Yochanan Levi was a kind-hearted sort of fellow who enjoyed nothing more than helping others.  Together with his wife Sarah, he decided to set up a new kind of free-loan society, popularly called a gemach in Hebrew.  Instead of the standard interest-free loans that other families offered, they planned to lend out tools that would enable families to make their own home repairs and thus save money.

Yochanan purchased five each of the most basic tools – hammers, saws, pliers, and so forth.  When it came to more expensive items, he bought only one of each kind.  The Levis decided to lend out the tools for up to two weeks, and to ask each "customer" to leave a check as a deposit. Sarah drew a few signs, which they posted in strategic locations. Then they sat back and waited for the first knock on the door.  It wasn't long in coming.  Soon they had a steady stream of clients. Some came to borrow tools, others to return them, and the idea caught on.

The summer passed, and the first rains began to fall.  Suddenly, everyone remembered the drippy eaves and the holes in the roof that had plagued them the previous winter. Now the Levis were swamped with requests for tools and equipment. One visitor was called David Brown.  He was new in town, and he needed a hammer and a pair of pliers.  Yochanan told him to look upstairs in the attic, where he would find a selection of tools.  "Choose what you need,” the host assured David.  “Then come back down here and show it to me, so I can write it all down," he told Brown.

Brown made a thorough inspection of the tools in the attic. He found saws, levels, planes, and many other tools in the attic, but not one hammer or pair of pliers.   He went back downstairs and reported his findings to Yochanan Levi.

"If that's the case," Levi told him, "try the room on the left down in the cellar. There are lots more tools there."  He showed David the way downstairs, and turned on the light for him.

To David's surprise, there was an even wider selection of tools in the cellar, but still not the two simple items he was looking for, a pair of pliers and a simple, ordinary hammer.  He went back upstairs and told Levi what the situation was in the cellar.  There wasn't a single hammer or pair of pliers to be found there.

"Ah, you need a hammer and pliers?" asked Levi, as though hearing David's request for the first time.  "Simple tools like that are right here, in the hallway. No need to go up or down any stairs.  I keep the basics right here at hand."

Without another word, he led David down the hall, opened a tall utility closet, and took out the tools the visitor had requested.

"Come into the dining room a minute and sign for them, and they're all yours – for up to two weeks, that is," said Yochanan with a smile.

David filled in the form Yochanan gave him, and returned it with a thank you. "Uh, could I just ask you something?" he turned to Yochanan before he left.

"You can ask," answered his host.  "I don't promise you I'll have an answer," he said with a grin, "but you can try me. What would you like to know?"

"The things I needed were right here almost under our noses all the while.  If so, why did you send me upstairs first, and then down to the cellar, instead of going straight to the cupboard here in the hall?  Didn't you hear what I asked for the first time?"

Yochanan chuckled.  "Sorry abut that," he said. "I heard you the first time, all right, but I had a good reason to send you looking all over for the things before I gave them to you. Let me explain: this is a very busy time of the year for a gemach like ours.  A lot of people are getting ready for the rainy season, and the demand for hammers and pliers is at its height.  No one wants a leaky roof on a cold winter night.

"In addition to those who are preparing for winter, there are some people who have other repairs to make.  They put things off until now, and suddenly decide that this is the week they are going to fix that wobbly chair or creaking closet door.  The repair may have waited for months, and nothing so terrible will happen if they wait another week or two to do the job.

"I'd prefer that such people wait a while, and give first chance at the tools to people whose roofs need repair before the rains start. "That's why I wanted to know how badly you needed the tools you asked for.  If I saw that you were willing to go upstairs to the attic to look for them, and then go down to the cellar and search there, as well, I could be sure that you really need the things now.

"In that case, you were welcome to take them; that's what the gemach is here for.

"I understand," nodded David.  "And thanks again for the tools!"

"Use them in good health!" Yochanan wished him as he saw him out the door, and turned to welcome another "customer." "We're always happy to be of help."

Yochanan enjoyed helping others.  It was his pleasure to be of help.

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Even more than one human being wants to help his fellow men, G-d wants to help us.  However, for our own good, He requires first that we want to be helped by Him.  He is waiting and watching to see whether we feel the need of His help.

Yochanan was happy to help David Brown once he demonstrated that he really wanted the tools now.

So, too, can we be certain that G-d will come forth and extend His help once we demonstrate that we truly, sincerely wish to draw near to Him and to fulfill His will.