It's not every day that someone gives up a lucrative deal that provides them with a clean and secure profit of hundreds of thousands of shekels. Such is the extraordinary and moving story of Michael Stroud, who made the decision wholeheartedly - and was not satisfied until he asked to publish the full story publicly, in order to provide a moral and a living example to anyone who might encounter such an experience.
Rabbi Michael Stroud is engaged in locating lands that have no claimants or knowledge. In most cases, these are lands that were purchased decades ago, and he, with his keen senses and the skill he has developed, searches for their legal heirs, informs them of the existence of the property, and works on their behalf to transfer it to them, ultimately receiving a percentage as an official commission.
""This is not an easy job," says Rabbi Michael. "This work requires a great investment of time, creativity, and of course, divine help.".
He explains: "You may work on a file for a long time, build layer upon layer, and get stuck in it for many different reasons, such as the inability to prove identity, multiple heirs, and more. In such cases, all the work in which you invested time, sweat, and resources goes down the drain. More than once, the heirs can also tell you complacently, from their place of residence in Manhattan or Australia: We know about the property but we don't want to deal with it. Goodbye and goodbye, and be careful not to call again.".
The case that Rabbi Michael managed to get his hands on was interesting and easy to prove. He had clear identification data of the testator. He only had to locate what he calls the inheritance chain, in order to know for sure who the last heir was to whom the amount would reach after the realization of the property. "I located all the stations in the inheritance, not before I had to reach people in Europe who took part in the inheritance, and so I advanced one step further. According to the clear calculations I made, my commission should have amounted to a net amount of 300,000 NIS.".
To further explain the meaning of the amount, Rabbi Michael explains: "These are the accepted rules of the game in this business. You only receive the commission percentage from what you managed to bring to the client and only after he himself receives the inheritance in his pocket. This is a long and winding story that is difficult to predict in advance when and how it will end, and the commission is charged accordingly.".
This time, he again points out, the process was supposed to be relatively easy: "Apart from the fact that there aren't many people, the property wasn't mentioned in the testator's official will. I was the one who was supposed to tell them about their rights, and they need me and my knowledge in order to move forward with the process.".
The first red light came on relatively early on.
""I did not approach this case lightly," reveals Rabbi Michael. "I discovered early on that a missionary figure, who was not a relative of the testator, had interfered with the initial inheritance process. At first, I postponed the process for fear that the destination of the inheritance was missionary. Then, after a while, I said to myself, I will at least try and see if the final destination is indeed missionary hands.".
Careful work led to all the stops. The heirs, it turned out, were private individuals. The owner of the property bequeathed it to D. D.'s will ordered that all her wealth and assets be bequeathed to S. "I located S.'s will and then I realized that all my dreams and fantasies about what to do with the large commission amount, what to renovate and who to help, were in vain. The final destination of most of the money was entities associated with missionary sects that are engaged in persuading Jews to convert to their religion, Rachel.".
According to S.'s will, after distributing a symbolic amount to friends and instructions to whom to give certain items of property, all other rights are divided among a number of associations associated with Messianic sects, except for one Jewish-Israeli association.
In order to verify whether these bodies, to which the vast majority of the will was intended, were engaged in preaching and persuading Jews to convert, Rabbi Michael Strodo contacted the activist organization "Yad L'Achim," which has been at the forefront of the struggle against misogyny for years.
At Yad Laachim, Rabbi Michael received the names and within a short time they returned to him with clear, unambiguous information. "It turned out that the situation was more dangerous than I thought," says Rabbi Michael, and immediately explains: "If I thought that an organization that, according to its statement, is engaged in detoxification from the use of dangerous substances; and this is a blessed activity that will cause as few Jews as possible to suffer from a terrible addiction, it was made clear to me that their path to detoxification is through clear missionary preaching, combined with idolatry. Even helping the needy, a goal that was officially declared in relation to another organization that was among the direct beneficiaries of the will, was clearly combined with preaching their false faith and converting Jews to their religion.".
Another target of the inheritance in question was a social club of a certain nursing home.
Yad L'Achim investigated and found that the nursing home is intended for a non-Jewish population, but its club is regularly attended by Jewish seniors who are exposed to Christian symbols and active missionary preaching.
The verified and documented information that Yad Laachim submitted to Rabbi Michael left no doubt. "As far as I'm concerned," he said this week, "the case is closed. I am a member of the Jewish people and will not fall, I will not fail, and I will not lend a hand or assist in increasing the power of that sect that unfortunately still exists in the land. It is reasonable to assume that one of my ancestors sacrificed his comfort, peace, and perhaps even his life on the altar of Jewish faith and loyalty, the only loyalty that has existed since time immemorial and will continue to exist until the coming of the Redeemer of Justice, and I will not blemish it.".
The Yad L'Achim organization confirmed the details of the shocking incident, praised Rabbi Michael Strodo, who resisted the attempt at financial temptation, and clarified: "It is said of him and others like him that those who come to be purified are helped. It is a great credit to him that he did not give his hand to strike at the root of the fruitful and heady wormwood of the mission and its destructive metastases, which threaten to destroy every good part of our people. And the place will surely fill his absence, with all the best words.".
Join the Haredim 10 Facebook page >>
Join the X page of Haredim 10 >>
Want more news, videos and stories? Join the Haredim 10 WhatsApp channel >>
