In a far away village there once lived a Jewish merchant who was held in high affection by the lord of the village. This Jewish merchant passed away and his wife followed him, leaving a little boy behind them. The lord of the village took pity on him and brought him up, treating him like a son. The lord always enjoyed the company of the child, and on one occasion he told him that his father and mother had been Jewish, but he had adopted him as his son and all his property and wealth would be the child’s. Meanwhile, he gave him the few belongings which his parents had left. Among them was the prayer book from which his mother had always prayed.

Now the Elul month came around, when it is the practice of the Jewish community in the village to gather together in order to say their prayers during the Days of Awe together with the congregation, since the splen­dor of the King is found in the multitude of the people. The boy asked some Jewish travelers where they were going, and they told him that they were going to the place where they could pray to G-d since their fate for the year would be decided on Rosh haShanah (New Year’s Day), which is a great and awesome occasion indeed. There they would pray with the whole community and G-d certainly would not reject their prayer. From that moment the spirit of the L-rd began to work within the boy.

That night the boy saw his father and mother in a dream, and they urged him to return to the faith of the Jewish people. This dream returned night after night. During the entire ten days of penitence he could not sleep and saw them both awake and in dreams, and they would not let him rest. The boy told all this to the lord, who tried to persuade him that dreams are meaningless.

When the eve of the holy Day of Atonement came, the boy saw wagon after wagon full of Jewish travelers proceeding to town and asked them what it was for. They told him this is the day we wait for, the day of pardon and forgiveness when our transgressions are atoned. The boy was very upset aria set out on foot to go to the old wooden shul (synagogue) in the village. He took his mother’s prayer book and came to synagogue while the Kol Nidre prayer was being sung. He saw all the people dressed in white garments, their prayer books in their hands, praying and asking for forgiveness for deeds of the past year, but he could not pray and began to cry aloud very bitterly; and there was a great commotion in heaven on high.

The boy, seeing that he could not pray, placed his mother’s prayer book on the shtender (bookstand) and cried: “Ribbono shel Olam, Master of the Universe, I do not know how to pray, I do not know what to say, here is the whole prayer book. Pick the right prayers and put them together so that I may grow to understand You.” The boy wept and his heart was broken, his prayer made an impact on the heavenly host and was accepted among the prayers of the upright and innocent; and his prayer opened the Gates of Mercy and blessings of life, peace and goodness showered down on the world.

May all be remembered and inscribed for a year of life, goodness and blessings

May all your tales end with Shalom (peace)

Click here for more storytelling resources

Tell it to your children, and let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation. (Joel 1:3)

Please share this story with family and friends and let us know what you think or feel about the stories in a comment or two. Like us on Facebook or tweet us on Twitter

If the stories are not shared they will be lost.

Please share this story with others