A prince once angered his father, the king, by his disrespect and misbehavior. Furious, the king banished his son from the palace without giving him a penny. His son wandered from city to city, collecting alms and barely managing to take care of himself.
When he grew weary of collecting charity, he made his way to the house of an elderly villager and offered to perform any form of labor that he desired, be it in the house or the field.
The villager took the young boy into his home, and the man was not disappointed. The boy worked with great enthusiasm and performed any task that his master requested, whether it was working in the fields or tending to the animals. In exchange, the villager allowed the boy to board in his home, and he provided him with a meager meal as well.
One day, the villager died, and his estate fell into the hands of his son. Trouble soon arose, however, as the son was a wicked man who increased the workloads of all of the villager’s servants while at the same time decreasing their benefits.
Meanwhile, the king was in his palace in the capital city. He was sad and depressed over not having received any word of his son throughout the past several years, and not having any idea where he was or what he was doing. He therefore decided to travel around his kingdom and proclaim wherever he went that whoever had a request to make of the king or a grievance that needed to be settled was invited to come before him and state his claim.
Indeed, wherever the king went, long lines formed, consisting of the heavily burdened as well as dispute between parties, in order to relate their troubles to the king.
The king’s travels eventually brought him to the city in which his son resided. The son, as well, was among the individuals who lined up to speak with the king, and when it came his turn, he fell before the king and cried, “Your Highness! I work for a certain villager who forces me to do overbearing labor! I beg of you, order him to provide me with bread each day and not to oppress me so…”
The king fell on his son’s neck and exclaimed:
“Woe is me, that I must see you in such a state! Are you so heavily burdened that you have completely forgotten about your esteemed lineage? You are the son of a king, and your place is in the palace of kings. Instead of asking me for stale bread, ask me for permission to return to the palace!”
The Jewish people are the children of princes, kings and priests, but the darkness of exile and the oppression we have endured have caused us to forget this fact. We therefore stand in prayer and request no more than a slice of bread.
Restore us to You, O Lord, that we may be restored, renew our days as of old (Lamentations. 5:21).
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)