B"H

A Chassidic Parable

The following is a Chassidic parable, which my teachers, may they be
blessed, taught me:

There was once a wise and very benevolent King who had amassed a huge
fortune. The fortune was far greater than he could ever use, or that
he could even will to his children after him without much of it
sitting in reserve.

"What shall I do with all this wealth?", he thought. A wonderful
idea came to him: I shall distribute it among all my subjects. The
King was delighted with the thought of sharing his endless troves
with others. Yet, the King also knew that with great wealth comes
the opportunities for great calamity if one is not as concomitantly
wise as one is rich. "What to do?" the King thought, "What to do?"
An idea occured to him...

The next day the King sent the town-criers out with an announcement
to all of his kingdom. "On such and such a day the King will be
opening his storehouses of treasure. Come one, come all. For twenty-
four hours you may come and carry away as much as you can." Stunned
the people could not believe their eyes and ears. But it was true,
the King intended to open his treasure house to all in the kingdom
for each to carry away as much as they could carry.

The day arrived. The excited subjects arrived before dawn and waited
anxiously at the gates. The gates opened with the day and the crowd
thronged into the King's courtyard.

Within the courtyard the King's subjects found all sorts of
entertainments and diversion: belly dancers, sword swallowers,
jugglers. Most of the people stopped and took time for the
amusements thinking "We have plenty of time, twenty-four hours to
take from the treasure house. Let's have some fun before we set to
business." More and more entertainments were set before the crowds,
each more riveting than those before. There they stood fascinated by
the ever-changing scene.

Only a very few were wise enough to walk through the gates and
remember why they had come in the first place. Only a very few
understood that if they took as much as they could carry today they
would be able to enjoy themselves for the rest of their lives.

The wise ones entered, walked past the entertainers without so much
as glancing at them, and carried away as much of the King's wealth as
they could carry. The others stayed in the courtyard riveted by the
attractions and entertainments. Early day turned to day, which
turned to noon, which turned to dusk, to nighfall, to night, to
dawn. The subjects were ushered out of the King's courtyard and the
gates were locked.

Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat