A Joke With A Lesson
Once, a special needs child and the Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Elia Meir Sorotzkin zt"l were in the same room. A person in the room decided to go over to this child, and gave him a kiss. He went over to Rav Sorotzkin and said, "He has a special soul."
Rav Sorotzkin said, "This is true, but we can’t forget about this special needs child’s parents. They are also special and deserve a kiss too."
That’s the lesson. Gedolim see the full picture and realize that parents also need to feel appreciated for all the hard work they do. Give people compliments, whoever deserves it. Spread and share kindness.
Someone complained to Rav Chatzkel Levenstein zt"l that he thinks it’s wrong that at a sheva brachos, everyone speaks so highly of the chassan when most of the compliments aren’t so true. We should stop it.
Rav Chatzkel got upset at this bachur and said, "Today’s generation has a sickness: they don’t give enough compliments. Now, when they finally get it, you also want to take it away?!"
This Connects To This Week’s Parashah:
In this week’s parshah, we are told about the mitzvah of "Honor your father and mother." Even if you want to say they didn’t help you in life, Rav Zechariah Wallerstein zt"l said, we must show our appreciation just for the fact that we are alive because of them and can do mitzvos because of them. All the more reason to thank them if they did help you in life.
Dr. Ben Brafman is one of the greatest lawyers today (the brother of Rav Aharon Brafman zt"l). He once finished a major court case 30 minutes before Shabbos. As he was leaving the courthouse, a few reporters tried to interview him.
But Ben just raised his hand and said, "I can’t talk now, I’m in a rush, Shabbos is coming, I have to run."
The next day, all the papers wrote about what he did and how important Shabbos was to him, that he didn’t even have a chance to share any interviews.
A while later, a woman called Dr. Ben and said, I want to thank you. I am embarrassed to say, but because my husband passed away, the responsibility of making money fell on me, and my boss said I need to stay after 1 pm. I stayed here erev Shabbos, even in the winter, till 1 pm, and I would come home crying about it. I felt like I didn’t have a choice.
When I saw the headlines about you in the news, I showed them to my boss and said I needed to go home early on Friday. Shabbos is coming. My boss looked at the newspaper and said, "Okay. You can also go home early for Shabbos."
That’s the lesson: 1) Dr. Ben had no idea he would inspire others, but he did. We can inspire others just by being ourselves. 2) Shabbos is holy, and a wonderful gift that Hashem gave us to grow, recharge our bodies and souls, and to connect to Hashem and our families in a more meaningful way.
This Connects To This Week’s Parashah:
We received the luchos and the ten mitzvos in this week’s parshah, including the mitzvah of Shabbos. Hashem wants us to stop and rest from physical work on Shabbos and instead to focus on spiritual work and on building our souls.
A giraffe walks into a restaurant and said he wants to order a soda.
The waiter said, "No problem. That will be ten dollars."
"Ten dollars for a soda?! Why so much?"
"Well, five dollars for the soda, another five dollars for our service."
But the giraffe was really thirsty and said "fine," and gave over the ten dollars.
The waiter comes back with five dollars change. "Where’s my soda?" the giraffe asked.
"Oh, we don’t have any more soda," the waiter said.
"Then why did you take my money?" the giraffe asked.
The waiter smiled, "That was for the service. Would you like to add a tip...?"
That’s the lesson. Hashem wants the service of your heart.
If you try your best, Hashem sees it, loves it, and knows how hard you tried.
Someone called a Rosh Yeshiva and asked about a certain bachur for a shidduch.
The Rosh Yeshiva looked into the beis medresh and saw that this bachur’s head was on the gemara, and he was deep asleep.
The Rosh Yeshiva said, "I saw him, and all I can say is that this bachur’s head is really in the Gemara..."
That’s the lesson. Talking about the head.
If one fills their head with a good way of thinking, of having their head either thinking Torah thoughts or in chesed, then they will think more holy thoughts.
Their life will change from always thinking about themselves to thinking higher, and about how to help others.
Shabbos is coming. Today’s Generation Has a Sickness...
