The sound of the trumpet was heard on the streets, the courier that had the Royal message in his hands was in tears from emotion. The message was loud and clear. Their little town was going to merit a Royal visit from the World leading Emperor himself, Napoleon Bonaparte.
The town started its festive preparations for the grand Royal visit. As the day came closer so did the festive atmosphere. When the great day arrived the atmosphere was electric. All the stores were closed, everyone was wearing their finest clothing to welcome the guest of their lifetime.
Zelig the Melamed (teacher in Jewish school), was excited like everyone else. Dressed in his Shabbos clothing, he stood in the crowd to get a glimpse of the Emperor and make the special Berachah when one sees a King.
The Royal entourage that marched through the main street of the town captivated all the towns’ people. Then, suddenly, there was a hiss, ‘the chariot of the Emperor is here’.
The Emperor that everyone in the town had heard of, read about in the papers, was actually in their town. Napoleon was short, wearing his white pants, and Royal uniform was riding through the town, followed by thousands of soldiers and hundreds of generals. What a sight.
Everyone said the words of the Berachah with great concentration. Zelig was deep in thought looking at the Emperor. Then, suddenly a big smile came on to his face. No one noticed the smile, besides one person. Emperor Napoleon himself! He was outraged at such guts. But Napoleon was too smart to lose himself in front of everyone. He carried on as if he hadn’t seen anything.
The next morning, Zelig found out that his smile didn’t go unnoticed. There was loud knocking on his door. The soldiers standing at his door didn’t give him a chance to even say goodbye to his wife and children. He was immediately handcuffed and escorted to where the Emperor was staying. His lips mumbled the words he could remember from the Vidui (confession), realizing that these were his final moments alive.
He was brought in front of the Emperor. Zelig was shaking from fear.
“Did you laugh at me yesterday,” asked the Emperor?
Zelig just about managed to give a slight nod.
“And why?” asked Napoleon, who couldn’t tolerate the slightest objection to his leadership.
Zelig was so frightened, he couldn’t even reply.
“Tell me why you smirked at me!” roared the Emperor, “don’t you realize that your life is at stake, one wrong word and you’re dead! Aren’t you afraid?”
A Jew stays a Jew and even at this moment Zelig managed to regain his composure and wit.
“If I tell his Royal Highness why I laughed, His Royal Highness will kill me also, so if I am anyways going to die, I would rather remain silent!”
Emperor Napoleon was in a big dilemma. The challenge between his curiosity and his pride. But in the end his curiosity overcame his pride, as expected.
“If you tell me why you laughed, I won’t harm you!” exclaimed Napoleon. Zelig’s life was saved from death.
“I am a teacher and I live on the outskirts of the town. Every day I see a skinny lad, the town’s shepherd, leading large flocks of cows and sheep. They weigh so much and they have so much power. I am always baffled by the same question every day. How is it that so many animals follow this skinny boy so sheepishly and with such obedience? One kick of an animal would crush the boy and kill him, all the more so if all the animals were to kick at him.
For so many years this question has disturbed me. But, yesterday when I say his Royal Highness and his large army following after him, the question became even greater. The Emperor is a small man that all his soldiers hate him. There are so many soldiers that with one fist could knock out the Emperor and kill him. If so, how is there such great discipline in such a huge army?”
Napoleon was stunned, and to be honest, he also was desperate to hear the answer.
“The answer is,” continued Zelig, “every soldier thinks that only he hates the Emperor and on his own he doesn’t stand a chance to overpower the Emperor, who is surrounded by so many bodyguards. But if every soldier and every bodyguard knew that everyone is thinking just like him, there wouldn’t be anything left of His Royal Highness. When I saw His Royal Highness and his army, the riddle of the shepherd that bothered me for so many years was resolved and a smile broke out on my face.”
As we approach Chanuka this amazing story has an important message for us. Klal Yisrael has endured so much suffering during the generations. Even today we all have our problems and troubles. What gives us the power to survive with such Emunah, something that no other Nation has managed?
We all light the Menorah to remember the great miracles that Hashem did to us. These holy spiritual lights that shine into our home and lighten up our hearts. But we don’t light in a hidden place. We light the Menorah at the window for everyone to see or at the door that anyone who visits our home can see. We let all our fellow Jews know that we are in the same boat. We may have troubles, we may have challenges but we all hold on to that light that shines into our home sending across the message to us and everyone else that no matter how dark it is inside, the little fire of the Menorah, that little flickering flame shines so much light, so much Emunah and so much warmth into all our homes and hearts.
