The Climb

Looking out the window one day, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi noticed his young grandchild, the seven-year-old Menachem Mendel,1 playing in the yard with his friends. The children had leaned a tall pole against a building and were competing with each other as to who could climb the highest. The Rebbe noticed that the young Mendel was the only one to succeed in reaching the top of the pole, while all the others retreated well before the halfway mark.

Later, he asked his grandson: ''Tell me, Mendeleh, how did you succeed in climbing higher than all your friends?''

The child replied: ''Everyone kept on looking down to see how high they have climbed, and fell back in fright. But I looked only up, concentrating on how much higher I still have to go.''