It is an honour for children and fathers to be with one another (Exodus Rabbah 34:3)
A young boy was helping his father move some books out of room to a large bookshelf downstairs. It was important to this little boy that he was helping his father, even though he was probably getting in the way and slowing things down more than he was really helping. That boy had a wise and patient father who knew it was much more important to work together with his young son than it was to move a pile of books efficiently.
Among the many books, there were some very large heavy books, and it was a hard for the boy to get them down the stairs. As a matter of fact, on one particular load, the boy dropped his pile of books several times. Finally, he sat down on the stairs and cried because he was ashamed and disappointed in himself. He wasn’t doing well at all. He just wasn’t strong enough to carry the big books down the steps. It hurt him to think he couldn’t do this for his father. All he wanted to do was help his father and make him proud.
Without a word, the father picked up the dropped load of books, put them into the boy’s arms, and scooped up both the boy and the books into his arms and carried them down the stairs. They continued doing this for load after load, both enjoying each other’s company very much. The boy carrying the books, the father carrying the boy.
May all your tales end with Shalom (peace)
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Tell it to your children, and let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation. (Joel 1:3)
