The Eagle and the King: A Jewish Parable on Rising Above Life’s Challenges

In the book The Prince and the Monk, a beautiful parable is told: The prince loved luxury and avoided hard work. One day, the monk said to him: Let me tell you a story.

A hungry eagle was searching for food. Finding nothing on the trees, it came down and pecked through the garbage. A rooster joined him, also scratching through the trash. The rooster laughed and said: "I’m just a rooster rummaging in the garbage, but look at the eagle – king of the birds – doing the same! What makes him any different from me? In the end, we’re the same!"

The eagle then flew up to the roof. The rooster followed, sitting beside him: "See? We’re the same!"

But then the eagle spread its wings and soared high into the skies, while the rooster remained stuck on the ground.

Yes – both searched through garbage, and both could climb onto a roof. But only the eagle could rise above it all.

The monk explained to the prince: We all share physical needs – food, drink, and bodily concerns. But when do we see that you are truly royal? When you refuse to sink into materialism and instead rise above it.

That is the strength of a king.

The Eagle and the Chosen People

God tells the people of Israel: You are like the eagle. All humans eat and drink – in this, we are all equal. But the Jewish nation was chosen not for ordinary life, but for the ability to rise higher: "You have chosen us from all nations, loved us, and wanted us" – where is this seen? In "You raised us above all tongues."

The Jewish people were given a special power – the eagle’s ability to lift off the ground, overcome trials, and soar through faith and moral values.

The Parable of the Eagle’s Egg

Another story is told: An eagle’s egg rolled into a chicken coop. A chick hatched and grew up like the other chicks – pecking at seeds, fearing cats, and staying away from eagle nests.

One day, curiosity drew it to the eagles’ nest. Despite warnings, it climbed up and was warmly welcomed: "Welcome, brother!"

It enjoyed their company, but when the eagles prepared to fly, it hesitated. Was it truly an eagle, or just a chicken? Could it really soar to the skies? The others encouraged it: "Fly and see! If you don’t fall but rise high, then you belong to the nest of eagles."

This is the story of our own struggle: Do we have the strength to rise above? Or will we fall, despair, and give up?

God assures us: You are eagles. You are royal children. You can rise higher than you imagine. At Mount Sinai, through the giving of the Torah, we were empowered to become His people who are capable of greatness.

Broken Tablets and the Path to Wholeness

In the Holy of Holies, inside the Ark of the Covenant, lay the tablets of the Ten Commandments. Alongside them also rested the broken pieces of the first tablets that Moses shattered after the sin of the Golden Calf.

The broken tablets were kept to show us that the journey of Israel began with failure and that reaching wholeness comes only through struggle, mistakes, and setbacks.

Ultimately however, we do not remain broken. We rise. We soar like the eagle, and we reach completeness.