“It looks like the Horki Rebbe left his watch here,” Totty said, holding up a shiny gold pocket watch. “Would you be able to please run it over to his house?”
Shimmy and Yitzy’s eyes widened with excitement. An opportunity to visit the Horki Rebbe? Quickly, Shimmy took the watch, placed it carefully in his pocket and hurried off to the Rebbe’s house.
“At least this will be interesting,” Yitzy said. “I heard the Rebbe has 40 gabbaim in his house to take care of everything he needs.”
“Oy I wish I could be a Rebbe one day,” Shimmy said. “Imagine never having to do any work yourself.”
But as the boys approached the house of the Horki Rebbe, they were shocked to see none other than the Rebbe himself coming down the stairs carrying two heavy garbage bags.
“Hello yingelach,” the Rebbe said. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“U-u-uh we have the Rebbe’s watch,” Shimmy said, holding out the pocket watch, at a loss for words as the Rebbe himself opened the garbage can and dropped the bags inside.
“Thank you so much!” the Rebbe replied, pocketing his watch.
“Uh, can we ask the Rebbe a question?” said Yitzy.
“Of course!” replied the Rebbe, his face shining.
“Why is the Rebbe taking out the garbage himself? I heard that the Rebbe has 40 gabbaim. Couldn’t one of them take out the garbage so the Rebbe could stay inside?”
“This is part of my avodah,” the Rebbe answered, closing the lid on the garbage can.
“I don’t understand,” said Shimmy.
“Think about this week’s Parsha,” the Rebbe explained. “Yankev Avinu arrives in Charan and sees Rochel Imenu, his future wife and the mother of Klal Yisroel, arriving at the well to draw water. She didn’t just stay at home and let one of her father’s servants get the water. She could have done that. But instead she wanted to do it on her own.
Illustrated by Miri Weinreb
“Had she stayed home, Yaakov would never have seen her and she would never have been zocheh to become the mother of Klal Yisroel. It’s only because Rochel didn’t want to be lazy that she became great. She understood that greatness comes from people who do things themselves. That is what made her so great and gave her the zechus to marry Yaakov Avinu.”
Takeaway:
Laziness is a bad middah. If we want to become great we have to work on becoming an energetic servant of Hashem.
Reprinted from the Parshas Vayeitzei 5784 email of Toras Avigdor Junior, adapted from the Torah teachings of Rav Avigdor Miller, zt”l.
