with straightforward thinking, and known as being very talented. Nochum also knew that Meir had a rough time in shidduchim, due to his shyness, and even more so because his family was poor and simple. Meir's problem was that he refused to compromise. Many claimed he wouldn't be able to make a perfect shidduch. But he refused to capitulate, and that was why he was already 25 and unmarried.

With this information in hand, Nochum knew what kind of a revenge to prepare for Meir.

One day, Nochum approached Dovid Rotoveld, an avreich from the kollel — the biggest lamdan there, and the most guileless of them all. Then he whispered to Rotoveld, who didn't even know him, the following declamation: "I have a request to make of you. My parents know a family which is looking for a chosson for their daughter. They want a boy just like Meir. But I'm embarrassed to propose the match, because I don't want people to think that I'm an askan, or worse than that, a shadchan. I ask, you: Please suggest the match to Meir, and I'll suggest it to the girl's side."

Dovid Rotoveld asked for details about the young girl, and whose details does Nochum present, if not those of Basya, Eizek Roth's daughter?

Of course, the shidduch is never proposed to the Roth family, not even once. Had it been suggested, it would have been rejected at the outset, as downright insulting, and that's exactly what Nochum was aiming it. He would propose the match only to Meir, who would arrive for a meeting which hadn't even been set. Only imagination is capable of filling in the details of the humiliation of the two — Basya and Meir —and of deciding which one of them, was more surprised and more embarrassed

Meir was surprised by the proposal. Basya was well known as a girl with all the mailos. Logically, there was no likelihood that the proposal would be accepted. In his caution, he asked Dovid Rotoveld to propose the match to the other side, and to return to him with the answer.

Rotoveld turned to Nochum, who said: "I'll give an answer in a few days." Of course, during those days, Nochum didn't contact a soul (except perhaps "Zeichik.") He wanted to keep Meir in suspense, and indeed achieved this aim. Meir was in great suspense during those days, because this was the first time he had been offered the type of girl he was looking for. He wavered between hope and despair, and after a week, remained in the despair stage

Precisely on that day, Dovid Rotoveld notified him that the other side had given a positive reply.

That was the happiest day in Meir's life. He didn't procrastinate a bit, and answered "yes" quickly, out of the fear that he might lose the prize of his life. The avreich returned to Nochum, who dragged the matter out another week. "They're still not ready," he intoned. "They have to check a few more things." Nochum's purpose was of course to squeeze the life out of Meir, until dealing him the final blow, and indeed, it was slowly being squeezed.

At the end of an additional week, Nochum told Rotoveld: "There's a meeting." He then stated a date, a day and an hour, and even told the go-between the address of the Roth family, warning him, of course, not to tell Meir who was behind the proposal. Actually, Nochum was only improving on an idea he had used in the past, however then he had sent a boy named Motty to a meeting in a neutral place. When Motty arrived, he didn't find even a hint of an intended mate. The harm done to him added up only to the time he had wasted on investigating and on preparing for the meeting. But this time, Nochum improved his method, and sent the bochur to the home of the girl, who didn't know a thing about the proposal, something which would cause anguish and confusion to the two sides, both of whom Nochum wanted to harm.

Meir prepared himself for that meeting as he had never in his life prepared himself. He borrowed a suit and a tie from friends, bought a shirt at a discount from the yeshiva's gemach, took a haircut, and thoroughly made ready for the meeting of his life.

Afterward, he set out by bus to the city in which the girl lived, arrived at her home, climbed the stairs and knocked at the door.

Eizek Roth opened.

"Shalom," Meir said,

"Shalom," Roth replied.

Silence.

"What can I do for you?" Eizek asked.

"I'm Meir."

"Meir what?"

"Meir Varshevski."

"Nu," Eizek said. "What can I do for you?"

Things became a bit unpleasant. "Excuse me, are you Basya's father?"

Eizek glared at him with a grim expression. "Yes, but what business is that of yours?"

Meir's face turned from red to white. "They scheduled a date for me with..." He was unable to finish the sentence.

"With my daughter?" Eizek shouted. "Who made it?"

"A kollel student, an avreich who studies in our yeshiva. What's his name?" Due to the pressure and the unpleasantness, Meir had forgotten the name of the avreich who had proposed the match. "Nu. What do they call him? I can't remember."

Eizek thought that someone was pulling his leg.

"If so, young man, find yourself..."

"Dovid Rotoveld," Meir recalled. "Don't you know him?"

"I never heard that name. What did you day? Rotveiler?"

Meir's eyes filled with tears. He had never been so demeaned in his life. Eizek softened at the sight of the poor boy whose appearance testified that he was in quite an unpleasant situation. What's more, Meir seemed ready to faint at any moment. "Come inside. Have something to drink before you go," Eizek proposed. Then he seated Meir on the couch in the living room, and brought him a glass of water.

"Apparently there's some mistake," Eizek said. "Perhaps you mean another family."

"Are you Eizek, the owner of the Tomer factories?"

"Yes," Eizek replied.

"Your daughter's name is Basya, She graduated seminary two years ago. Your wife's maiden name is Flankowitz. You have five children."

"That's us," Eizek stopped him. "Perhaps that Rotoveld has it in for you."

"That's inconceivable. He's one of the most important avreichim in our yeshiva. Perhaps I can call him."

"Please," said Eizek, who was sincerely interested in solving the mystery.

Meir dialed Dovid Rotoveld's number. His wife said that he would arrive in five minutes. In the meantime, Eizek asked Meir his name, where he lived and where he studied. Meir answered, and a conversation developed between them. Five minutes later, he called again. Dovid Rotoveld answered, and when he heard Meir's voice, shouted: "What? Haven't you reached the house?"

"I'm here," Meir said. "Tell me, did you make the proposal to the Roth family.?"

"No," Rotoveld said. "Someone else suggested it to them, and asked me to propose it to you."

"Who is the second shadchan?"

"A bochur from the yeshiva. He asked me not to reveal his name, so that the people won't say that he's an askan," Rotoveld said.

"Well know for your information, the Roth family doesn't know anything about this offer, and a great injustice has been caused both to them and to me, as a result of this proposal."

Eizek grabbed the receiver. "I don't care who your are, Mr. Rotoveld. Tell me right now who asked you to propose the match, otherwise..."

He didn't have to complete the sentence. "Nochum Lempel," Rotoveld said.

"Nochum Lempel," Eizek and Meir gasped in unison.

"You know him?" Meir asked.

"And how," Eizek replied. "This then is his revenge."

Eizek put down the receiver, sat down beside Meir and said: "Both of us are the victims of Nochum Lempel's vengeance. I'll tell you his reason for taking revenge on me, and then you'll tell me you the reason he is avenging you." Eizek told Meir the story from beginning to end, as if Meir were a close friend. Then he asked Meir to tell him why Nochum had chosen him as the object of his revenge.

Meir told him about his job as the room coordinator and about the sensitivity and consideration such a job requires. He told him about Nochum's attempts to interfere, in order to harm some of his foes, and advance some of his buddies, and about how he had withstood Nochum's pressures.

A conversation developed between Eizek and Meir, and Eizek found himself amazed by the young man. Meir told him quite candidly about his family, which wasn't rich or prominent, but whose children were the cream of the crop. He revealed a bit about his status the yeshiva, and about his aspirations and hopes. In the end, he opened up enough to tell him about his shidduchim, and admitted to Eizek that this offer had so seemed so attractive to him, that he had approached it with closed eyes, without even investigating who had proposed it on the girl's side.

The conversation continued for two hours. In the end Meir said: "I'm sorry for the anguish I caused you and your family, and hope that your daughter soon finds the chosson she deserves."

These words thumped in Eizek's brain. The tip of an idea twittered there, but he didn't dare pursue it. "The truth is that he hinted that he intends to take revenge on me," Eizek heard Meir say. "He suggested that I carefully review Wednesday's shir shel yom, which opens with the words, `Keil nekamos Hashem'"

Hearing these words, Eizek jumped up as if bitten by a snake. "Is that what he told you?"

"Yes, and I answered him with a different verse from the mizmor, `Machshovos odom ki heimo hevel.' "

Eizek sank into deep thought. He understood quite well that this wasn't a chance occurrence. He clearly remembered what his rav had said to him: "Only Hashem can take revenge, If so, you must calm down. No one can take revenge on his fellow, unless Hakodosh Boruch Hu is interested in that revenge."

"There is no doubt that Shomayim arranged for the success of Nochum's scheme But is the arrangement for my benefit or detrimental to me?"

He looked at Meir once and then a second time, and suddenly knew that this was the chosson he had hoped for his entire life. The composure, the delicacy, the good character traits, the simplicity, the clarity, the pleasant appearance, the easygoing temperament. The young man who precisely fitted the image his daughter had drawn, and the one he himself had pictured, had dropped on him from Shomayim. "What a sweet revenge," he thought to himself.

"Listen," he said to Meir. "You've surely checked up about us, and are interested in the meeting my daughter. Give us a week to ask about you, and we'll see. Perhaps something will come out of this revenge."

Meir looked at him and couldn't say a word "It's O.K.," Eizek encouraged him with his expression. "We're old friends. I'll call you in a week, no matter what. But I have one request: Don't say a word to Nochum. He finished his part in the affair."

Three days later, Eizek called Meir and invited him to meet Basya, at the same place and even at the same time, and they indeed found themselves suitable for one another.

During that period, Nochum waked about restlessly. He knew that the meeting had taken place, and that the revenge had been effected. He expected to be pounced on and even to be thrown out of the yeshiva. He had taken this into account and hadn't cared. But instead of all this, he was treated to tense silence, whose meaning he didn't know. Meir didn't pay attention to him at all, and Dovid Rotoveld refused to speak to him, neither in a positive vein nor in a negative one. He felt that someone was preparing a reaction to the revenge, and for the first time in his life found himself frightened.

Two weeks later, Nochum opened the newspaper, and like everyone else, glanced at the engagement announcements. What he saw gave him the shock of his life : Meir Varshevski at the right, Basya Roth at the left. Only the name of the shadchan was missing. Nochum Lempel. At the eirusin, which was held that Wednesday, the rav quoted select verses from the mizmor, `Keil nekamos Hashem,', and no one knew why. "We must believe that every joyous occasion and every calamity are determined according to the will of Hashem — even the happiness of a wedding or the pain of vengeance, and even in cases where both of these meet. Hashem has many ways for benefiting man. Therefore one must not be afraid of his fellow, for "machshovos odom ki heimo hevel." Hakodosh Boruch Hu uses Creation in order to execute His will, and if we are to fear and tremble in awe, it is only from Him."

Tzvi Varshevski finished his fascinating story, and looking directly at me, added: "Since my childhood, my father has been repeating to me the speech which the rav delivered at the eirusin, and because the matter is personally related to me, I internalized that message and grew up with it. I'm never fear mortals, not their anger and surely not their vengeance."

"And how are you connected to that story?" I asked.

"My father's name is Meir Varshevski. My mother's name is Basya. Her maiden name is Roth. Reb Eizek, my maternal grandfather, is still alive, and if not for Nochum's `revenge,' I wouldn't be here to tell you this story."

Nochum soon recovered from the initial shock he had received from the engagement announcement, and ran to Dovid Rotoveld, to demand half of the shadchanus money. Dovid Rotoveld adamantly refused and sent the impudent Nochum packing. Nochum summoned Rotoveld to a beis din, where Nochum emerged with barely a tooth and an eye from the sharp things the dayanim said about him and his chutzpah.

When they left the beis din, Nochum told Rotoveld: "Wait and see. You'll yet taste my vengeance." And what did Rotoveld reply if not: "You have finally said something sensible, and have convinced me to throw you a dollar from my shadchanus money. After clearly seeing that the vengeance of mortals is brought about by the Borei olam, I must pay you in order to merit a vengeance even half as sweet as the one to which you treated Meir Varshevski and the Roth family."

"I bring this idea to mind every time someone threatens me or tries to terrify or frighten me," Tzvi Varshevski said as he ended his story.