I recently bought an electrical splitter from a local hardware store. I specifically wanted a cordless one, and one with the maximum possible number of outlets. Usually you only get up to three points on a cordless splitter, so I was very happy to find one with four points.
But hold on a second. My electrical engineering instincts told me that something was amiss. Didn't I once encounter one of these splitters before, many years ago, in the context of a minor electrical explosion? Well, let's open this baby up and see what sordid sins are hiding behind that clean facade...
Have you spotted the problem? Let me enlarge and annotate this second picture for you...
Well, the earth (green) looks OK. Now take a look at the live circuit (brown). As you face the socket, live should be on the right. And on the right had side of the splitter, the right hand socket is brown. But look at the left hand side: the positions of the live and neutral points have been reversed!
I took it back to the store and got a refund. I showed this faulty wiring to the shop attendant, who assured me that it's perfectly OK to switch around the live and neutral points; it makes no difference which side they're on - and he promptly put this michshol straight back on the shelf.
I presented him with my credentials as an electrical engineer (sort of true - I got the degree then went to work in programming), and attempted to explain that while it may be OK to switch the live and neutral for your unearthed radio/tape player, the minute you plug in an appliance that needs to be earthed, you are going to create a moderately large explosion. The earth and the neutral need to be at the same voltage (or close), while the live oscillates between about +330V and -330V, creating a Root Mean Square voltage of about 220V. (Wow! I remembered that from university, 15 years ago!) If you start sending oscillating voltages up your neutral wire where there's an earth connected, you are going to create a big, fat 220V short-circuit into your earth. That makes a nice big spark, possibly destroying the appliance you were unfortunate enough to plug into this socket.
Yeah, yeah. Whatever. And the splitter stayed on the shelf for the next unwitting victim.
If I'd had more time, I would have been more forceful. Perhaps I should have been, anyway - this may be a case of hashovas aveida, to prevent damage to anyone else who might buy one of these nasty little jobbies.
Anyway, the moral of the story is: make sure that when you buy electrical stuff, it should have the tav teken. Otherwise there is no guarantee that what you bought is anything better than seriously dangerous.
Yesterday my wife went on a Very Special outing with my 10-year-old daughter (and 3-month-old baby) - where else, but to go clothes shopping at the Hamashbir 50% sale in Jerusalem. I won't tell you how much they spent; suffice it to say that they enjoyed themselves! My wife was completely thrilled to find a store that didn't feel like it was improvised out of somebody's basement, selling clothes that were actually made with the shape of the human body in mind, made from material that will not perish on its first trip through the washing machine.
Anyway, to save herself the stress of driving in central Jerusalem and the expense of using one of the licensed muggers they call parking garages, she parked at the Wolfson Towers and caught a taxi to and from Hamashbir. But on the way back, in all the ballagan of schlepping prams, babies and parcels, the bags from Hamashbir failed to make it back into our car... a fact which my wife realized, to her utter shock and dismay, only when she got back home.
So we started the chase, realizing that the bags had no identifying features that the finder could use to reach us. As far as halachic simanim go, the fact that there was a certain grouping of clothes, in two packets, left in the trunk of a taxi would be a siman muvhak - but that wasn't much help to us. We didn't know the driver's name, just his description (young, nearly-shaved head, no kippa), nor which taxi company he worked for. My daughter remembered that there was a sticker in the car saying "My home is in Maaleh Adumim". A lead!
OK, off to the yellow pages. I mean, how many taxi companies can there be operating in Jerusalem?
82. Plus 3 in Maaleh Adumim.
OK... so let's go for the big hitters first - the most likely ones to have been patrolling the center of town. Luckily the Yellow Pages provides a map of all the locations, so I could pick off the ones based in the area. Some were hasa'ot, some were shuttle services. I eliminated the Arab ones. Anything with a cellphone number probably belongs to a freelancer. So I started calling, developed my script as I went along, emphasizing the driver from Maaleh Adumim and the fact that the parcels were pretty valuable. No dice. While most were sympathetic, they couldn't help me, or told me to "call again tomorrow".
My alarm sounded for mincha, and I went across the road to join the Moroccan minyan. As is my habit, while they were doing korbanot and all the other stuff they do before Ashrei, I picked up a chumash and started reviewing the parsha. I was up to the second aliya. Hashovas Aveida. Hm. I learned it extra hard, with special kavana. Shnayim Mikra, echad targum - the real way. Oh yes, yesterday was Monday - Yom Sheini. Significant? I wonder...
I left mincha imbued with confidence - and gratitude to Hashem for the fact that we were going to get our parcels back. Don't know how or when, but we will.
Made a few more calls to taxi companies, Hamashbir themselves (in case the driver returned it to them). One veteran taxi driver was really helpful, and got into sleuthing: he asked pertinent questions about the driver, the car, a bunch of details we didn't realize we knew, and referred us to another taxi maven in Maaleh Adumim, who also did his part to help. Then we decided this was enough hishtadlus for now. By the end of the evening we were happy and joking about the whole experience. My wife told me animatedly about every garment she bought, with full enjoyment of how beautiful it was, and it kind of felt like we already had them back.
This morning I started phoning again. The first company I called said not to bother until after 10 o' clock - all the drivers were still asleep! So I did, and one by one, I called the companies on my list. Each one in turn sent a broadcast to all his drivers with the pertinent details; each one said no, and I crossed them off my list... until... one of them gave me a cellphone number, and said, "Here, call this number." So I did... and this was the driver of the taxi... who had found my wife's packages in his trunk not 10 minutes beforehand.
So as I write this, he's just brought the packages to my wife, who happens to be in Jerusalem right now. She asked him what would have happened if we hadn't tracked him down? He said, they don't have any formal system for lost items; they just keep the items for as long as they feel like it, and wait for someone to contact them.
Think about it: if I had called 10 minutes earlier, the driver wouldn't have found the parcels yet, I would have crossed that company off my list, and we would in all likelihood never have seen those clothes again.
Yes, it's not a breathtaking miracle, it all happened al derech hateva, but I'm still very grateful to Hashem for having orchestrated things the way He did. And it highlights again that even a young skin-headed "chiloni" taxi driver has the Jewish heart to do the mitzva of hashovas aveida.
Postscript: if you should ever lose an item in an unidentified taxi the way I did, here are some tips:
Resist the temptation to start phoning immediately. Give it a day or two, to give the driver the opportunity to discover the lost item.
The police have a lost-and-found desk. The number in Jerusalem is 02 539 1360/1.
Contrary to some reports, it is not necessary to make a donation to Kupat Ha'Ir in order to get your lost item back. :-D
Probably the most important segula you can have is gratitude. Gratitude for the fact that Hashem is looking out for you, and that He will give you the y'shua you need. This principle applies in all aspects of life, and merits not just a separate blog post, but an entire book in its own right. The more you improve and sharpen your midda of gratitude, the more things in your life will just keep going right, and getting better all the time. Don't worry - Be happy! Really!
