Mr. Sacks* passed away very suddenly, leaving his young son, his only heir, suddenly very wealthy. However, the boy was very wild and didn’t handle his new wealth with too much intellect. Within a short time, all the money found itself in other people’s pockets. Some of it was gambled away, while other money was “invested” in what seemed like good investments but were scams, and soon the young Sacks was almost penniless. The only thing of value that remained was a diamond, an exquisite stone that outweighed all the other possessions.
However, the fact that the boy only had that one diamond left didn’t break his compulsion. To pay for his addiction, he went to the bank, got a loan and backed it with the very last diamond in his custody. It didn’t take too long for that money to disappear, as well. He returned to the bank to request an additional loan, and since there was still what to cover in the value of the diamond, they granted it to him. But, when he again gambled away all that money and tried once again to get cash from the bank, they refused.
“You’ve maxed out all your collateral,” they told him. “Unless you give us the diamond itself, we’re not fronting you any more money.”
Standing near him at the bank was one of his gambling buddies. “Give them the diamond,” he advised him. “Who cares about it? You sold everything anyways; sell that too. Not only will it enable you to get the very last dollar from your father’s assets, but you won’t have to repay the bank for the previous loans. What bliss!”
“No,” the young Sacks replied determined. “I’ve already given up all my father’s assets. That diamond is the very last, and most precious, thing that I still have from my father. There is no way that I am giving that up.” While he eagerly wanted more money, he wasn’t going to forsake the diamond for it. It was his last possession left from his father, and for no money in the world was he going to give that up.
So ends the story.
The Jewish advisor then turned to the king. “Now, let me tell you how that story has to do with me, and why I was so happy to receive their jesting. Growing up, I was a religious Jew. Once I started getting wealthy, I drifted away from Yiddishkeit, discontinuing any religious customs. I have lost so much, but the very last link I have to my past, which I will not give up for anything, is my identity as a Yid.
“Here I am, coming to this glorious meeting with the king of my country, being honored in unapparelled fame. Yet, I was reminded about the most precious possession that I still have and will never lose — that I’m a child of the Creator. More valuable than all the power in the world is that I was granted to be the son of the Creator. And that is why I handed out gold coins to the boys. I was so thankful that they reminded me who I was.”
“Now,” concluded the Ben Ish Chai to the man who spoke against the Yidden of Europe. “This Jewish advisor had, so to say, lost everything. In no way did he conduct himself as a Yid, yet what did he pride himself in? That he is a Yid. Here you see how even a Yid who had fallen to rock-bottom still prides himself in being a Yid. Is that not notable?
This is what you should focus on. With this mindset, you’ll be seeing Yidden in the proper light: A light filled with compassion and ahavas Yisrael, unlike your current outlook.”
The Ben Ish Chai is teaching us a mindboggling approach in ahavas Yisrael, and how to focus on the virtue of others.
But there is another very integral lesson to learn, and that is: No matter where a person is holding in ruchniyus, he must remember that he is part of the Chosen Nation. It is the most precious thing. Take pride in it. It is something of utmost value and a pity for it to go unappreciated.
This is what the Ben Ish Chai said about someone who didn’t keep Hashem’s mitzvos! How much more so should we, who are loyal to Him, feel. Our pride must only be tenfold. Hashem must take that much more pride in us, and we surely should reciprocate with that appreciation.
We are so lucky!
