By Yoni Schwartz
There was a young boy, Moshe, who had lost his father. His mother struggled to put bread on the table each week. In their neighborhood, most children received new suits for Yom Tov, and on the first night at shul, they would gather and compliment one another.
Moshe, also wanting a new suit, gently approached his mother a few weeks before Yom Tov. She turned around, eyes glassy from stress and exhaustion, bent down, and looked at him. With love, she rubbed his soft cheek.
In his high-pitched voice, he gently asked if he could get a new suit. It broke her heart that she couldn’t afford one. Nevertheless, she decided to start saving up for a new shirt. His mother cut back on some expenses and, each week saved a little money wherever she could. Slowly but surely, she scraped together just barely enough for Moshe’s new Yom Tov shirt.
The first night of Yom Tov arrived, and little Moshe skipped to shul with a big smile, excited to show off his new shirt. However, when he got there, that smile quickly turned into a frown. Nobody noticed his new shirt! All the other boys had new suits, new hats, and new shoes, and they were all receiving so many compliments - but not one person noticed little Moshe.
After shul, pouty and glum, Moshe began walking back home. The Gerrer Rebbe, zt”l, surrounded by his entourage of followers, caught a glimpse of little Moshe and noticed his frown. Quickly, he ran to him, gently placed his hand on Moshe’s collar, and said, “Moshe! Psshh! Chultza chadasha! What a nice new shirt! It’s so beautiful!”
Seeing that somebody had noticed him, Moshe’s frown flipped into a huge smile - and that’s how he stayed: cheerful, for the rest of Yom Tov.
Reprinted from the Parshas Korach 5785 email of Torah Sweets.
