A good deed (or more) a day is the Torah way! In this week’s Torah portion, we learn a lot about Abraham and the acts of kindness that he would do even for strangers. He was always looking for ways to help people and make them happy. We, as Abraham’s descendants, can learn from his ways and look for ways to do good deeds, too.
In our story, a kid finds a creative way to do good.
LOAN STAR
Josh fought the howling wind as he pulled the back door closed.
Whew! What a storm! he thought, as he stomped the water off his shoes on the inside doormat and snapped closed his umbrella.
Josh rolled the Totes rubbers off his shoes and hung his umbrella back in the closet, barely finding room on the peg stuffed with all the old umbrellas that had accumulated over the years.
Well, better to have too many umbrellas than none at all, he figured.
As he’d sloshed his way home from school, holding up his umbrella like a shield against the cold, liquid arrows, he’d noticed a pair of walking puddles. On closer inspection, however, he’d seen that it was Avi and Yossi, a couple of his classmates.
“Hey, where are your umbrellas, guys?” he asked the drenched duo.
“F-forgot mine,” Avi chattered through his teeth.
“The forecaster said it wouldn’t rain ‘til tonight,” added Yossi, glumly.
And they weren’t the only umbrella-less ones Josh had seen along the way. He wished he could have helped them all, but his personal fold-up umbrella had just barely covered him, so if people were going to forget their umbrellas, there was nothing he could do for them ... or was there?
The next day was, as the day before, rainy, and as the day before, unpredicted.
“Wow, I spaced out on the umbrella again today,” Avi said to Josh after the end-of-school bell rang, and he jealously eyed Josh pulling his out from his locker. “Looks like I’ll have to take another ‘swim’ home.”
“Oh, no you won’t!” Josh smiled and pointed inside his locker at the half-dozen or so umbrellas hanging there, the handle of each neatly labeled ‘Josh’s Lend-A-Brellas.’
“Wow!” Avi gaped. “Um, how much do they cost to use?”
“Nothing,” Josh said. “Just use one and bring it back the next day – rain or shine.”
“Deal!” Avi said, gratefully grabbing one.
Fall turned to winter. As the days and weeks had passed, the word had spread, and as Josh got more and more ‘customers,’ his classmates caught a lot less colds...
“Thanks, Josh. Who knew it would snow today?” Avi shook his head as he borrowed a ‘lend-a-brella’ and got ready to walk home. “They said it was going to be sunny and cold.”
“Yeah, real cold,” Josh sighed. “I forgot my gloves today, and my hands froze on the way here, and I guess they’re going to freeze on the way home.”
“Guess again!” Yossi said with a big grin.
“Huh?”
The boy led Josh to his locker and pulled out a box full of knit winter gloves. On each was a tag that said ‘Yossi’s Lend-A-Hands.’
“You gave me the idea,” Yossi said.
“And if you ever forget your hat,” Avi piped in from the next locker, “you can come borrow a pair of ‘Avi’s Lend Me Ear-muffs.’”
The boys laughed.
“Thanks to you,” Yossi said to Josh, “this winter, kindness – not only colds – is going to be contagious.”
RABBI YAAKOV NEUBERGER
RABBI NESANEL YOEL SAFRAN
