Stubbornness

Are you a stubborn person? Not an easy question. Many people will easily spot stubbornness when it is manifest in other people’s words and actions, yet completely fail to notice it when it comes to their own. It is no secret that our own family had and has more than its share of stubborn people. Each obstinate in his or her own special way, to each his or her own flavor of stubbornness. Usually stubbornness is considered a negative quality, as it makes living with that person difficult and trying. But more than anything else it makes the life of the stubborn person themselves more difficult  - if only they could stop insisting on doing things the hard way and relent and take the easy way out. If you ask me, I’ll tell you that stubbornness can sometimes also be a positive quality - for it give us the energy and endurance to do deeds and overcome obstacles which otherwise would be impossible without its stubborn persistent force. And then there are cases when stubbornness can be both positive and a negative. Such is the story of that goy (gentile, non jewish person) and that cart full of planks of wood.

Yaacov Pineless, not uncle Yanek, but his grandfather, that is your great-great-great-grandfather used to be in the forestry business. Over time he also owned a sawmill and lumber yard where trees could be cut down to planks. Did he prosper in his business? Hard to say. Family legend has it that there were years of plenty when he was a rich man for all intents and purposes, and even the mayor would seek his counsel. But than there were also years of scarcity when there was hardly enough food on the family table. As he grew old, he tired of the constant fluctuations of this business and diversified and opened a pub.

 Now a pub is a completely different business. Income here is constant and assured. You can always depend on the local Polaks to require your services consistently and often. But let us not be racists, even among the Jews, and even among the Pineles family itself there were quite a few who would not refuse a good pint of ale, and could be counted among the steady patrons of the establishment.

 Anyway, once Yaacov opened his pub, he realized that in the same way that a man cannot be in two places at once, so he cannot properly run two different businesses at the same time and so he relinquished his forestry business to his son Mordechai - your great-great-grandfather, the grandfather of granny Hanita. Mordechai in his turn managed to make a decent living off that business for a couple of years, until he too realized the inherent risks and fluctuations of it and left it in favor of a candy factory which he owned (until either the Nazi’s or the Soviets confiscated sometimes during WWII).

 Why did Yaacov choose Mordechai out of all his sons to run the forestry business? I do not know. Maybe the business was actually run jointly by a few of the sons, maybe all the older ones have by then moved to America at the suggestion of the Rabbi of Zukov (there are quite a few of his Pineless descendants in the US to this day) and maybe he was to most inclined to running a business among those that stayed.

 Once upon a time, when Mordechai was still a novice manager (though no longer young in years) it so happened that a Polak farmer named Waslaw placed a large order for wood and planks. He intended to build himself a new house in his village which was some way off and for this he needed a lot of wood and planks. It seems this Waslaw was fairly well off as the order was large, even considering it was for a new house. But he paid for it, partially in cash and partially with promissory-bills (IOUs) which seemed properly backed so everything was fine. They shook hands to close the deal, and the workers loaded everything on the cart that this Waslaw brought with him. They even made sure to tie-up and secure everything properly so nothing will fall off as the cart will make its rickety way back through the mud filled roads of that rural area.

  But then instead of getting along on his way, the farmer walks back to the office and with a sad face asks if it would be possible to borrow an extra horse as the load is very heavy and he is afraid his one horse will not be able to carry it all by itself.

“No!”, answers Mordechai.

 Why did he refuse? Was it just his way to answer all requests with “no”? Could be, we do know that he never did like to let other people borrow his things. All the more so when the borrower was a goy. What if he fails to return it back? With a jew you can ask the Rabbi to help, or maybe talk with the guy in the shule. But with a goy? Who knows, you might end up having to go all the way to his village, or heaven forbid - even involve the authorities.

 The goy which was well built and proud, heard this “no” and for a moment was taken aback. Clearly he did not expect a refusal to what from his point of view was a reasonable request. But he did not give up. He stayed polite yet determined and repeated his request. He reiterated how heavy the load was and how he needed this extra horse. He even named a few people from the area who can vouch for him that he is an honest person and that they need not worry as in three days tops - he will be back with the horse - as good as if he never left, and let us not forget that this is a very large order and not every day Mr. Pineles gets to make such a fine large deal.

 Mordechai gets out of the office and walks back to the cart, measuring it with his gaze - up and down, left to right and finally concludes that one horse should definitely be  enough to carry such a cart with such load on it. Especially now that it is summertime and the mud has almost completely dried up from the roads. He finishes by wishing his esteemed customer a good day and returns to the office.

 Mordechai shuts the door, but the goy does not go away. Instead he remains standing by it as if hesitating what should be his next move. Inside the office, Hertzel, Mordechai’s brother, whispers to him in Yiddish: “Why Mordechai? Let him borrow the horse and finish this. After all, it is a fine deal we closed today. Also, that Polak he mentioned, I know him and I do remember him once telling me about this Waslaw so and so from the village of so and so that he is a fine and honest farmer”. But Mordechai refuses to relent: “Go figure when he returns the horse, if he returns the horse. He lives far away from here. Who knows? Maybe in the meanwhile he will use our horse for that construction work of his. Not to mention that if our business starts to get

a reputation as a place for lending horses we shall sink to such a low point as is unheard of even in the forestry business”.

 Again the goy knocks on the door and again Mordechai goes out to talk to him and again they are discussing, or possibly by now arguing if one horse is sufficient to carry this load. As spirits become more heated, Mordechai blurts out that if the goy would have taken good care of his horse and fed him properly there would be no problem at all. The goy’s face turns red. The insinuation that he is not taking proper care of his horse touchs a sore spot. All the more so as only yesterday his wife accused him of spending more time and  money on his horse than he does on her.  Without thinking her retorts back, this time aiming to heart as well: “Now what would a weakling Jew understand about horses and heavy loads” and follows with “Ever since the old manager has gone - stinginess has become the hallmark of this business”. Now Mordechai’s face also turns red, but he does not say a word. Instead he turns and quietly faces the goy, all pent up anger and rage. As he steps towards the goy, The goy suspects that he might have overstepped his boundary. He pales and takes a step back, but then tenses his muscles, preparing himself for the inevitable, for the case that all this stubbornness and rage be directed at him. But Mordechai keeps on walking past him until once again he is by the cart. He slowly walks around it, until now he is at the back. Then he stoops a bit, lowering his shoulders until the are exactly below the back part of the platform for the cart. For a moment, nothing happens. Then, very slowly he rises up flexing his muscles and as he rises he lifts the whole back part of the cart until now he is carrying it on his shoulders, the back wheels turning slowly in the air.

Everything freezes. The whole yard stops in its place. The workers, Waslaw, Hertzel, the other clients. Everyone just stares awestruck at the not so young Mordechai carrying the back of the cart on his shoulders. A moment passes, then another. No one dares break the spell. Then Mordechai stoops back down until the hind wheels again touch the ground. He gets out from under the cart, rises and walks back to his office as if nothing has happened. As he passes the goy he mutters: “Yes, I think one horse should do”.

Once again Waslaw’s face turns red, but this time from shame and humiliation. He mutters a few words of apology, climbs up to his cart. Whips his horse and they slowly and hesitantly make there way out of the yard (it was indeed a heavy load).

There you have it - the power of stubbornness - that from that day on, no one, be they jew or gentile dared ask Mordechai Pineles for  a horse to carry their load out of the lumber yard.

There you also have it  - the power of stubbornness - that from that day on, Mordechai suffered from acute  back aches.