Leadership By Example

Parshas Emor

Posted on April 30, 2021 (5781) By Rabbi Label Lam | Series: Dvar Torah | Level: Beginner

 

And HASHEM said to Moshe: ‘Say to the Kohanim, the sons of Aaron, and you shall say to them: “To a (dead) person he shall not become impure among his people…”‘ (Vayikra 21:1

Say to the Kohanim…and you shall say to them: The Torah uses the double expression of “say” followed by “and you shall say” to caution the adults with regard to the minors. (Rashi)

 

The Kohanim-The Priestly cast are to play an important role as living examples of holiness and purity for the entire nations. Where is the manual for success in relating this sublime message from one generation to the next?

 

Rabbi Yaakov Kaminetsky ztl. Had made an important distinction between two important words in the realm of raising children; Chinuch – Education and Hashpah – Influence. Education is a form of direct teaching. The teacher fills up the cup of the child with valuable information and important knowledge.

 

Hashpah comes from a root word Shefa which means abundance. Hashpah is when the teacher fills his cup and what overflows washes over and influences those in one’s immediate surroundings.

 

Which is most effective?

 

I have had many parents brag to me over the years, “Rabbi, I push my children!” They think I will be impressed. While I am sure they mean well, my response is, “Don’t push! Pull!” I explain, “When someone honks their horn behind you, do you feel like going faster or slower? However, when a car goes racing by, we all have an urge to speed up. Teach your child primarily by example!

 

Children are studying their parents in ways the parents may never imagine, and they will naturally imitate their behavior. One day I opened the food cabinet at home, and an avalanche of 2ounce applesauce snack containers came crashing down. As I gazed at the pileup on the floor below a great truth dawned upon me, “The applesauce doesn’t fall far from the pantry!”

 

The parents who unfortunately talk in Shul are raising the next generation of Shul talkers. Those who remain focused on the business of Davening invariably raise children who Daven.

 

One clever child told his parents, “Your actions are so loud, I can’t hear what you are saying!”

The story is told about a principal who called a father at his work to discuss his child’s behavior. While the principal was demanding a face to face meeting the father insisted to be told the reason for the call.

So, the principal told him straight, “It seems your child has been stealing pencils from the other children in school.” The father was righteously indignant and replied to the principal, “Why in the world would my child steal pencils from the other children? I bring home all the pencils he needs from the office!”

 

One of my teachers was happily skipping home on Simchas Torah with his then young family. They were singing a lively tune to the words, “Olam Haba is a guta zach…Learning Torah is a besser zach…” (The next world is a good thing…Learning Torah is a better thing…” His four-year old daughter interrupted the parade and asked her father in all earnest, “Abba, what’s Olam Haba?”

 

He knew he had to address her question on a level she could comprehend. He asked her what the most delicious thing in the world was, thinking that if she said chocolate, then he would tell her it’s tons of chocolate and if she said marshmallows then he’d tell her how many marshmallows. She gave a most surprising answer, though. “Davening!” He asked her where she had learned that. She was not yet in school and all she said was, “Mommy!”

 

How had she learned this? He realized that after the morning rush, when all the older brothers and sisters are sent off to school the mother and daughter sit down to eat some breakfast. The mother has her coffee and a muffin and the daughter has her sweet raisin bran. Afterwards, the mother approaches a blank wall, siddur in hand and prays. The child notices the look of sublime joy on her mother’s face. Intuitively she compares it to the sweetness of the breakfast goodies and naturally concludes one experience must be far sweeter than the other. Davening must be that delicious.

 

That’s the power of Hashpa, the highest form of leadership – by example.

 

Fresh Miracles or Stale Bread

Parshas Emor

Posted on May 3, 2018 (5778) By Rabbi Naftali Reich | Series: Legacy | Level: Beginner

 

A quick thought for the week. At the end of this week’s Torah portion, the Torah recounts the story of the individual who committed the crime of blasphemy and uttered a vicious curse against the Creator of the world. The Torah introduces us to the events surrounding this saga with the cryptic words, “The son of an Israelite woman went out” which prompts an obvious question: From where did he go out? The Midrash offers a few answers. One interpretation explains the Midrash is that he “went out” (he veered off the path) from a misunderstanding in the previous section that the Torah was just discussing.

 

In that section (Chap 24 Verse 5), the Torah enlightens us about the miracle of the 12 fresh loaves of bread, the ‘Lechem Haponim’, that were placed each Friday on the shulchan, a specially crafted golden table that was located in the sanctum of the Temple. These loaves of bread were not moved until the week’s end, when they were distributed to the kohanim. The blasphemer looked at this week-old bread and became annoyed at the fact that the Kohanim were offering Hashem what was apparently old, stale bread. How does one treat the King of Kings like this? He was so outraged at the slight to the glory of G-d that he took his anger out on G-d Himself. He went out and blasphemed the name of G-d.

 

This is rather difficult to understand. The fellow was bothered by a perceived injustice and was standing up for the honor of G-d. How then could he have stooped to commit an even worse affront to G-d?

 

The commentaries explain that in truth, the lechem haponim bread actually miraculously stayed warm and fresh the entire week. They didn’t decay as normal food would. In the Temple, the rules of nature were suspended; the bread was as fresh and steaming hot seven days later as the moment it came out of the oven.

 

However, this disgruntled individual didn’t want to find out the true state of affairs. He was under a misconception that provoked him to anger, and he took the first opportunity to vent it.

 

Rather than step back and appraise the situation calmly, he was looking for the closest target to dump on. He needed an excuse to express his gripes about the religious system and as soon as he found an opening, he seized it.

 

The problem is, venting one’s anger doesn’t diminish the negative energy but rather fuels it. Just like alcohol prompts the urge for more alcohol, so too, anger has an addictive quality. It tends to take on a life of its own, triggering even more anger and indignation. For after all, one always needs to further rationalize the initial burst of anger? Of course, brooding on the reasons and justification for it only stokes the flames further.

 

Thus, after getting angry about the loaves of bread, it wasn’t long before the person in our Parsha blasphemed G-d himself.

 

The word Panim, say the commentaries actually means ‘pnim’ …the inside. Just like our faces provide a reflection of our inner emotions so indeed, the way we see and evaluate others also is invariably painted and colored by our innermost values and characteristics. What we see with our panim is dictated by our pnim! This coldhearted individual saw cold stale bread only because he was impervious to seeing the constant daily Divine flow of blessings in his life that would have been readily apparent had he only been more receptive.

 

In our own lives, when we look honestly at why we get angry, we will often discover that the reasons are not very solid. Others are not cooperating with us or doing as we wish them to.

 

That fuels a sense of frustration and disappointment. Doesn’t this person know they are making us impatient and angry? How can they continue not doing what we want? It’s because they don’t respect or care for us enough. They don’t realize they should be catering to us!

 

When we shout at a co-worker or family member for a slight infraction, the real culprit is not the unfortunate target of our anger -but our own ego that has been offended.

 

Let us make every effort to control the angry impulses that wear the mantle of righteous indignation but which in the end, poison the atmosphere, destroy relationships-and hurt ourselves most of all.

 

Wishing you a wonderful Shabbos,

Rabbi Naftali Reich

 

 

Nothing Wasted

Parshas Acharei Mos

Posted on May 2, 2024 (5784) By Rabbi Naftali Reich | Series: Legacy | Level: Beginner

 

 

Nothing is lost. Nothing is wasted.

 

This is what Hashem was telling Aaron by way of consolation for the death of his two sons.

 

“With this” shall Aaron enter the sanctuary. With the fiery zeal of his two sons, which would now be channeled to their proper destination through the Yom Kippur service performed by their father. Through his actions, Aaron could tune in to the spiritual energy generated by his sons and harness it to add momentum to his own service. In this way, he could bring fulfillment to the lives of his sons and solace to his own broken heart.

 

A young dissident was sentenced to fifteen years of hard labor in a prison camp. Each day he would push a long pole attached to a gear that turned a heavy millstone in the next room. Day in and day out for fifteen years, from dawn until long after dark, the prisoner pushed the pole in an endless circles of backbreaking labor.

 

When he was finally released, he asked to see the millstone, and his wish was granted. The room turned out to be dark and musty, covered with cobwebs and many inches of dust. The former prisoner took one look and burst into tears.

 

“Why are you crying?” asked the puzzled warden.

 

“All these years, I had thought I was grinding grain, that I was helping make bread. But now I see that all that terrible hardship was a total waste. That is simply too much to bear.”

 

In our own lives, we often expend energy on all sorts of good deeds without seeing any tangible results. For instance, we put tremendous efforts into our children, and sometimes we become frustrated, thinking it is all for naught. But it is not. We can all take comfort in the knowledge that no good deed or good word is ever wasted, that somewhere, sometime, in one way or another, our efforts all bear fruit…

 

Text Copyright © 2008 by Rabbi Naftali Reich and Torah.org.

Rabbi Reich is on the faculty of the Ohr Somayach Tanenbaum Education Center.

 

 

Finding The Silver Lining

Parshas Metzorah

 

Posted on April 4, 2022 (5782) By Rabbi Elly Broch | Series: Kol HaKollel | Level: Beginner

 

“When you arrive in the land of Canaan that I give you as a possession, and I will place a tzoraas (1) affliction upon a house in the land of your possession.” (Vayikra/Leviticus 13:33) Tzoraas manifested itself not only in the form of skin blemishes but also affected clothes and houses in the form of discolorations. This, in certain situations, required burning of the garment or demolition of the entire house.

 

The Midrash expounds that although seemingly counterintuitive, this was good for the owner of the house. The heathen inhabitants who previously lived in the Land of Israel, before abandoning their homes, often concealed their money and possessions in the walls of their houses. Demolition of the house uncovered these treasures, allowing the new Jewish owner to benefit.

 

Yet the Talmud (Eruchin 16a) teaches that this plague came as a punishment for an individual’s indiscretions. If G-d was castigating the wrongdoer, why was it orchestrated that the houses broken down as a punishment would yield treasures?

 

Rabbi Moshe Feinstein (2) explains that although the plague came to benefit the house owner with treasure, that objective was not possible to achieve without going through the ordeal of destroying their house. The tzoraas experience was demanding and unpleasant, to alert the recipient of his wrongdoing and need for change. The plague worked to achieve both punishment and reward.

 

Rabbi Avigdor Miller (3) further elaborates that the Creator of the World, in His infinite wisdom, has a master plan that our finite human minds cannot fathom. This plan will materialize and cannot be stopped or frustrated by our decisions and actions. Certain events are destined to occur regardless of our actions, but the sequence or details of the events may be manipulated to teach us a Divine lesson. G-d wished to benefit the house owner by exposing the treasure. At the same time, the individual made choices and committed sins punishable by tzoraas. The tzoraas was a punishment, causing the afflicted to repent and commit to a more spiritual life, while simultaneously fulfilling G-d’s master plan with the discovery of the treasure.

 

People often undergo some misfortune or suffering that appears on the surface to be a negative message from the Divine. However, later reflection upon the events brings the understanding that while they were difficult and challenging, they provided one with a fantastic opportunity for growth and development. The Torah is reminding us of the well-known and much experienced axiom: what at the moment may seem like a punishment is, in reality, an opportunity and a treasure.

 

Have a Good Shabbos!

 

Little Prayers

Parshas Tazria

 

Posted on April 1, 2022 (5782) By Mordechai Dixler | Series: Lifeline | Level: Beginner

 

The Torah portions this week and next are devoted mostly to the spiritual disease of Tzara’as. Tzara’as is a physical blemish found on the body, clothing, or the walls of the house, that is diagnosed by a member of the Jewish priestly class, a Kohein. It is said to primarily be the result of violations of the laws of negative speech – Lashon Hara.

 

The laws regarding the diagnosis and treatment of this spiritual malady are many and complex, but once a person is fully diagnosed with Tzara’as he is called a Metzora and is required to reside outside the community until fully healed. While outside he would call “Tamei, Tamei – Impure, Impure.” to anyone he would see.

 

The Talmud (Shabbos 67a) describes an interesting practice related to his pronouncement: it says that when a person has a fruit tree that is sick and dropping its fruit, he should paint it red.

 

This is not a superstition, but for the sake of drawing attention to the tree, so that others will pray it become healthy again. The tree, just like the Metzora, needs to be healed of its sickness, and the small prayers of the passersby will help lead to the tree’s speedy recovery. The Metzora, similarly, declares himself impure not only to warn people not to touch him and acquire a lesser degree of impurity, but also so they will pray for his recovery.

 

I once heard of a young man studying in a Yeshiva, a rabbinical seminary, who always found outstanding study partners. It is common for Yeshiva students to study Talmud much of the day with various partners – a system that has been shown to improve attentiveness, clarity, and reasoning skills, among other benefits. His friends wondered how this fairly average student managed to arrange for the best and brightest to study with him each semester. One year he was overheard saying on the phone, “Mommy, you can stop praying for me now. I got a great study partner once again. Thank you!” Mystery solved.

 

Judaism prescribes three times a day for formal prayer, but prayer is not limited to the walls of the synagogue, to particular times of day, or to the pages of the Siddur (prayer book). G-d is always present and ready to hear our prayers. Consider even the common salutations like “Be well!”, “Have a Good Day!”, and “Get Well Soon!” They can be more than mere pleasantries we exchange with our acquaintances. At their essence they are prayers, and they too are opportunities to sincerely implore the Al-mighty for the benefit of others. The small prayers we utter for ourselves, and the blessings we give to our family and friends (even our neighbor’s fruit tree), are effective and crucial to their wellbeing and our own spirituality. May we all find opportunities to pray for others and may all of our prayers be answered for good!

 

The Moment We Quit Trying

Parshas Shemini

Posted on April 24, 2025 (5785) By Rabbi Label Lam | Series: Dvar Torah | Level: Beginner

 

And the pig, because it has a cloven hoof that is completely split, but will not regurgitate its cud; it is unclean for you. (Vayikra 11:8)

 

And Eisav saw that the daughters of Canaan were displeasing to his father Yitzchok.

 

So, Eisav went to Yishmael, and he took Machalat, the daughter of Yishmael, the son of Avraham, the sister of Neviot, in addition to his other wives as a wife. (Breishis 28:8-9)

to his other wives. He added wickedness upon his wickedness, for he did not divorce the first ones. – Rashi

 

Eisav is the paradigm of what we would call in the English language, “hypocrisy”. He is acting outwardly Kosher but with truly sinister intentions inwardly. That is the model of the Chazir, which we revile, and the paradigm of the hypocrite. When Eisav saw that the daughters of Canaan were displeasing to his parents, he did not distance himself from them. He rather took the daughter of Yishmael. This is all outward gesturing, symbolism without substance. That is the height of hypocrisy.

 

I remember having a sensitive discussion with my beloved grandmother, who lit Shabbos candles her entire life. She was telling me that she tried to encourage her younger sister to do the same, but her sister told her, “I don’t keep Kosher, so if I light Shabbos candles, I would be a hypocrite!”

 

Something bothered me about that response, at the time, but I was not yet armed with an important distinction. Would she really be a hypocrite or would she merely be inconsistent!?

 

Aren’t we all, in many subtle and overt ways, inconsistent? The minute I Kosher one dish in my house or take any step in the right direction, I would immediately be inconsistent. What is the difference between being inconsistent and hypocrisy?

 

If a person comes to lay a carpet in my living room and he stops somewhere in the middle of the job, is he immediately and certainly criminally wrong?

 

The rug is full of bumps and not every corner is buckled down. If he goes out to his truck and eats his lunch, the lack of job completion is only an indicator that more work is yet to be done.

 

Why should I panic and come to false conclusions? However, if he enters his truck, revs the engine, heads home and sends me a bill, thereby declaring that he considers the job is complete, then I’ll have my lawyer on the phone at the drop of a carpet nail.

 

When one projects to the world that he is the archetype of virtue – the model of perfection, as if the job is already complete, crowning his imperfections and institutionalizing his faults as noble ideals, these are invitations to be titled hypocrite.

 

The Torah cries out to us, “Become Holy!” Does that mean that we are automatically HOLIER or better than anyone else?! No way! I had a sign hanging in my office, with a photo depicting a group of people climbing a steep mountain linked together by a rope like a charm bracelet, and the giant caption read, “DIRECTION! NOT PERFECTION!”

 

I once asked Rabbi Dr. Avraham Twerski, “What’s self-esteem?” He answered in a heartbeat, “Healthy self-esteem means seeing your good points and bad points simultaneously.” I realized that the operative word is “simultaneously”. If somebody only sees their good points then they are at risk of becoming haughty. If they only see their bad points, then they will tend to give up before even trying. If one sees their good points and their bad points alternately, they are taking off excitedly and then crashing again and again. But if somebody sees their bad points and they’re good points simultaneously, then they never get too low because they know that they have something special to offer and they never get too high because they understand that they have faults. I saw a phrase that caught my eye, “I can be both a masterpiece and a work in progress!”

 

Becoming Holy is developing that work in progress, adding to the masterpiece. Hypocrisy may creep in the moment we quit trying.

 

Fools Rush in Where Angels Fear to Tread

Parshas Shemini

Posted on April 20, 2017 (5777) By Rabbi Label Lam | Series: Dvar Torah | Level: Beginner

 

The sons of Aaron, Nadav and Avihu, each took his fire-pan, they put fire in the them and placed them. A fire came forth from before HASHEM an alien fire that He had not commanded them. A fire came forth from before HASHEM and consumed them, and they died before HASHEM. (Vayikra 10:1-2)

 

You shall not make yourselves abominable with any creeping creature that creeps, and you shall not defile yourselves with them, that you should become unclean through them. For I am HASHEM your G-d, and you shall sanctify yourselves and be holy, because I am holy, and you shall not defile yourselves through any creeping creature that crawls on the ground. For I am HASHEM Who has brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your G-d. Thus, you shall be holy, because I am holy. (Vayikra 11:43-45)

 

What is the connection between these two giant themes? They seem universes apart and unlikely neighbors to be packed by The Creator into the same Torah portion. Maybe they are close because they are so far away from each other. How so?

 

When the Megilla of Esther wishes to express how widespread the kingdom of Achashveirosh was we are told he ruled over 127 provinces from Hodu to Kush. The Talmud presents a dispute about the proximity of Hodu and Kush. One opinion is that they were from one end of the world to the other. The other says they were right next to each other. How does that approach make sense? Which opinion is true?

 

I heard an explanation that they were juxtaposed and contiguous but if you measure around the world in the other direction they were at the extreme ends of the world one from the other.

 

Here we have a case of Nadav and Avihu, two holy brothers, sons on Aaron the Kohain, rushing into a realm of holiness, at a time of extreme spiritual elevation, but without with permission.

 

They died on the spot. On the other end of the spectrum, we find strict instructions about which animals we are and are not allowed to eat.

 

From the loftiest levels of holiness to the most physical and animalistic appetite we are expected to navigate and proceed with precise rules. There is no room for extremism in either domain. Every move is carefully calibrated.

 

You might think extreme zealousness is tolerable and praiseworthy in spiritual matters but in truth the exposed wires are highly and dangerously charged there. You also might think there is an excuse when the blood of passion is rushing through our veins. However, there too we are warned strongly to slow down and proceed with extreme caution.

 

Maybe for this reason we pray every evening that HASHEM should remove the opposing force from in front of us and in back of us. In front of us is easier to understand but what harm can this negative force afflict from behind us?!

 

Getting too holy too quickly is as dangerous as yielding to raw animalism. Both are departures from true holiness. In either case life is filled with highly charged electric wires and we must navigate cautiously. Food is unavoidable. Spirituality is inevitable. I would feel comfortable changing a light bulb but not a fixture. I tried once and suddenly all the lights in the house went out. I feel fortunate my beard was not burnt off or worse. Now I defer to an expert, a licensed electrician because fools rush in where angels fear to tread.

 

 

Who We Work For

Pesach

Posted on April 8, 2022 (5782) By Rabbi Label Lam | Series: Dvar Torah | Level: Beginner

 

Halleluka…Servants of HASHEM, give praise; praise the name of HASHEM. (Tehillim 113:1) -from Hallel

 

Pesach is in the air! Everywhere people are working extra hard to be ready for the holy days of Pesach. Let us emphasize these words, “working hard”. For some reason it is one of those Yomim Tovim that no one can escape without “hard work”. Even if one is going to a hotel a lot of preparation and dislocation is involved. Why should it be so? It’s not for no reason!

 

Now I know this statement may sound shocking to our sensibilities but here it goes, “Slavery is not necessarily a bad thing!” We all know and agree that an abusive form of slavery is bad news, and everyone is repulsed by it. However, we refer to ourselves in Hallel as servants of HASHEM. It’s a part of Hallel, the utmost enthusiastic praise of HASHEM! It is not a mournful dirge! It would be our crown to be included in that rare club of servants of HASHEM. Moshe was called a servant of HASHEM. Yehoshuah was called a servant of HASHEM. Dovid HaMelelch is referred to as a servant of HASHEM. We aspire to be worthy of such a title. So, it sounds like being a servant, a slave is not only not a bad designation, it may just be the most noble.

 

Now let’s get this straight. Isn’t Pesach all about freedom? We commemorate and celebrate and relive our exodus from Egypt and our freedom from the tyrannic rule of Pharaoh. That’s the story we grew up with! Now at this advanced age I am coming to realize that that is only half the story.

 

What does it mean to be a servant/slave!? Your time is not your own. Your possessions are not your own. Your life is not your own. You must do many things that are not necessarily in agreement with a life of leisure. You are constantly being driven out of your comfort zone. You are being guided and yes controlled by an external force, a director, a boss.

 

There is a reason certain images from the world reach our eyes. They give us a way of reflecting on our situation. We have all seen the scenes of youth, most often, dressed in ways that betray their dignity. They wander about lost and drugs and violence become commonplace. I am being ginger here and circumspect, but I think we can all conjure up an image or ten million. Yet if one or a group of these same young people joins the military, or submits to a sports coach, or is involved in some religious training, their appearance and level of achievement is multiplied and amplified by the millions. What is the difference? A coach, a boss, G-d can shape a man into something he could never make out of himself.

 

This contrast is for our edification. We did not get out of Egypt 3333 years ago to just be free to do whatever we want to do. We actually only changed employers. Instead of working a cruel dictator that did not have out best interest mind and who bullied into submission forcing us to engage in futile labor just to break our hearts and souls, we willfully submit ourselves to HASHEM Who has demonstrated his concern for our ultimate well-being and Who encourages us to do actions that breath meaning into every step and every breath we take.

 

I am afraid that without a Rav, without a Shul, without a community, without Torah learning, without G-d any good and well-meaning Jew is at great risk of not only falling short of their potential but even becoming a hazard to himself and others, not unlike the wayward and destructive youth we referenced.

 

Great potential has a way of blossoming or imploding as Langston Hughes expressed in his poem, “What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore–And then run? Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over–like a syrupy sweet? Maybe it just sags like a heavy load. Or does it explode!?”

 

Reb Yeruchem Levovitz said that the main metric to measure the greatness of a Jew is, “How much of a Servant of G-d are they?” We all work for someone and fear someone and love someone. The question is who do we work for and fear and love?! On Pesach we became free to choose Who we fear and love and Who we work for!

 

 One Time, or Always?

Parshas Tzav

 Posted on April 8, 2025 (5785) By Rabbi Yisroel Ciner | Series: Parsha Insights | Level: Beginner Intermediate

 We are pretty funny creatures… We may long for something for an extended period of time. If we’ll finally obtain the desire of our longing our appreciation is relatively short lived. It’s mine now. Then, not only do we cease to feel appreciation for the gift we’ve received but we view it as inherently ours. Should it be taken away from us, we’re now way back where we started.

 We’re crushed. It was mine, I had it and it was taken away.

Let’s view things from a Torah perspective. 

The Kohen Gadol brings this offering every day because he must view every single day as the day that he was anointed. The fact that he held the position yesterday is no guarantee that he’ll hold it today. It’s not his. Each day is new. Each day is a gift. Each day he brings the offering of the day of his anointment.

 

The story is told of a king who ventured out into a nearby forest and came across a simple shepherd sitting on the ground with his bag on his back, playing a flute while his staff rested on his lap. After engaging him in a conversation and finding him to be exceptionally sharp, the king invited him to his palace where he would be trained as an advisor. The shepherd readily accepted the offer and came to the palace.

 

There his meteoric rise to prominence astonished everyone and within months he found himself in charge of the treasury (CFO). However, this didn’t go unnoticed by the other more senior advisors.

 

Their jealousy was aroused and they conspired to slander him to the king. “He’s stealing from the treasury,” they told the king. At first the king refused to believe them but after many repeated accusations he agreed to pay a surprise visit to his new advisor’s home and see if he was living above his means.

 

When they arrived at his house one morning for a surprise visit, they were indeed shocked at what they found. The house was the epitome of simple, modest dignity and cleared away any suspicion that he might have been embezzling from the treasury. As they were about to leave after having been given a ‘grand-tour’ of the premises, they noticed a locked room that hadn’t been opened. Their curiosity aroused, they asked to see what was inside but the advisor gently declined. When the children exclaimed that they too had never been admitted to that room they were sure that they had finally caught him. The king, losing patience and trust, angrily demanded that the door be opened.

 

Red-faced with embarrassment, the advisor slowly unlocked the door. A collective gasp came from the mouths of the onlookers as the door swung gently open. Before their eyes was a room, barren of any furniture, with only a flute, a staff and a course rucksack lying on the floor. They turned to the advisor for an explanation.

 

“From the day that I became an advisor to the king,” he explained, “I was afraid that I would become haughty and forget my humble beginnings. I therefore set up this room where, every morning, before I head to the palace, I put on my old rucksack, lay my staff across my lap and play my flute. I always remember that I am nothing but a simple shepherd, who has received great gifts from G-d and from the king.”

 

Every day a gift. Every day a responsibility. We can’t seek recreation while expecting and taking Hashem’s re-creation for granted.

 

Good Shabbos,