Once upon a time there lived a pious man, who had three daughters. The first one was a thief, the second was lazy and the third was a liar, who never spoke the truth and who sland­ered people whenever she had an opportunity.

One day a religious man, who had three sons, came to the city and said : “You have three daughters and I have three sons. Let us make a match between them.” But the father of the girls said: “Let me alone. My daughters are not good enough for your sons, for each one has a bad habit.” The father of the boys asked: “What are their bad habits?” The father of the girls replied: “One is a thief, the second is lazy, and the third is a lair.” The father of the boys asked: “Have they no other bad habits than these? If so I will cure them. Leave it to me.” So they were betrothed, and he took the girls with him and married them to his sons.

As soon as the weddings were over, he gave to the thief the keys to all his money and satisfied her greed so that she had no reason to steal. To the second he gave many servants so that she should have nothing  to do. And as to the third, he fulfilled all her wishes, so that she should not tell lies or slander anybody. And whenever the father-in-law left her house, he embraced and kissed her, for he hoped that by being good to her he would cure her of her evil quality and she would not slander any more.

One day the father came to see how his daughters were getting on. So he went to the first one and asked her how she was getting along with her husband, and how she was treated by her parents-in-law. She replied: “I thank you so much, father, for having given me in marriage to this man, for I have everything that my heart desires. And moreover, I have all the keys in my hand so that I do not have to steal.”

Then he went to his lazy daughter and asked her how she was getting on. And she also said: “I am so thankful to you, father, for having brought me here, for I need not lift a hand, I have many servants to tend to my every need, and my husband and parents-in-law all treat me very well.”

Then he came to the daughter who told lies to ask her how she was getting along, and she said: “You are a fine father! I thought you gave me one husband but it seems you gave me two, the father and the son. For no sooner does my husband leave the house than my father-in-law comes in and kisses me and hugs me and wants me to do his will. Dear father, if you do not believe it, come tomorrow morning and you will see it is true.”

Next morning the father came and she put him in a room where he could see what was going on. Her father-in-law came as usual and kissed her and embraced her and said to her: “My dear daughter-in-law, how are you getting on? Is there anything you want?” He did all this with the good intention of curing her of her bad habit, but her father who saw it, grew furious and rushed out of his chamber and killed him. Then he tried to get away, but when her two brothers-in-law came home and found their father lying dead, they killed their father-in-law.

Then the slanderer began to shout: “Murder! Murder!” and they understood it was through her that the tragedy had occurred. So they killed her too, and thus through slander three persons lost their lives.

You can see what an evil thing it is to go tale bearing and slandering and telling lies. The rabbis of old taught: Why is the evil tongue called a thrice-slaying tongue? Because it slays three persons: the person speaking, the person spoken to, and the person spoken of. And the proof?  (Gen. R. 98:19; Y. Pesachim 1:1, 16a)

Listen well and learn how vicious is slander! It is more vicious than murder, adultery, and idolatry put together. In Scripture, each of these three transgressions is termed “great,” but slander is spoken of in the plural as “great things.” Thus, Cain said of murder, “My punishment is more great than I can bear” (Gen. 4:13); Joseph exclaimed of adultery, “How then can I do this great wickedness?” (Gen. 39:9); Moses said of idolatry, “Oh, this people have sinned a great sin” (Exod. 32:31). But of slander it is written, “The Lord shall cut off all flattering lips, the tongue that speaks great things” (Ps. 12:4), to tell you that slander is more vicious than the other three transgres sions. (MekiltaTehillim 52:2; B. Arachnin 15b)

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In a certain city lived an expert goldsmith who was unmatched when it came to setting gems. Ministers, barons and nobles from all across the land would send him precious stones and pearls that he would set in place with the greatest precision and skill. He was very successful and became very wealthy.

One day, the man broke his hand. He was no longer able to con­tinue as a goldsmith and therefore set out to collect charity

“It would not befit you to do such a thing,” remarked those clos­est to him. “Should a skilled worker such as yourself, whose expertise was sought after day and night by all the barons in the land — now go and collect charity?”

“But what else should I do?” lamented the man. “My hand is broken, and I can no longer practice the trade that I formerly ex­celled in.”

“What does that mean, ‘you can no longer practice’?” asked his friends in amazement. “Go to a doctor and he will heal you your hand will be as good as new!”

A person is obligated to spend the days of his life engaged in the study of the Holy books and the perfor­mance of acts of kindness, and he must never let himself weaken in this area. There are times, however, when his heart offers him bad advice and lures him after meaningless endeavors. He must not listen this destructive council; rather, he must pray for mercy from the One Who is the Healer of the brokenhearted (see Psalms 147:3) imploring Hashem (G-d), “Create a pure heart for me, 0 G-d, and a steadfast spirit renew within me” 51:12)!

Prayer is possible in all times. We learn that “Out of the depths have I called upon you oh L-rd” (Psalms 130:1) Even when the distractions of the world attempts to interfere with a person’s prayer, they must strengthen themselves refuse to allow their mind to he diverted from prayer.

This can be compared to a young boy who was standing in the marketplace, holding a basket of apples that he was trying to sell.

He was suddenly approached by an individual who began to snatch the apples from the basket. The boy screamed with all his might, “Help! Help!”

A wise man passed by and said to the boy, “Why are you scream­ing? Instead of simply screaming, you should also grab as many apples as you can, before this man succeeds in snatching all of the apples before you manage to grab any…”

Sometimes an individual stands in prayer and the forces of evil tries with all of his might to distract him in order that he should not be able to pray with concentration. He may already be halfway through his prayers and not have concentrated on a single word.

It is worthwhile for a person to try and snatch a little bit for himself and pray the remainder of his prayers with great concentration. For if he does not do so, he will be left with nothing for himself.

May all your tales end with Shalom (peace)

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A king wished to build a magnificent palace for himself, the likes of which had never before been seen. The king’s officers therefore hired a world-renowned architect who was known to be an expert in his field. 

The architect was brought before the king and, a short time later, presented him an wonderful blueprint for a palace that would be both enormous and awe-inspiring. 

The blueprint found favor in the eyes of the king, and he gave or­ders to begin construction at once. He had but one request to make of the architect, he wanted that the palace to be com­pleted on the anniversary of his ascension to the throne. He would then stage a great celebration to dedicate the new palace. 

The builders worked hard and spent much effort on each and every detail. When finished,  a magnificent new palace, whose beauty was unmatched by any other building, stood completed one month before the king’s deadline. 

In order to paint the palace walls, the king hired four master painters. Each one was assigned one wall and was instructed to paint it with vibrant and cheerful colors. 

Three out of the four painters began working immediately. They mixed colors together and covered the walls with many shapes and patterns. One of the painters, however, sat idly by and did not begin painting. 

“Why have you not begun working?” asked one of the painters. “If you do not start now, you will be unable to finish in time!” 

“Don’t worry,” responded the painter. “I will have plenty of time to finish.” 

Nearly one month later, the three painters had produced walls of sheer beauty; a fantastic collection of colors blended pleasantly into matching patterns that were amazing to behold. The fourth wall, however, stood embarrassingly empty of any color or magnificence whatsoever. 

One day before the king’s anniversary, the painter went to the palace and hung large mirrors on the fourth wall that reflected the other three walls. Now the fourth wall appeared to be painted as well, and it looked quite splendid. 

When the king entered the palace and beheld its sheer beauty, he was ecstatic. Wishing to show his appreciation for his workers’ ef­forts, the king ordered his servants to bring in three bags filled with gold coins and jewelry. 

He then instructed them to hang the bags on the three painted walls. 

“Here you go,” said the king to the painters. “Your reward is hanging on the wall that you painted.” 

“But what about my reward?” asked the clever fourth painter. “Your reward,” answered the king, “is reflected in the mirror that you hung on the wall…” 

The lesson that this parable imparts to us is clear – the reward is in proportion to the exertion (Pirkei Avos 5:26)

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