Do Good, Receive Good: Frum Man Gives up First Class Ticket to Elderly Veteran, See What Happens Next

Moshe Feder from Lakewood NJ was waiting for his flight in Newark Airport when an announcement reverberated over the public address system. “Ladies and gentleman,” an airline employee intoned into her microphone, “we have the honor of having a 96-year-old former soldier on this flight who served as a lieutenant during World War II. This gentleman will be seated in row 15, and he would certainly appreciate it if you would approach him and thank him for his service to the country.”

As far as Moshe was concerned, this was a signal for him to act. He rose from his seat and approached the flight attendant at the desk. “I have a first class ticket,” he informed her, “and I would like to offer it to the former army lieutenant. I would be happy to switch seats with him.”

The woman was amazed and delighted by his offer. Picking up her microphone again, she announced excitedly, “Ladies and gentlemen, the passenger standing in front of me has just offered to give up his first class seat for the former lieutenant.” After the passengers had boarded the plane, she escorted Moshe to the first class section to introduce him to the former soldier, who thanked Moshe profusely for his kindness.

Since he was seated in the economy section rather than at the front of the plane, it took Moshe a bit longer than usual to disembark. When he finally made it through the airport and reached the car rental office where he was scheduled to pick up a vehicle, he somehow caught the attention of another customer, who spotted the logo of his employer, Modular Closets, on his shirt. “Excuse me,” the man said, “but do you install closets in apartment buildings?”

Moshe confirmed that he did, and the man introduced himself as the manager of a major company that owned multiple residential buildings. Moshe had to suppress a twinge of excitement; his own company had been trying for years to attract this particular real estate company as a customer, and an encounter with a representative of the company had practically landed in his lap! That meeting marked the beginning of a business relationship that was to continue for years to come.

“The only reason I met that person,” Moshe later reflected, “was that I had been delayed for those few extra minutes after giving up my seat. That was what led us to run into each other exactly at the right moment. I saw this as a reward from Hashem for the kiddush Hashem I performed on that flight.”

This is far from the only time that Moshe seized an opportunity to perform a kiddush Hashem and witnessed astounding results. Ample experience has taught him that Hashem often sends such opportunities, and that it is crucial to capitalize on them when they come. He was once working at an apartment complex in Florida when he encountered an elderly resident who noticed the yarmulke on his head. Moshe struck up a conversation with the man and learned that he was an irreligious Jew who hailed originally from Brooklyn. When Moshe discovered that the man did not wear tefillin, he offered to come to his home and help him perform the mitzvah. A few hours later, Moshe found himself at the home of his new acquaintance, who wept with great emotion as Moshe helped him put on tefillin for the first time in his life. “I am 82 years old,” he revealed, “and I have never had a bar mitzvah.” It was a deeply meaningful experience for both of them.

“My boss always tells me that when we travel or do business, it is really a means for us to serve Hashem,” Moshe muses today. “If a person keeps his eyes open, he will spot many opportunities for kiddush Hashem. Our job is to seize those opportunities. This is a lesson that has been driven home to me time and again in the course of my travels.”