When halachah impacts your wallet: 3 stories

Bankrupt

Layoffs.

Gossip spread like wildfire through the building. Everyone was whispering about it, finding excuses to get up from their desk and listen to the news being passed around at the water cooler — “Robert M.? I can’t believe it — he’s always the first one in the office each morning.”

“Do you know why? Is the company doing so poorly?”

“Keep your résumé updated… I hear there’s more coming….”

Twelve people had gotten called into the office and received a two-week notice. The company had expanded too quickly, it was hemorrhaging money, and the investors wanted to pull out and cut their losses. That didn’t mean we’d all lose our jobs. A private equity company was going to buy the place, but they wanted a leaner, meaner company, and that meant massive layoffs.

The timing couldn’t have been worse for me. We were about to make a bar mitzvah. We had just bought a new house. The twins needed braces. My wife, Leora, needed physical therapy for a back problem.

“Maybe I’ll survive the layoffs,” I told Leora. “They need to keep some people on. They can’t fire everyone.”

Leora was a preschool teacher, and she loved her job, but it didn’t bring in the big bucks. I was the main breadwinner as chief product officer of the company.

“We just have to have emunah,” Leora reminded me. “You’re already doing your hishtadlus.”

But the next day I got called into the office. “Chaim, I’m sure it doesn’t come as news to you that the company is downsizing. Unfortunately, we’re getting rid of your position. You’ve done great work here, and I’m sure you’ll find something soon. We’re going to give you glowing recommendations.”

And the job search began. I’d spend all day sending out résumés. I’d make it through multiple rounds of interviews only to be told after weeks of waiting that they had decided to go with a different candidate.

Meanwhile, the bills piled up. I took out a credit card loan promising zero interest until May. By then something will come up, I told myself. I read and reread The Garden of Emunah. I constantly reminded myself that parnassah is in the Hands of Hashem.