Arcady Gaydamak Does It Again.

Say what you will about Arcady Gaydamak and his political aspirations, but he seems to doing lots of good both for the mental well-being of many Israelis from Sderot who have sought refuge in his tent city in the Yarkon Park in Tel Aviv, and now, for the spiritual well-being of both Jews and Arabs in Israel.

This article appeared on Arutz 7's news service today. In short, it reports Gaydamak went and bought 51% of the stock of the Tiv Ta'am non-kosher Israeli supermarket chain. This chain is most famous for being a major provider of pork in Israel (whoever thought one would say such a horrible statement). Gaydamak plans to do some house cleaning and get rid of the treif products in the Tiv Ta'am stores. Further, the stores will no longer be open on Shabbos.

Yes, he plans to run for mayor of Jerusalem. And yes, he plans, if he wins the election, he plans to appoint an Arab deputy mayor. But, he is also now going to do his best to prevent as many people as possible from eating pork in Israel. That's pretty big, and even if at this time some might claim he is doing this to gain political favor and he is not doing all this l'Shma, guess what? Mitoch She'lo L'shma, ba L'shma - eventually it will end up being l'shem Shamayim.

Oh, and by the way. The man bought 51% of the stock of Tiv Ta'am for 80% (yes, that's eighty percent) more than the entire company is worth. And oh, yeah. It also wasn't actually for sale. He made the owners an offer the, well, just couldn't refuse. One doesn't spend that kind of money to become mayor of a city. One spends that kind of money because he cares about Jews.

Now, I don't know if this guy is frum, but he obviously cares very much about Jews and their well-being, be it physical, mental, or spiritual. Does this not make him a gadol? Even if he may not be a talmid chacham?

The question, I believe, will really become: What makes a gadol? Cetainly today, it's not Torah, or at least not Torah alone.