People asked the Ateres Yehoshua of Djikov why he had parnassah, while his father and grandfathers were all poor. The Ateres Yehoshua answered with a mashal: A poor person passed a theater. There was a long line of people waiting to buy tickets.
“How much does a ticket cost?” he asked one of the people in line.
“A regular seat costs a hundred dollars. There are better seats that can cost up to three hundred dollars.”
The poor man was shocked. “One hundred or three hundred dollars just to watch a show?! What’s the show about?”
“It’s about a poor man collecting money.”
Now, the poor person was even more confused. He said, “I’m poor and I collect money all the time, and all I get is a few coins!”
The man explained that people aren’t interested in watching this in real life. They want to see an imaginary show, played by actors, and that’s why they pay so much.
With this mashal, the Ateres Yehoshua explained to his chassidim, “My father and my grandfathers were true Rebbes, therefore they only received a small amount of money. But I’m an actor, copying what they did, therefore I get more money.”
The Ateres Yehoshua said this with immense humility, but we can learn a lesson from it: Why do people pay money to watch actors? It’s because the actors show talent, expertise, years of training, and hours of hard work. People value that and are willing to pay money to see it. But when something comes naturally, it loses its value in people’s eyes. Hashem desires to see us doing deeds that require effort, talent, and willpower. That is what makes our good deeds precious in Hashem’s eyes.
