DOVID THE POLICEMAN (OR ADVISOR)

By Zalman Bin-Nun

The road was nearly empty. A few cars silently zoomed by on their way to their destination. On the right were tall mountains and on the left was a gurgling stream. Ahead was the long, winding road.

We were moving quickly when suddenly, flickering red and blue lights blinded us. Loud sirens could be heard outside and a particularly irritating voice announced, “The white Toyota, pull over please.”

My father stopped the car a few meters before the police car that was parked on the side of the road. He waited for the policeman who came over to the car in a menacing way.

“License and registration please,” ordered the policeman.

My father took out a bundle of papers from the glove compartment. The policeman returned to his car and spent a few minutes there. My father looked relaxed and said there was nothing to worry about, we did nothing wrong.

A short while later the policeman came back and said, “Excuse me sir, ahem … You are free to continue on your way. That was a spot check to make sure all was in order. I am happy to inform you that we did not find anything wrong and all your paperwork is in order. Drive safely.”

“Thank you!” said my father with a smile and then he motioned to the policeman with his finger to wait a minute. The policeman looked at him questioningly. My father gently said, “Do you know that in Yemos HaMoshiach you will change jobs?”

The policeman gave my father an odd look and said, “First of all, thank you for telling me. My name is Dovid and I’m pleased to meet you, Yisroel (he saw my father’s name on the papers). But why do you say that? Would they fire me in Yemos HaMoshiach? Did you find something wrong with how I carried out my responsibilities?”

My father was quick to reassure him. “Definitely not! You did your job just fine, but picture the wonderful era of Yemos HaMoshiach, a world without wars, people with no problems, everyone doing what Hashem wants, nobody even considering doing anything wrong or forbidden. Why would we need policemen when everyone is law abiding?”

The policeman’s forehead furrowed in thought. “I understand what you’re saying but do you mean to say my job will be unnecessary and that I will be unemployed?”

My father’s answer astounded the policeman. “You have nothing to worry about. In the Geula, the job will be different and more challenging. The job will be called yoetz-advisor and the goal will be to advise people in how to behave properly. I don’t know whether you will continue wearing your uniform but you certainly won’t have handcuffs and a gun will be completely unnecessary.”

The policeman smiled and my father continued. “In the era we are in right now, we can start living that way and feel how it’s the time of Moshiach. So even now you can start working as an advisor and do less of the policing and punishing work.”

The policeman nodded and said, “That’s amazing! That is precisely what I was arguing with Chaim about. He’s my partner in the patrol car. Chaim says every time we stop a car and find a problem, the driver should pay the highest fine, and cars without any problems and traffic violations should immediately be sent on so we can continue catching wrongdoers.

“I, however, always say that we can handle things differently these days and influence drivers and advise them on how they ought to act. When a driver does something wrong, I give them a serious warning and maybe a small fine and I tell them precisely how to beware and how to behave the next time. When drivers have done nothing wrong, I give them encouragement and advise them how to continue driving safely.”

“So you didn’t actually know” I said to the policeman, “that you are starting to carry out your role as advisor for the Geula shleima.”

The policeman looked a little despondent. He replied, “For the Geula? How much longer will it be? How can we know what will take place then and when Moshiach will actually come? Believe me, I would do whatever I could if I knew what and how.”

My father, who liked Dovid’s answer, explained, “As part of the process that our generation is going through, we have merited a genuine advisor and judge who leads all the people of the generation on the path to Geula. He provides advice and instructions in the service of Hashem, he gives blessings, and guidance in all aspects of life. He cares about every single one of us. This special advisor is known as the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach.”

The policeman was happy to hear something familiar. He took a Moshiach card with the Rebbe’s picture on it out of his wallet. He kissed the picture and said, “I know him for some time now but I did not know he is the advisor and judge. What does that mean to me?”

“Simple,” said my father. “The generation’s advisor, the Rebbe, gave specific instructions about how to bring the Geula process to a successful conclusion.”

The policeman was very excited and he took our phone number and arranged to learn these instructions with my father.

He waved goodbye and we continued on our way. From that day on, Dovid became a regular guest of ours. The shiurim that he learned led to his doing good deeds to hasten the Geula. When he understood that the advisor of the generation wants us to publicize this, he did so.

Not surprisingly, the next time a police car stopped us, Chaim, Dovid’s friend, got out and with a big smile he said, “I have some advice for you!”