When synagogue goers in the West Bank community of Einav recently decided to set up an outdoor prayer area to allow them to continue praying together in accordance with coronavirus guidelines, they turned to contractor Rami Yihya for a quote.
But upon hearing that the designated project was for a house of worship, Yihya, an Israeli Arab from the city of Taibeh, insisted on doing the job for free.
“I don’t take money for a holy place. It’s all from above, it’s a blessing,” Yihya explained to the synagogue members, who held an evening in his honor in a video that has since gone viral in a series of posts.
“Thank God, I have business, and everything is from above, but a person also needs to act for the sake of the world to come,” he added. “Tomorrow, when you’re asked what you’ve done, what will you say? What will you take with you? Money? Not land and not cars and not anything else. You only take the good deeds that you’ve done. These are the only things that you take with you.”
A short video broadcasting Yihya’sspeech reached some 60,000 people on Facebook and garnered thousands of likes and comments, many of them applauding Yihya for his generosity.
“Rami, my dear man, you warmed my heart. I wish for many more people like you and I hope that God will repay you measure for measure with happiness and good health, and that you’ll always be on the giving end and not the receiving one. God bless you, prince,” wrote one Facebook user.
“Touching!! I wish there’d be more people like him,” commented another.
In his speech, Yihya noted that he has also carried out similar acts of kindness in his own community.
“I see a person as a person; you’ve got to see the other,” he noted. “I do it from the heart, with love, really.”