My Dear Child

The elder Chassid, Reb Michoel of Nevel, used to give his students the following parable:

A simple villager once received a letter from afar. Since he did not know how to read, he took the letter to his son’s tutor. The letter unfortunately told that the villager’s father had passed away. When the tutor read the letter aloud, the villager fainted…

Asked Reb Michoel to his students: “Who should have fainted? The one who was able to read the letter, not the one who merely heard it! But it was the villager who fainted. Why? Because for the tutor it was someone else’s letter; for the villager it was his father.”

The lesson: If you study Chassidism thinking that you’re reading about “someone else’s father,” then you can read and understand the words, but you won’t “faint.” On the other hand, even when you’re teaching someone else, if you know you’re talking about your own father – your “Father in Heaven” – it will penetrate to the core of your soul and move you to action.