Monday, May 14, 2012

CLD #592



For the Ilui Neshama of Avraham ben Ester ZT’L.
There is a famous Mashal (fable) of a Vineyard Owner, Reuven, and his friend Shimon. Reuven once needed to go away to France and other countries where wine experts needed his help to grow the perfect grapes for their own wine research. Because of Reuven’s busy schedule he did not have the time to go looking for the perfect grapevine watcher while he was away.

Shimon happens to be Reuven’s close friend. His flight was a couple hours away and he could only look at Shimon for help. Shimon was not the best person to rely on, he was known for his bad qualities of laziness and lack of responsibility. It was not a good idea for Reuven to leave but he did anyway. When he returned, to our surprise Reuven’s grapevines were destroyed. There was animal manure everywhere, trash was throughout the vineyard and there was just a disaster. So what does Reuven do? He jumps up and starts running to all the vines, cleans the trash and gets to business immediately.

What does Shimon do? He asks Reuven: “What are you doing?! The vineyard is a mess! The animals broke open the gate and the grapes are all dirty and lacking juice. What’s the point of trying to fix everything up, its already in a disastrous state?”

Reuven answers: “Are you crazy?! Why does it matter what state the vineyard is in now? Of course there has been great damage done from the animals and the lack of care for the grapes; but all the caution taken now will prevent any damage from happening in the future.”

This Mashal can be used for all our poor decisions and spiritual mistakes we have made in the past. It is true that avonot (sins) cause a great deal of damage, however; we must understand that fixing our actions and perfecting our day to day living will cause an overall change in the eyes of Hashem. He will see we are serious about doing Teshuva (repenting) and making our decisions with more thought from the Torah’s perspective.

B’H may we continue to grow in a spiritually healthy way, inspiring others to grow with us and just causing an environment of positive energy and an exciting future ahead.

Judaism=Think.
The Mashal was taken from the book Netzor Leshoncha.

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