Diamonds, Deals and Deeds

It was a most unusual case. Two litigants stood before the dayanim of the beis din. One was the owner of a diamond polishing factory and the other was an employee at the factory. "I have brought my employer here today because he fired me from my job, the employee began in an injured tone. "Is that true? And why did you fire him?" the dayanim asked the defendant. The factory owner reluctantly explained, "This employee caused me a lot of damage with his work. Many diamonds were ruined and I incurred huge losses." He took a deep breath; it seemed hard for him to speak. "Despite the damages, I didn't sue him for the losses. Furthermore, I didn't want to leave him without a parnassah, and so, at the time I fired him, I told him I'd continue paying his salary until he found a new job. I just wanted to prevent further damage to my business," he concluded. "Is this true?" the dayanim asked the employee. "Yes. It's true, but I'm suing him because he refuses to keep me employed. I don't want to be the recipient of tzedakah money!" the man cried. The dayanim were stunned. Who was this person who was blessed with such noble middos? Who was the defendant who looked away from all subjective interests, and focused only on the welfare of another? We did not know him either - even though we were his children... Published in Hebrew as "Ish Chessed Hayah"