5 Parables to Ponder: How to Shorten a Line Without Touching It

To Diminish or to Enhance?

One day, a teacher entered the classroom and saw his students shouting, arguing, and insulting each other. He approached the board, took a piece of chalk, and drew a line one meter long. "Do any of you have an idea on how to shorten the line?" he asked the students.

Some suggested erasing from the right or left, another suggested folding it... But the teacher emphasized, "You must shorten the line without touching it!".

The students were astounded, they thought and thought... It was quite a challenge! They struggled to find a solution.

The teacher approached the board and drew another line above the existing one, longer than the first line, and then added:

"To 'diminish' someone, you don't need to harm or insult them... You just need to make yourself 'greater'!".

Remember, dealing with anger is a golden opportunity for us to 'increase' ourselves and elevate ourselves without humiliating or harming others...

Holding Hands

A little girl and her father were crossing a river.

The father was concerned for his daughter's safety and asked her, "Sweetheart, please hold my hand so you don't fall into the river." The little girl replied, "No, Daddy. You hold my hand."

"What's the difference?" asked the father.

"There's a big difference," the girl replied. "If I hold your hand and something happens to me, chances are I might let go of your hand. But if you hold my hand, I know for sure that no matter what happens, you will never let go of my hand!"

So, hold the hands of the people you love, and don't wait for them to hold yours... The girl knows that if her father holds her hand, he will never let go. Just like during the hard moments in our lives, our Father in heaven holds our hand securely, and we must know for certain that He will never let go!

An Escape Plan

Once upon a time, there was a dog that decided to travel the world and went on a safari in Africa.

One day, he lost his way and suddenly saw a tiger running towards him with the intent to eat him. He thought frantically about how to save himself and spotted a pile of bones on the ground. Quickly, he sat by the bones with his back to the tiger, grabbed a bone in his mouth, and when the tiger approached, he said aloud, "That was a really tasty tiger! I wonder if there are any more tasty tigers around here..."

Hearing this, the tiger stopped, looked at him in terror, and thought to himself, "Oh no, this dog almost ate me!" Then, he turned and crawled away...

(Photo: shutterstock)

A monkey sitting in a tree above them, who saw everything, decided it was a good chance to improve his relations with the tiger. He chased after the tiger and told him that the dog had tricked him. Enraged with humiliation, the tiger said to the monkey, "Sit on my back, and watch how I turn that dog into mince meat!"

The dog, who hadn't yet calmed down, saw the tiger running towards him again, this time with the monkey on his back. Instead of fleeing, the dog decided to sit again with his back towards his attackers. Just before the tiger reached him, the dog said loudly, "Where is that annoying monkey?! It's been half an hour since I asked him to bring me another tiger..."

Remember, in every situation, there is a way to escape; in every challenge, there's a perspective we haven't tried yet.

If you feel trapped, bound, with no way out, look up to the heavens, turn to the Creator of the world, and ask Him to open your eyes and guide you along the right path and with good counsel...

The Power of Words

A group of frogs was wandering through the forest when suddenly two frogs carelessly fell into a very deep pit. The other frogs stopped their journey and gathered around the pit. Seeing how deep the pit was, they shouted to the frogs that had fallen: "Friends, you have no chance of getting out of there alive... it's not worth even trying!"

But the frogs in the pit had no intention of giving up their lives so easily. They simply ignored the shouting and signals from their friends above and tried to jump out with all their might. They jumped and exerted themselves despite the "encouragement" from the frogs above and despite the hopeless gestures they signaled them - "You'll never get out of there!..."

One of the frogs in the pit understood the message. She stopped jumping, her strength waned, and she died at the bottom of the pit.

The second frog didn't give up, tried, and continued with all her might to jump and leap, while her friends shouted, "It's a waste of effort, you have no chance in the world!... stop trying and suffering, give in and at least die peacefully"...

Nevertheless, she continued to try, and even jumped harder... Eventually, she leapt with such great force that she managed to get out of the pit. Once outside, exhausted but full of satisfaction, they asked her in amazement: "How did you do it? The pit was really deep..."

In sign language, the excited frog thanked them: "Thanks to you, my dear friends! Thank you for the encouragement!"... it turned out she was deaf, and mistakenly interpreted their enthusiastic cries as words of encouragement...

May we learn to weigh every word we speak, remember how powerful our words are, and use the power of speech effectively - to pray, to thank, to compliment, and to encourage...

A Gym

Yossi decided to go on a diet and strengthen his abdominal muscles. To achieve this, he decided to enroll in a gym. However, upon his first visit, he was surprised to find the place empty of equipment. He approached the management and asked, "Where are the treadmills, exercise bikes, weights? Where are all the fitness machines?"

They replied, "We wanted to do you a favor. Instead of you tiring yourself with the machines and sweating, we've arranged comfortable sofas and hot drinks for you. Help yourself..."

Yossi got angry: "Are you mocking me? Is this a gym?! I came here to build myself up, not to pamper myself! I want to exert myself, to tire and to sweat, because that's how I build myself, that's how my muscles grow stronger!"

Who do you think is right? Yossi or the gym? It's clear that Yossi is right...

(Photo: shutterstock)

Friends, in the same way, a person comes into the world, and the Creator of the world provides him with various "exercise machines," to train and strengthen himself with them. The exercise machines in the form of difficulties, challenges, and trials are precisely what build him, elevate him!

Every trial that ends successfully elevates the person and raises him to a higher level than he was previously. The harder the trial, the higher a person climbs as a result.

If everything was simple and clear, if a red carpet was laid before him for keeping Torah and commandments – without urges, without challenges – without his exercise machines – what reward would he deserve? But when a person has urges from within and temptations from outside, and he uses them like an exercise machine, to strengthen and fortify himself in the way of Hashem – he earns to prepare his soul for a noble, sublime spiritual life, already in this temporary world, but mainly in the world to come, which is eternal.

Remember, as long as the soul is within the body, it can strengthen and uplift itself – by guarding eyes, observing Shabbat, overcoming anger, and improving character traits. The moment a person leaves this world (and we all will leave...), he will no longer have the opportunity to rectify.