Someone once came to the Slonimer Rebbe zt"l, the Bais Sholom, and asked him how to deal with bachurim.
The Bais Sholom said, “Listen to me: every Yid is a diamond. A diamond sometimes falls and gets dirty. But it is still a diamond. One must only want to pick it up, scrub, and polish it, and the shine will be seen again. This same is with a bachur.”
What’s the Lesson?
- Every Yid is a diamond. You’d better believe it.
- There are so many hidden who are diamonds who have fallen or given up believing they are special. You can help them by reminding them – and yourself – that they and you are a diamond, that they are a holy soul, no matter what. You may be the one who can polish them.
This Connects To This Week’s Parshah:
If a person stole and doesn’t have money, he is sold as a slave for six years. The Torah says one must treat the slave very well, serve the same food as the master, and make him as comfortable as yourself. Treat him with care, show him he is important, because he is. Every person is important.
Avi said, “I can’t daven for the amud. I can’t even sing, if I start, half the shul will run out.”
“Don’t worry,” Yossi said, “Just do it. I’m sure you’ll do just fine.”
After davening, Yossi laughed and said, “Wow, that was some davening. I never knew how honest you are…”
What’s the Lesson?
R' Yehuda Mandel Shlita always says that in Novardok, they worked on themselves not to be afraid of people and would, on purpose, do uncomfortable things, to push themselves and work on themselves.
In life, the next time an opportunity comes up, don’t let your comfort zone and fear of people stop you. Push yourself and do something good. Even if you don’t end up doing the best job, so what? You at least accomplished getting over your fear of people.
Yanky brought his car to the mechanic and said, “I have one problem: I just need an oil change.”
The mechanic looked at the car and asked, “This car looks older than me. How old is this car?”
Yanky said, “Just twenty-seven years young.”
The mechanic looked at the car and said, “My friend, oil change? It’s time for a car change…”
What’s the Lesson?
It’s never too late for change. People are scared of the word ‘change,’ since change means you’re bad right now and need to become good.”
R' Yelig Pliskin likes to say "switch the mindset and word from ‘change’ to ‘upgrade.’ Upgrade means you are good and just need to get better." There is nothing wrong with you.
Someone once came to R' Mattisyahu Salomon zt"l and said, “I try so hard to be a good Jew, and I believe that Hashem has a reason for everything. My daughter passed away, and it’s so hard and painful. Will I ever be able to accept that this is from Hashem? Will I ever find peace?”
R' Mattisyahu said, “There is nothing wrong with you. The way you are reacting is normal. If you sent your daughter away to camp or seminary, wouldn’t the house be different without her? This is the same; she went away for a long trip. It’s normal to feel that way, and it’s OK for you to cry.”
“But why did she have to pass away so young?” the father cried.
R' Mattisyahu warmly held the father’s hand and said, “She accomplished her purpose; we don’t know why people are sent to this world. If Hashem chose to take her back, that means she completed her purpose.”
What’s the Lesson?
In life, when you have difficulties, it’s normal to feel pain and be confused. But we must remind ourselves of one word: bitachon, trust. Trust means you trust Hashem that everything is working out perfectly, in the way that is best for you, for the purpose you were sent to this world. Trust doesn’t mean everything will work perfectly the way you wanted. Trust doesn’t take away the pain; it shows you how to view and deal with it.
This Connects To This Week’s Parshah:
Klal Yisroel accepted the Torah and said, “We will do, and we will hear.”
Question: Why did we say “We will do” first, and then “We will hear”? Answer: On a deeper level, “We will do” means we will live our lives trying to do as much good as possible now, despite all the challenges, live life now. And “We will hear” means that later, after 120 years, we will understand and “we will hear” all the reasons why we had to go through difficult tests. But until then, we trust Hashem that He has a reason and “we will do” our best we can now.
How to Deal With a Bachur
