By Rabbi Paysach J. Krohn
One winter, a father and son living in the frozen tundras of Siberia got into an argument. There was only one warm coat available in their home, and the father felt that he was entitled to wear it. “I am an old man,” he complained. “I am frail and freezing in this house. If I don’t wear the coat I will die.”
The son countered, “I am out working in the field where the wind is howling and I must be protected. I am the one supporting the family. It is only proper that I should have the coat to wear.”
Let Their Rabbi Decide Who Gets the Only Coat
The father and son could not come to an amicable solution so they decided to let their Rabbi rule on the situation. The Rabbi listened with astonishment to their selfish arguments and said, “I have never seen or heard of such a quarrel about a coat between a father and son. I need two days to think about it. Please come back then.”
On the way home the father began thinking, “My son is right. He is out in the cold where the winds are terrible. He is more susceptible to getting sick. I am living off the money he earns. He should have the coat.”
At the same time the son was thinking, “My father is the one who deserves the coat. He raised me all these years. I owe him so much. I am younger and stronger. I’ll figure out a way to stay warm. Maybe I can build a fire at the worksite.”
Coming to the Rabbi with a Different Dispute
Two days later when they returned to the Rabbi, the father and son explained that they were now having a different argument, as each one was insisting that the other have the benefit of the coat.
When the Rabbi heard their new dispute, he told them to wait a moment because he had to go into a back room. He returned with a heavy fur coat. “Here,” he said. “One of you can use this coat; the other will have the coat you have at home. Now both of you will be warm.”
The father and son thanked the Rabbi profusely for his generosity. After a few minutes though, the son said to the rabbi, “I hope you don’t mind my asking, but if you had this coat, why didn’t you give it to us two days ago, when we first came to you?”
The Rabbi smiled and said, “When you came here two days ago and each of you was claiming, ‘I need the coat, I can’t manage without it,’ I thought about my own coat and said to myself, ‘I too need my coat. I can’t manage without it.’
“But now that you each say, ‘I can do without the coat. Let the other person have it,’ I, too, say to myself, ‘I can manage without the coat. Let another person have it.’”
King David teaches, “Hashem is your shadow (Tehillim 121:15), meaning that Hashem acts toward people the way they act to others. Hashem uses a man’s own behavior as a guideline for His actions toward that person.
Thus, if one is tightfisted and refrains from giving charity or sharing his bounty with others, Hashem, in turn, will eventually withhold His generosity from him. However, if one is caring and good and shares his bounty with others, Hashem will bestow prosperity and good fortune upon him and his family. (Excerpted from the ArtScroll book – “Echoes of the Maggid”)
Reprinted from the Parshat Balak 5784 email of Rabbi David Bibi’s Shabbat Shalom from Cyberspace.
