A Joke With A Lesson
When R' Yonason Eibschutz zt"l was a young boy, everyone could see how very smart he was.
One day, non-Jewish people asked him, "If your Torah says 'to follow the majority,' and most of the world isn't Jewish, shouldn't you become a Christian?"
"That’s true," the young R' Yonason said, "we do follow the majority, but only when we're not sure and in doubt about what's true. But we don’t follow the majority when we know the truth!" He smiled and said, "We, the Jewish people, know the truth. There is one Hashem, and He chose us to be His people!"
That’s the lesson! Every Yid knows the truth. Hashem is the Creator of the world. But remember Hashem is also our loving Father. And Hashem chose us to be His nation. Realize how special we are!
This connects to this week’s parsha:
Avraham was the very first believing Jew. He didn’t just believe in Hashem, but he also told everyone else about it.
Question:
Why did Avraham tell everyone about Hashem?
Answer:
- Because when one truly loves Hashem, he wants everyone to know about Him and how good He is. (Based on Rambam)
- Avraham was all about kindness, and the biggest kindness is to share the truth that there is a Creator, and that every person has a special mission to accomplish in this world.
A girl called R' Zechariah Wallerstein zt"l and was crying, and he asked, "What happened?"
She said that when she was younger, she wasn’t the best student, but she went to seminary, and her life changed. Now she lives fully tznius and is always trying to grow and come closer to Hashem.
"Today, I went to the grocery store and ran into my old principal. I asked if I looked familiar and gave my name. The principal couldn’t believe it and said, 'No, that's not you—you must be the sister.' I said 'no. It's me—I changed.' She just shook her head, said, 'Nope, can't be you,' and walked away.
"R' Wallerstein I was so hurt by this!" She said.
"Wow, that’s unbelievable," R' Wallerstein said, "she thought you were a bad girl and couldn’t imagine how wrong she was. But remember, you didn't grow for her or anyone else other than to come closer to Hashem! Remember that!"
That’s the lesson! We live to serve and come closer to Hashem. If someone can’t accept it, that's their issue, not yours. You stay strong, humble, and kind.
This connects to this week’s parsha:
Avraham was tested when he was sent away from his home and country.
Question:
Hashem told him, "I will reward you with children and make you very rich." What made this test so hard then?
Answer:
- The test was to see if Avraham would do it only to get a reward or only because he wanted to listen to Hashem and come closer to Him.
- The test was that Avraham wasn’t told where to go. He was stepping into the unknown. In life, the hardest test is when we don't know what will be. But Avraham passed the test and trusted in Hashem. When we do our best and try to remember and say, "I trust you, Hashem," we are going in the ways of Avraham Avinu!
Sruly went to eat at his friend Hilly’s for the Shabbos day meal and didn’t want to leave. He was having such a good time, he didn't even notice how late it got!
Hilly wanted a quick nap before Mincha. He tried hinting that it was late, yawning, looking at his watch, even pretending to fall asleep, but Sruly didn't get it.
Feeling trapped, Hilly went over to the window, opened it all the way, and said, "In this house, we have a rule: we open the window ten minutes before the guest leaves." Sruly finally got the hint…
That’s the lesson! Hashem never gets 'tired' of us and never wants us to 'leave.' Hashem knows how good we really are and always waits for a yid to return!
A king once hired the funniest jokers to write the funniest jokes on 100 steps and said, whoever goes up these 100 steps and doesn’t laugh at the jokes along the way will get 10 million dollars.
Many people tried, but the jokes were so funny that everyone laughed at some point.
One person walked up all the steps without laughing at any of the jokes. When he reached the 99th step, he laughed so hard he couldn't control himself.
Someone asked him, "The last joke wasn’t even so funny. You almost made it! Why did you laugh?" He said, "I just got the first joke…"
That’s the lesson! Sometimes we feel jealous when we see someone else go up all the steps in life. This man looked strong on the outside, but he wasn't very smart. Everyone has their own challenges in life, even if we don't see them.
We Know The Truth!
Remember Why You Changed Your Life!
