The winter rains have come and still, the last remains of
Succos lies on the balcony: the steel poles making up the
succa. Years of experience have taught me to quickly
put away the bamboo roofing before the winter rains come
down. The canvas, too, is easily folded and stowed away. The
wooden planks that help hold up the schach are quickly
taken to the downstairs storeroom. Why is it, then, that
every year I have the same problem: these heavy steel
supports lie rusting in the rain?
I think each time of our first apartment in Israel. It was a
one-bedroom vacation apartment, and the roof above came with
it. However, when we took over, the roof was covered with
rubble, brick-sized pieces of cement. When we returned home
after purchasing the apartment, a good client heard about it
and asked if he could use it for his next Yom Tov since he
knew we would be gone. The place was standing empty, so we
had no problem.
"It has a good sunroof, but unfortunately, there is rubble
all over it. Sorry about that," we said.
When we next went, we found the roof completely clear, no
rubble at all. On our return, we asked the man about it.
"Oh, I cleared it. I wanted to thank you in some way for
letting us use the place. We have wanted to go away for so
many years, but I just don't like staying in hotels. This was
perfect."
"But it was our pleasure and so much work was involved!"
"Oh, no. It wasn't really work. You see, each time I went
down, I took one piece. By the time we left, it was
clear."
So that has become our family phrase for jobs we don't want
to do. "Each time I took one piece," we chorus.
So now I look at the pieces and make this resolution; each
time I go downstairs, I will take just one piece to the
storeroom. Hopefully, the job will soon be done.
[Another tip for shirkers to chorus to one another: Jobs /
chores you don't like should be done quickly and soon.]
