Someone Always Sees

January 11, 2008
Rabbi Seymour Rossel

In the days of the Dust Bowl, times were bad. Foreclosures were constant. Farmers sought any work to earn money for their families. Thousands of folk were on the road when one of the worst dust storms turned day into night. The travelers pulled hats down over their heads, covered their mouths with handkerchiefs, leaned into the wind, and tried to keep moving, though they could barely see the road in front of them. That was the April day in 1935 called, "Black Sunday."

There was no crop again that year. Many farmers abandoned their farms forever. There was no business in the shops in the small villages and towns. Many family stores closed and some of the store owners were Jews. That is why the brother of my grandmother, the man we knew as "Uncle Joe," was walking along the road in the Texas panhandle, heading for Los Angeles, half-a-continent away.

Uncle Joe was on foot. He had no real possessions left to carry. Of course, he still had his Jewish soul. He trusted that God would watch out for him. And, as he was asking for God's help, an old battered automobile came down the road, going in his direction. He waved and the driver stopped and leaned out the window.

"Where are you headed?" the driver asked.

"West to California," Uncle Joe said.

"Long walk," the driver said. "And the dust storms keep blowing. I'm not going that far, but I am going West a way. You can ride with me if you will help me."

Uncle Joe said, "I don't drive." But the driver said, "That's okay. Just climb in." So Uncle Joe settled in the passenger's seat, happy to rest his feet a while.

When they had gone a short way, the driver pulled the car to the side of the road and stopped. "See that apple tree over there?" he asked. "I know the fellow who owns it, but he never gives me any apples. I'm going to take a few for myself. You keep watch and, if you see someone coming, yell out, ‘Someone sees!'"

Uncle Joe nodded, not saying a word. The driver got out of the car and looked around. When he saw that no one was nearby, he ran across the road to the apple tree. But just as he was about to steal the first apple, Uncle Joe yelled out, "Someone sees!"

The driver panicked. He raced back to the car, jumped into the seat behind the wheel, and drove off.

After they had gone a short way, the driver spied a patch where some farmer had planted a few onions to feed his family. The driver stopped the car again, and said, "You keep watch, and if you see someone coming, yell out, ‘Someone sees!'"

He got out of the car and looked around. When he thought there was no one in sight, he climbed over the fence and stepped into the onion patch. But as soon as he had taken hold of the first onion, Uncle Joe yelled out, "Someone sees!"

Again the driver raced back to the car and drove off quickly. But when he had gone a short distance, he looked around and saw that no one was following.

"There was no one watching," he complained to Uncle Joe. "Why did you yell out, ‘Someone sees!'?"

Uncle Joe shrugged his shoulders and, from the depths of his Jewish soul, he told the driver, "Someone always sees."

It may seem harmless to grab a few onions or take an apple from an apple tree, especially in the midst of a great depression. But, the Torah and the Talmud agree that even such small thefts are a major concern and can lead to greater and greater evil. But the real point of my little story is that Jews never travel alone. God is always with us as we decide how we are going to behave. This is the deeper meaning of Uncle Joe's saying, "Someone always sees." And let us say: Amen.