True Story: A Child's Bitachon

I'd like to share a heartwarming story that happened in our home not long ago . . .

(See the glossary at the bottom for definitions of Hebrew terms.)

The Yad

One of my sons has a fascination with sifrei Torah. He has two kid-sized Torahs, and we even made an Aron Kodesh to house them. He dons a tallis that he borrowed from my linen closet (otherwise known as a flat sheet), sets up a makeshift bima, and reads from the Torah. Sometimes he even calls up one of his brothers for an aliyah!

One accessory which is useful when reading from the Torah is called a Yad. Literally meaning "hand", a Yad is a pointer. The Yad helps the reader to point to the place in the Torah.

In our Synagoge gift shop, there was a particular Yad which my son thought was very beautiful. He wanted it for his Torah, but it was $50.00 and out of his price range. One day, he noticed that the price of the Yad had been reduced by 50% - now $25.00! Still a bit high, but now it was within reach.

It wasn't long before the price of the Yad had dropped to only $15.00. My son knew that this was his chance. He was using a Yad that was borrowed from his brother, and he really wanted his own. He handed $15.00 to his father with the request to please purchase the Yad for him.

Where is it?

My husband is a teacher in the school, which is located in the same building as the Synagogue. So on the day that the gift shop is open, he stopped in during his break to buy the Yad.

My husband looked and looked for the Yad, but could not find it. Finally, he asked the gift shop manager if there had been a Yad on sale for $15.00.

"Yes, there was," she recalled. "Someone bought it just 10 minutes ago!"

Uh oh. Poor kid. He had his heart so set on buying this Yad, and he missed it by just 10 minutes!

The Reaction

When my son came home that day, he told me all that had happened. I am certain he was very disappointed. However, when I expressed my sympathy on his loss, he replied simply "Well, I just wasn't meant to have it."

Wow! My jaw nearly dropped to the floor! I couldn't believe that this was an eleven year old talking! His mature attitude seemed beyond his years.

To my dear son: If you read this on the computer at school, know that your parents are very proud of you, and you should be very proud of yourself!!

Glossary

• aliyah - the honor of being called up to the Torah
• Aron Kodesh - Holy Ark
• bima - table from which the Torah is read
• sifrei Torah - Torah scrolls
• tallis - prayer shawl
• yad - hand (in this case, pointer)