Spam or great message?

We all often get very 'catchy' spam email; occasionally, we get emails that are questionable. I got one of these two weeks ago, and it turns out that it was very legitimate:

A message that came from an email that I didn't recognize and with no subject line, said the following: 

"I was thinking of you after my final cancer surgery. I am fine. Thanks for being there for Joe. You are the only Jew he admires. Thanks again".

I didn't remember any Joe that I was very close to, nor any Joe whose father had a surgery. But it does say, "Jew", which seemed to be more than random spam. I decided that it must have been sent to the wrong person. Perhaps, he meant to send it  to a different Rabbi… So, I replied  asking "to whom did you intent to send this email to?".

The moment I got the email back from the man, I realized who it was. Joe was a student at Uvic that came by a few times to eat with us, appeared occasionally in Shul on Shabbat, and with whom I spent time together a few times. I never thought that I had any influence on him beyond spending the few times together...

Don't worry, I understand that he didn't really mean that I'm the only Jew he admires...  I do assume it really means that I had some impact on this boy's life in a challenging time for him. I had no clue...

This was a powerful lesson for me. The effect that we have on other people is beyond what we can ever imagine. A little gesture from you - may mean a world to another!