University City City Hall
“Mr. Mayor?” came a voice from the doorway.
Mayor McGillicuddy looked up from the autographs he was signing and saw Cameron, his assistant, standing there.
“Yes?” he asked, gesturing at the piles of photos on his desk. “Is it important? I’m extremely busy here.”
“Of course you are, Mr. Mayor,” Cameron replied. “But I wanted to tell you that your wife just dropped off your dog.”
As he spoke, a large brown dog burst into the mayor’s chambers, jumping up and licking Mayor McGillicuddy all over his face.
“My ‘dog’???” Mayor McGillicuddy said, hugging his dog tightly. “This is not just a dog - this is my son, Cuddles! Why can’t anyone understand that?”
“Why of course sir,” Cameron hurriedly replied, not wanting to upset his boss. “Of course Cuddles is your son. But sir, you can see why some people might not think of him as your son, being that he is not, um... you know, human...”
“And who said my son has to be a human?” asked the mayor. “I treat Cuddles just as well as any father treats his son.”
“Of course, sir,” Cameron repeated humbly.
“But anyway, I’m about to get a human son as well!” the mayor said proudly.
“Oh how wonderful, sir!” said Cameron with a smile. “I didn’t know - congratulations.”
“Well, I only decided it today!” the mayor said proudly, holding up a big poster which read “Become the Son of Mayor McGillicuddy!” in large bold letters.
Cameron read the poster, which explained that while the mayor had the deepest love for all of the children of University City, he was holding a citywide contest and the winner would be officially adopted by Mayor McGillicuddy to become his own son and would be loved as much as Cuddles the dog.
“My, this is um... a brilliant idea!” said Cameron. “I’m sure every boy in town will be jealous of the winner.”
“I’m one step ahead of you,” Mayor McGillicuddy said. “I obviously can’t adopt all of the boys in town because Cuddles would be jealous. So instead, everyone who enters the contest will get one of these autographed photos of me at the discounted price of $29.99!”
“Genius, Mr. Mayor, just genius,” Cameron said with a forced smile. “You sure know how to make everyone happy.”
“You know what I like about you, Cameron?” said the mayor. “You know a good idea when you hear one. Here, take an autograph. You can pay me for it later.”
Torah Prep School, the next morning
“Can you believe it? Who would want to be Mayor McGillicuddy’s son?” asked Moishy, laughing as he and his friends walked into Rabbi Bromberg’s classroom, discussing the mayor’s contest.
“Not to mention having a dog for a brother,” snickered Chaim.
“Even if someone chas veshalom didn’t have parents, I think they would be better off with someone other than McGillicuddy,” Eli said. “But Boruch Hashem, we have parents who love us even more than the mayor loves his dog.”
All of the boys nodded in agreement as they thought about the hakaras hatov they had for having parents who truly love them.
Rabbi Bromberg walked into the classroom and listened to the boys’ discussion with a smile until the bell rang.
“Boys,” Rabbi Bromberg said. “You know, your conversation reminds me of this week’s Parsha.”
“Why, did Pharaoh have a dog for a son too?” asked Moishy.
“Well, that I don’t know,” Rabbi Bromberg replied. “But I’m very happy to see you all talk about how much your parents love you. And did you also think about another parent who loves you even more?”
“You mean my Zaidy and Bubby?” asked Eli.
“No, Eli,” said Rabbi Bromberg with a smile. “I’m talking about Hakadosh Boruch Hu. In this week’s Parsha, Moshe relays a message from Hashem to Paraoh: ‘ל≈‡ָר¿ׂ ̆ƒי יƒרֹכו¿ּב יƒנ¿ּב - My firstborn son is the Am Yisroel’. But Rav Avigdor Miller points out that we are not only the firstborn son of Hashem, we are also His only son. And as such, Hashem’s love for us is more than we can ever imagine - even more than our parents love us.”
“Wow, even more than our parents?” Chaim said, having a hard time wrapping his head around the idea.
“Yes, even more than your parents,” Rabbi Bromberg replied.
The boys thought this over. Their parents loved them so much, it was incredible to think that Hashem loves them even more than that.
And with smiles on their faces, they opened their Mishnayos and began to learn Hashem’s beautiful Torah.
Have A Wonderful Shabbos!
Let’s Review:
- What made the boys realize how thankful they should be for their parents?
- What special name does Hashem call Am Yisrael in this week’s Parsha?
