A holy rabbi was sitting walking through the woods with his grandson when the young boy asked, “Zaidie (grandfather), how old are you?”
The holy rabbi looked at his grandson with great love but did not answer. He just continued walking down the path pointing out some of the wonders along the way. After a while, seeing that no answer was coming, the boy went off to do other things and the question was quickly forgotten.
When they arrived back at the holy rabbi’s house, they sat down to eat and discuss the afternoon adventure. The young by was so excited about everything he did, he couldn’t stop talking about it. The holy rabbi left his grandson for a brief time and took some money out of his pocket, put it in an envelope, sealed it, and handed it his grandson.
“Thank you, Zaidie” the boy said as he put the envelope into his pocket.
The holy rabbi was surprised by his grandson’s actions and so he asked him why he didn’t open the envelope to see how much money was in it.
“Every gift from you, Zaidie, is very dear to me,” he replied. “The amount doesn’t really matter:”
“Listen to your words, that is the answer to your earlier question!” the holy rabbi explained. The Holy One, blessed be He gave us great gifts like the Torah (Scriptures) that “written by the finger of G-d.” (Exodus 31:18), a special peace where “no one shall make you afraid” (Leviticus 26:6) and the shield of salvation that supports us and makes us great (Psalm 18:35).
“Do we not learn that “Loving the L-rd your G-d, obeying Him, and holding fast to Him; for that means life to you and length of days.’ (Deuteronomy 30:20) Life is a very dear gift from the Holy One, blessed be He. Can we even begin to value how precious each and every second is? Should I start counting how much time He has given me? As you yourself have just said – ‘the amount doesn’t really matter:’ “
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)