HaShem Does Have a Sense of Humor

My First Meeting With Rabbi Avraham Sutton

by Ray Pettersen

I had only heard of Avraham Sutton from both Noahides and Jews who were and are his Torah students.  On my bookshelves I own some of the books that he edited such as Innerspace and Mashiach: Who, What, Why, How, Where, When.  We even carry some of these books in the Noahide Nations Store and yet I had never met him personally or heard him teach.  So, when I heard that he was going to be attending the VJRI 20th Anniversary Noahide Conference that my wife and I planned on attending as well, I got very excited at this opportunity to hear him teach.  When I learned that he had authored a number of books, which Noahide Nations will soon be carrying, I was even more excited to hear him teach.  I did have my own grandiose idea of how this first meeting would go but HaShem had His own ideas.

Rabbi Sutton arrived on Sunday and our first meeting was not at all what I expected.  HaShem has an incredible sense of humor, so He arranged this first meeting between Rabbi Sutton and myself, and I think wanted it to be very awkward for me.  I was back in my room changing clothes when there was a knock at the door.  As I was pulling my shorts on I said “hold on” at which point someone started to open the door.  Of course I jumped over to block the door and said “hold on” again and I heard a woman’s voice respond “sorry”.  Naturally I was very glad that I had jumped to block the door.

As I finished buttoning up my shorts I was thinking that I know that voice and upon opening the door I saw Miriam Ben Yaccov who I have known for a long time.  Of course I was glad to see Miriam but she had brought a man with her whom I had never met.  After exchanging our hello’s and good to see ya’s she made the introduction.  Low and behold it was none other than Avraham Sutton.

As we shook hands I’m certain I was turning red with embarrassment and wanted to run away as far and as fast as I could.  If you recall me sharing with you that I was changing my clothes and had just finished buttoning up my short’s followed by opening the door.  What I didn’t tell you is that my short’s is all I had finished putting on.  So, here I am standing half naked in front of a Jewish woman and a renowned Torah teacher.  As I’m standing there I realize that I am not in the best shape of my life as I had fallen off the treadmill habit a while back, but there was nowhere I could hide.  You get the visual.  I really wished that I had been pulling on my shirt when the knock on the door first came.

It’s amazing what happens to the mind when you are very embarrassed, like, it stops working.  Somehow words starting coming out of my mouth that sounded very much like “it’s good to meet you, I’ve heard a great deal about you”.  I know it was HaShem helping me along in this very awkward moment in my life.  Naturally, I was quite grateful to HaShem but was also thinking that He put me in this situation, why was I so grateful?  My mind then told me that this was a teaching moment.  I don’t know for certain if it was me talking to myself or HaShem talking to me but given the fact that nothing happens without Him I could see His hand print all over this.

I don’t know for sure but I think Miram was turning red but I was to busy trying to survive the moment.  Avraham, very calmly, as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening, shook my hand and said he was glad to meet me, and that he needed my help.  I knew then that HaShem was about to redeem me so listened intently as Avraham asked me if I would take his books up to the building where the conference was being.  I thought Baruch HaShem I’ve got an S R5 that will carry 1000 plus pounds of books.  I said “sure I can drive them up, where are they”.  He pointed to two monster suitcases down about 100 feet.  He went to wheel the suitcases down which gave me a chance to sneak back into the room, pull on a shirt and step into a pair of sandals.

As I was finishing getting dressed I wondered what the teaching lesson from HaShem was for Avraham and Miriam during all of this.  You’ll have to ask them because I was to embarrassed to ask, but I am happy to inform you of what I learned.

Do not ever utter a sound when you hear a knock at the door unless you are fully clothed because you never know who will be there.  What if it’s Elisha?

If you are staying in a place that does not believe in locks on the doors, which this was, always have some kind of door stop like a suitcase, a chair or your sleeping spouse.

When embarrassed beyond reason the brain ceases to function normally.

Always pray for a good result, in advance, when you know you are going to meet someone for the very first time.

When learning a lesson in humility from HaShem you can count on it being a special time.

HaShem always seems to provide a means of redemption after having your special time.

Each day brings new lessons, whether we want them or not.

And, finally, I’ve learned, what I always thought to be true, that HaShem does indeed have a sense of humor.

Written by :

Ray