A PARABLE

Dear Family,

I hope that everyone is well.

Refuah shleimah for Yechezkiel ben Ester.

Mazal Tov to Shmuly on his upcoming birthday at the end of next week. This is a big one Shmuly - 40 - Ben arbaim lebinah. - a high level of intellect. And so I wish you a year when you will be able to engage in much Torah study, with joy, good health, plentiful parnassah, and success with the education of your children together with Devorah Leah BEH!

Mazal Tov to Yosef on his birthday today. Wishing you a wonderful year Yosef with continued success with your school work and all your activities. And to give your parents much nachas!

Mazal Tov to Mark Koval on his birthday next week. I hope all is going well with you Mark, and wishing you a wonderful year BEH.

I saw an interesting PARABLE in Hayom Yom today:

The story is about an extremely simple person and a great Sage.

The simpleton feels himself to be a total non-entity in the presence of the Sage.

Now the Sage does not dismiss or reject the simpleton, because that would be an evil trait, but he feels no connection with him and cannot relate to him in any way. In fact he cannot sense or perceive this low simpleton as belonging at all to the category of human beings!

If this great Sage now instructs or requests the simpleton to do something for him it causes three changes:

• The simpleton moves from a feeling of non-entity to feeling a 'somebody'. He is now able to carry out the instruction from the Sage. But more than that. The Sage has instructed him personally, and he now feels a personal connection.
• From the Sages perspective, the simpleton now 'exists'. He is now somebody who he can talk to.
• The instruction actually unites the lofty Sage with the gross simpleton!

And there is no difference at all as to what the command is about. It could be a great lofty matter, or even a trivial one!

The parable is obvious.

The word MITZVAH means to connect or join.

Whoever performs a Mitzva becomes joined to the Essence of Hashem, the One who issued that particular Command.

The above is connected to this week's Sedra Lech Lecha, with the birth of the Jewish Nation through Avraham, and Hashem making a covenant between Avraham and his descendants through Yitzchak (V17:7- end of Sedra) - an everlasting covenant . To which we are all personally linked BH.

Gut Shabbos to all