Fables & Parables

The Baal Shem Tov was once asked: "Why do Chassidim burst into song and dance at the slightest provocation? Is this the behavior of a sane person?"

Each day the old woman put the yoke over her shoulders and went down to the river, filled the cans, and walked back to her modest hut...

"Oh, you little boy," said the man, resting his free hand on the little boy's shoulder. "You don't know what it's like to have to schlep rocks. When you'll be big like me you'll be happy with a little oven, too"

Why must everything be so difficult? Couldn't G-d have designed our lives so that we wouldn't need to encounter disappointments, challenges and toil every step of the way?

Suddenly the world convulses. Upheaval. Writhing. A crushing, staccato pounding. One brother disappears into the turmoil. The second brother bewails the tragedy--the death of a perfectly fine fellow. Why didn't he take better care? Why did he fall into the abyss?

He ran to the nearest hut and set fire to its straw roof. The fire began to spread very quickly. "Don't be alarmed!" cried the lad. "Now watch me"

The precious jewels had been spread to the farthest reaches of the globe. How would the king recover that which was most dear to him?

He stopped before the huge glass window and gazed at the rich people sitting in the plush warm room talking and laughing while eating delicious cheese blintzes...

"Why have they stopped crying?" wondered the villager. "Are they no longer hungry?" Then he remembered the cholent

Rabbi Schneur Zalman saw these events as a reflection of what was transpiring Above. He regarded his arrest as but the earthly echo of a Heavenly indictment against his revelation of the most intimate secrets of the Torah...

Perhaps it was the oils of the black bird's feathers that refracted the light of the sun into so many rainbows. Perhaps it was the mystery of her absolute blackness, or the contrast she held against the bright morning sky. All that could be said is that it was a beauty as indefinable as black is dark

For as long as anyone could remember, there was a clock mounted high up on the tallest building in the town. But times change. A murmur of discontent was heard in an element of the population...

Just as the sun had sighed its last rays, the king and his guards sighted a small bright cottage, whose light bravely defied the dusk of an already darkened valley...

"This was all good and well," explained the old navy diver, "when the ship had been under for a month or so. After that it would begin to rust and the hooks would bring up only huge chunks of iron, leaving the rest of the ship behind"

Two lost souls, a wealthy businessman and his coachman, arrived in a city one Friday afternoon...

The day of the wedding arrived. Hundreds of beggars took their places around tables laden with the best and the tastiest food money could buy. But then tragedy struck

"Sir, you have a first class ticket," wondered the conducter. "Why you are lying under a bench in a third class car?"

Everyone has a right to an opinion. It is inevitable, however, that certain opinions will carry more weight than others

"Your Majesty," said the artist. I humbly ask that you make no judgment of my work until fifteen minutes after it is unveiled." An unusual request, but the king nodded in agreement

Once upon a time there was a fabulously rich man who was miserable. He took up music, sports, travel, even meditation; but nothing seemed to help. With no other choice he went to a wise man for advice...

Once upon a time there was a poor man who heard about a faraway land where diamonds were as plentiful as dust -- one need only bend down and fill one's pockets

Though motivated by an inner love and a sense of concern for the spiritual health of one's fellow, these rebukes often come in the form of a pricking needle

A King had an only son, the apple of his eye. The King wanted his son to master different fields of knowledge and to experience various cultures, so he sent him to a far-off country...

He was full of gratitude to the wagon driver, but his gratitude did not keep him warm. After a few minutes huddled between the barrels he was abruptly reminded that he was still freezing to death, and not being able to move didn't help any.

The commander of the Bavarian troops stepped forward, fell to one knee before the Emperor and said: "I ask for autonomy for Bavaria!" "Liberty it shall be!" shouted Bonaparte

Every week, the family cow tethered in my grandmother's yard received a special treat: the pan of water in which the Shabbat pots and dishes had been rinsed...

A donkey fell into a pit, and try as he might, his owner couldn't pull him out. Finally, the farmer decided that since the animal was old, and the pit needed to be covered up anyway, he'd just bury the old donkey right there...

First we drank a glass of wine. Then we ate a bit of parsley. Then they started talking, and talking, and talking. The smell of the food from the kitchen is making me insane, but they don't bring it out!

After a month of determined journeying, the elders of Obmah reached the deep caves of Igsirous, the last bastion of loyalty to King Avmal remaining in the kingdom...

Many dukes and princes wooed the princess, but she turned them down one after another. The king became impatient and swore that the next young man that would come to the gates of the palace would be her husband...

He built them a house and put straw on the benches and brought her tomatoes from the garden. He was so happy and she was devastated. But this was the situation

A rich man and a poor man came to see the king. The rich man got the "experience." The pauper saw the king

"Brothers and sisters!" the king roared. "We must each search our hearts and confess our sins, so we should know who is the cause of this calamity..."

They heard it before they saw it, an unearthly sound of crashing metal and a thousand charging bulls. And then, in a huge cloud of black smoke, it appeared...

One day, the Kaiser of Austria came to visit the Czar of Russia...

"Will I be able to do my job?" the Evil Side asked. "Will people really listen to me?"

Initially, the king and queen thought he was kidding. However, when the prince began to spend his days and nights in the chicken coop, his parents knew that serious trouble was afoot...

The doctor keeps on recounting his good deeds. The rabbi keeps on insisting that he does the exact same...

Two souls meet midway between heaven and earth. "Nu, what can you tell me about the world I am about to enter?" asks the descending soul.

The advisor whose chicken won the race would become the hero of the king's court. Rabbi Yonasan had no idea how to make anything in this world vicious, certainly not a chicken...