I know the story and like it. As with many of these stories, the Italian proverb "se non è vero, è ben trovato" (if it is not true, it is well done) applies.
Many Israelis travel to India after they complete their military
service. In the army, these young men and women have to undergo
intense training and abide by strict codes of discipline. India
provides a mellow antithesis to such a regimen, and beckons to
travelers in many ways. Liora and her brother Ayal were two such
tourists who took off for India. They traveled together from one
tourist attraction to the next, then split up to follow separate
trails. Ayal stumbled upon Arachim’s Bayit HaYehudi hostel in India
where he enjoyed the hospitality and listened to some fascinating
lectures. Drawn to the extensive library, he discovered new concepts
that changed his life completely. He eventually opted for a life of
Torah and mitzvos.
In contrast to Ayal, Liora wandered around India until she reached the
city of Varanasi where she came across a cult headed by a charismatic
guru. He spoke eloquently of the brotherhood of all mankind, the
spirit of the cosmos, and efficient exploitation of the earth’s
resources. His captivating words entranced Liora, and she immediately
joined the cult.
When Ayal learned of his sister’s new affiliation, he tried to
extricate her from the cult, but her attraction to her new mentors was
too strong. He begged and pleaded to no avail. As a last resort, Ayal
suggested that they both return home for a visit with their parents.
He suggested that Liora attend an Arachim lecture together with him
while they were in Israel. Liora readily agreed, fully confident that
nothing could sever her from her new source of inspiration.
After a considerable delay, an Arachim staffer mounted the podium and
announced that the lecturer was sick and unable to attend. However, in
order not to leave the audience entirely empty-handed, he read to them
a short summary of the Jewish law concerning lost property. He
explained that the Torah requires someone who finds a lost object to
assume responsibility for it and to make a reasonable effort to locate
the owner. He also described how a finder must ascertain that the
claimant is truly the owner by asking for identifying marks or
characteristics, to prove that the item really belongs to him.
Liora sat there and yawned, totally unimpressed. The lecture had
practically put her to sleep. Ayal was devastated. How would he ever
pry his sister away from the cult now? After the lecture, they trudged
out of the hall and headed for home.
The next day, Liora flew back to her cult in India, and Ayal enrolled
in a yeshivah for baalei t’shuvah in Jerusalem.
It was only a short while later that Ayal was suddenly called out of
the beis midrash with an urgent message that someone was outside
waiting to see him. He was speechless to find his sister Liora
greeting him with a wide smile.
“What are you doing here?” he asked incredulously. “I want to enroll
in a school for baalos t’shuvah,” she replied.
“You?” asked Ayal. “What happened? What made you change your mind
about your ‘wonderful’ cult and its guru?”
Liora told him the full story: “One day, soon after I returned to
India, the guru asked me to accompany him somewhere. As we were
walking along the alleyways of Varanasi, the guru bent down and picked
up a fat wallet that someone had obviously just dropped. He opened it
and found it full of bills and documents. With a smile of
satisfaction, he tucked it into his pocket.
“I was speechless. Some tourist had just lost a considerable sum of
money, a driver license, and other valuable documents. His name,
address, and other personal details were all there, and it would be a
simple matter to find him by contacting the police or local embassy of
his country. Why did the guru just take it for himself? Wasn’t that
like stealing?
“When I suggested to the guru that perhaps we should try to find the
owner, he embarked on a long lecture about the unity of the universe,
the brotherhood of all men and the dynamics by which the energy of the
cosmos had transferred resources from the former owner of the wallet
to him. He explained that the two of them were actually one soul,
divided between two bodies, and the wallet had been lost so that the
money would reach its rightful destination.
“I then recalled the Arachim speaker and his presentation of the Torah
laws that apply in such a case. The sharp contrast between philosophy
perverted by greed and loyalty to the truth brought me back to my
senses. I immediately made up my mind to choose the Torah way of life
and booked a ticket back home.”
