"I Am the Happiest Bird in the World". 5 Parables to Ponder

Signal from the Skies

Yossi, my friend the soldier, tells me excitedly: "A chilling blood-curdling scream pierced the early morning quiet, jolting us, the soldiers at one of the IDF bases in the Judean Desert. Before our astonished eyes lay Asaf the soldier on his bed, with a large 'anaconda' snake coiled around his neck. This snake can suffocate its prey to death in seconds. We froze in terror, unable to help him...

"I looked at the pale face of Asaf as we understood these might be his last moments, and he quietly murmured a few words. But before our eyes, a wondrous miracle happened, Yossi says, oddly and inexplicably, the giant snake decided to leave Asaf’s neck gracefully, parting from him quietly without harming him and continued to slither away in the sands of the Judean Desert.

"We were shocked, we did not understand how this happened...

"Asaf got up from the bed as pale as a sheet and told us that in those moments when he saw death before his eyes, he promised Hashem that if he survives, he would change his ways and return to complete repentance, and indeed - Yossi concludes his story - since then, Asaf changed his way and returned to complete repentance..."

"So... what about you?", I asked Yossi. And he replied: "Me? The snake climbed on Asaf, not on me...".

There are times when Hashem, in His compassion for a person on the path to spiritual abyss, sends a clear signal that he is on the wrong path, and the person completely ignores it. A person receives all the clear signals and signs, miracles that have never been seen before, and continues on his way. Instead of introspecting to understand what it's for and why.

Hashem sends us signals, and it starts with a "gentle tap on the shoulder"... it's worth paying attention to that touch, so we don't, God forbid, reach the state of electric shocks... We need to get– even a little – out of the selfishness that envelops us. Only then, when we step out a bit from ourselves, can we be aware of those around us and observe what happens, act according to "signals from above" – and see them as life-saving signals.

(Photo: shutterstock)

Who is a True Child?

Two farmers walk along the road and suddenly a little girl runs towards them.

The farmer said to his friend: "That girl is my daughter". His friend replied: "I don’t believe she is your daughter, please prove it to me".

What did that farmer do? He smiled a wide smile at the little girl and she returned the smile to him. Immediately, he told his friend: "There you have it, she is my daughter, at the moment I smiled at her, she smiled back".

However, his friend heard this and said: "You still haven’t proven that she’s your daughter, because a child’s nature is to smile back when smiled at. When will I know she is your daughter? Only when you slap her on the cheek and after that, she runs to you, only then will I know she is your daughter".

A true child is not measured during times when everything is going right: when the match comes on time, when there’s a promotion at work and peace at home is thriving. In situations where a person finds it easy to say "how good Hashem is, what a great Father I have". No! No! A true child is measured during times of hardship and difficulties. There, a true child is measured if he is a true child, if even there he remembers that he has a great Father...

A person who goes through upheavals and sufferings and does not abandon his Father and continues to stick with Him... This is a true child of Hashem!

Measure for Measure

In a small village, a baker and a milkman lived side by side. Every morning the baker would sell the milkman bread, and in the evening the milkman would sell the baker butter.

One day the baker noticed that the milkman was not giving him a kilo of butter, but cheating him, giving him less. Day after day, the baker weighed the amounts and saw that he always reduced from the kilo.

The baker got angry and went with the milkman to be judged by the village judge. The judge listened to the baker, who claimed his friend was cheating him and giving him too small an amount of butter.

The judge asked the milkman to bring his measuring device. The milkman brought the weighing scales. The hot-tempered baker placed the butter the milkman sold him the day before, and the judge placed a one-kilo weight. It was clear that the scale with the weight was heavier.

"See?" the baker fumed. "This weighs less than a kilo, and he’s selling it to me at the price of a kilo!"

The judge looked at the scales and asked the milkman: "Show me the weight you use".

"I do not use a weight," the milkman answered.

"So what do you place on the other scale?", the judge asked.

The milkman looked at his friend. "The kilo of bread my friend sells me in the morning".

That's how it is in life too: we always receive what we give, measure for measure... and before we jump to blame others, we should thoroughly check ourselves...

(Photo: shutterstock)

Stay in Touch

A municipal worker narrated that the head of the water department approached him and handed him two letters to deliver, one marked with a warning before disconnection and the other with immediate disconnection.

That worker took the letters and on his way to the addresses, he saw that in the letter marked as a warning before disconnection, the debt had reached 10,000 shekels while in the letter for immediate disconnection the debt did not exceed 1,000 shekels.

The worker was very surprised, how could this be?

The next day, when he returned to the department head, he asked: "I want to understand, how is it possible that a debt of 10,000 shekels is not disconnected, while a debt of 1,000 shekels you won’t wait another second and disconnect immediately?!".

The department head said to him: "Know that the family with the large debt, every month calls me several times, explains their difficulties. They say they really want to pay and ask for a little more time and often deposit here a hundred shekels and there two hundred shekels, but those with the thousand shekels debt, no matter how many messages and warnings you send them, they don’t respond!

The worker said, how much I learned that day, a person who yearns for Hashem, a person who truly wants the blessed Creator, someone who wants to talk, who is in touch with Him, even if the debt is very large, Hashem will never disconnect him, He will always come towards him...

Even if you have fallen and disappointed, sunk and degenerated to the lowest places, - know that you will always remain the son of Hashem. You can always lift your head to the sky and know that Hashem is waiting for you, you are always special to Him!

Be Happy with Your Lot

A black crow lived peacefully and contentedly in the great forest, he never knew want and failure.

One day, the crow flew outside the forest bounds and saw a white swan swimming in a lake. The crow thought: "What a beautiful swan, so noble and white, while I am black and gray, it’s clear to me that the swan is the most beautiful and happiest bird in the world".

The crow landed beside the swan and expressed his feelings. The swan replied: "I too thought I was the happiest bird until I saw the parrot... Its feathers are adorned with beautiful colors, not dull like mine...".

The crow flew to the parrot and told him the praises the swan showered upon him. The parrot said to him: "Even I was sure that my feather colors are the most beautiful and I was happy, until on my travels I saw a peacock in the zoo... the peacock spread its feathers and my eyes popped out, such beauty I have never seen... at that moment I understood the peacock is the happiest bird in the world!".

The crow flew to the zoo to find the peacock. Suddenly he saw a crowd of dozens of people. He approached and saw they were all gathering around the peacock.

In the evening when everyone left, the crow turned to the peacock and said: "Dear peacock, how beautiful you are, your feathers are special and sparkle in the sun, everyone gathers around you, while everyone drives me away... are you the happiest bird in the world?".

The peacock replied: "I always thought I was the most beautiful and happy, but this beauty turned against me... because of it, I am imprisoned in this zoo... dear crow, you may not be the most beautiful of birds but you are free, no one gathers around you, you fly wherever your heart desires... you are the happiest bird in the world!".

Many times we are like the crow - we make unnecessary comparisons between ourselves and others. These comparisons cause us to undervalue ourselves, to be sad, envious, and to seek lives more perfect than those of our friends.

But we are mistaken! We do not appreciate ourselves; we don’t pat ourselves on the back or thank Hashem for the good we possess that others do not. Do not compare yourself to others, it is not certain that the good they seem to have truly makes them happy!
Look at the good within you, and there is a lot.

There will always be people who have more than you, but what you have is the best for you! If you want to be happy, be content with what you have. The spouse, the house, the job, the children, and the car that your friend has, they fit only him, do not envy him, because what you have is perfectly tailored to you!