“How was your test today?” asked Yitzy.
“Oh it was great,” Shimmy replied as the two boys walked home from cheider. “It was as if the rebbe knew exactly which questions I knew the answer to.”
“Or maybe because you spent the last week learning during recess?” laughed Yitzy.
“Yeah maybe that too,” Shimmy answered, as both Greenbaum boys chatted happily as they walked.
“HEY YOU! FRUMMIES! Have you ever eaten anything besides soggy gefilte fish?”
Shimmy and Yitzy turned to see a group of tough-looking boys with a giant dog sitting on a nearby bench, pointing and laughing at them.
Startled, they froze for a second before they turned around and continued walking.
“If Torah makes you smart, then why do you look so dumb?” one of the thugs jeered, throwing a stick at Yitzy.
Shimmy and Yitzy, started running away, as the bullies began chasing them.
“What are you scared of, frummies?” one of the boys yelled. “Won’t your tzee-tzeetz save you?”
Another boy threw a large rock, which just missed Shimmy’s head. “Why don’t you just say a prayer and make us disappear?”
Shimmy and Yitzy ran even faster, panicked, as the hoodlums and their dog closed in on them. After a minute or two, the ruffians seemed to get bored and stopped chasing them, lobbing a few final insults as the Greenbaum boys kept running. They arrived home, panting and crying, as Totty ran out of the house to greet them.
Both boys fought to catch their breath and hold back sobs as they tried to explain to Totty what had happened. Totty hugged them tightly, hurried them inside, and served them cups of hot tea and cookies.
“Kinderlach,” Totty said. “Old Mrs. Teitelbaum saw the whole thing happen from her living room window. She immediately phoned the police and then called to tell me everything.”
“So those boys are going to jail?” asked Shimmy, sipping his tea.
“Well, we’ll see what happens,” Totty replied. “But there is something more important I want to discuss with you.”
“We’re going to sue them for millions?” Yitzy asked hopefully.
“Oh, uh I’m not sure about that,” said Totty. “But I want to talk to you about how you reacted to those terrible reshaim.”
“We didn’t do anything!” Shimmy said, defensively. “They started yelling at us and chasing us with sticks and rocks, and we just ran away!”
“Exactly,” Totty said with a smile. “And that was the perfect response in your situation. You boys acted like Yosef Hatzadik!”
“We did?” Shimmy and Yitzy asked in unison.
“Yes,” said Totty. “When Potifar and his wife made up terrible loshon hora and insults about Yosef, what did Yosef do? Did he answer back? No, he said nothing. No matter how painful it was to hear the things they were saying, Yosef remained silent and this was one of the main things that caused him to become so great.
“Now, a lot of boys might have answered back or tried to fight those bullies. But you didn’t. You ignored them and ran away. I’m sure you must have wanted to respond to them. Holding yourself back and not doing so, aside from probably also saving you from getting hurt, has no doubt already made you into greater people.”
“Like Dovid Hamelech?” asked Yitzy. “Because I learned that when Dovid was running away from Avshalom, Shimi ben Geira insulted him with a terrible curse and threw dirt at him. But Dovid didn’t say anything! Avishai, one of Dovid’s generals, even pulled out his sharp, shiny sword to kill Shimi right then and there for rebelling against the king, and Dovid said ‘wait, no, don’t kill him, let him be’.”
“Yes! Exactly like Dovid Hamelech!” Totty said excitedly. “Dovid Hamelech controlled himself and accepted that ‘it was Hashem who told him to curse me’. He was able to remain in control of his mind and accept it as Hashem’s will. And that is what Chazal tell us made Dovid Hamelech truly great.
“So kinderlach, I sincerely daven that something like this never happens to you again. And should chas veshalom, someone attack you again, of course, we should immediately report it to the authorities. But by remaining quiet in the face of insults, you grow to levels you would never imagine.”
Have a Wonderful Shabbos!
Let’s review:
- Why does holding yourself back from answering insults make you greater?
- How did Shimmy and Yitzy act like Yosef HaTzaddik?
