Why is the Tapestry of Our Lives So Full of Knots? 5 Parables to Ponder

"Your Time is Up"

There's a story about a man who saved the king's daughter. The king, overwhelmed with emotion and gratitude, told the man: "Tomorrow at 9:00 AM, come to my palace, and for a whole 5 minutes, I allow you to take whatever you wish from the king's treasury!"

The man was thrilled about the wealth he was about to acquire. The king, however, later realized his mistake, as such an action could deplete the royal treasury! Since he was a king and could not retract his words, he turned to his advisors for a solution. After much discussion, his close advisor approached him and said: "I have an idea. It will still cost a significant amount of money, but it is certainly a sum the king can afford, and it will not impoverish him."

Finally, the eagerly awaited day arrived. The man approached the palace and stood at the entrance precisely at the designated hour. The gates of honor were opened for him, and he was escorted into the palace lobby. Immediately, his favorite singer appeared, accompanied by an orchestra of 100 people, singing for him. The man was moved and began to listen to the beautiful voice and song that he coincidentally loved the most.

After a minute, he realized he was getting carried away with the song and wasting time, needing to continue gathering as many treasures as possible from the king's storehouse. He moved forward toward the king's treasury room and suddenly spotted a giant tray of hot pizza, and the waiter invited him to indulge. Unable to resist the temptation, he began to feast!

After a minute, he again realized he was wasting time and needed to continue gathering as many treasures as possible from the king's storehouse. He moved another step toward the king's treasury room, and suddenly he saw his good friends from elementary school, the army, and work. Friends he hadn't seen in years! They began calling to him, asking about his well-being, and out of excitement he began hugging them, and another minute passed...

He understood again that time was running out, and he had to move toward the king's treasury room. But every few seconds, a distraction was put in his way...

In the last ten seconds, he came to his senses and frantically rushed toward the king's treasury room, grabbing as much as he could. Then the guards seized him by force and began to escort him out of the palace: "Your time is up!"

The man began to lament: "Oh, what have I done?! For five minutes, I had a golden opportunity to grab as much gold and silver as possible during my stay here! What a fool I am, why didn't I grab everything while I could! How did I let all the distractions blur my vision? How?!"

This is the parable, and the lesson is simple: A person is in this world for about 70-80 years - the time flies! One must use the time to seize as many mitzvot, good deeds, and Torah study as possible. But instead, a person engages in distractions placed by the evil inclination so that he won't attain all this spiritual wealth. Money, possessions, women, food... And then the moment comes when... "Your time is up," when "a person is taken" from this world, and he comes to the next world and realizes: What a fool I was. How did I not seize more mitzvot that I could have?!

If we look closely, we will discover that we delve into transient things that won't take us anywhere. They don't advance us nor make us better. Many actions that a person does during the day are time-wasting at best and sins that distance us from our goal at worst.

We need to look at the mitzvot as diamonds. Every moment a mitzvah comes to hand, we must strive to seize it. There is no such thing as a "small" mitzvah; every mitzvah is critically important. We must seize every possible mitzvah, even if it's a one-time act or doesn't seem important. Because there, in the next world, it will be too late...

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Who is the Real Winner?

The story is told of a king who heard about a man who was a great marksman.

For years the king searched for a worthy opponent in the field of marksmanship to compete with him, and as soon as he heard about this artist, he invited him to his palace to conduct a large competition in front of his ministers and servants. The king, of course, had the honor of starting the competition, and it soon became clear that the king was an expert marksman, with almost all his shots hitting the target. It was the competitor's turn, and the first shot hit the edge of the target, and the second did the same, as well as the third and fourth... The king's ministers began whispering about this unlucky fellow, noting that even a child could shoot better than him.

But the king, who had a sharp eye in this field, noticed something interesting. Although none of the balls were on target, they were all in the exact same spot, which required a great skill that only a true marksman could do. After the competition, in which the king obviously won, he called the marksman and requested an explanation: "If you are a marksman, why did you miss the target? And if you are not a marksman, how did you manage to place all the shots in the same hole? I warn you to tell only the truth!"

The marksman's explanation is important to us in every argument or competition we encounter in life: "My lord king, I did it out of respect for you. I wanted everyone to think that you are the winner of the competition. I also feared that you might be angry if I showed my superiority over you. Nonetheless, I gave you a hint of the truth by placing all the shots in the same hole, knowing that only you would notice."

The king was very impressed by his words; he was both a true marksman and a noble soul!

Sometimes we seek to win, but we forget what it means to "win." According to our holy Torah, being right doesn’t necessarily mean winning. There were many who were right and yet lost their lives in their righteousness. The real victory is over the evil inclination that wants and seeks to drag us into senseless quarrels and pointless arguments.

The greatest victory is to make the other party understand us, while fully respecting them and appreciating them, and without giving them an unpleasant feeling - sometimes even humiliating - to the other side. That is a true victor!

Look at Yourself First

While waiting for my first appointment in the dentist's waiting room, I noticed his diploma on the wall, with his full name on it.

Suddenly, I recalled a tall, athletic, and handsome guy with the same name who studied with me in high school 30 years ago.

When I saw the dentist, I immediately dismissed the thought. The bald man with the large belly, gray and wrinkled face, was too old to have been my classmate.

After he examined my teeth, I asked him if he had studied at Herzliya Gymnasium.

"Yes," he replied.

"When did you graduate?" I asked.

"In 1961," he answered.

"You were in my class," I said in amazement.

He looked at me keenly and then asked: "What did you teach?"...

Sometimes we act like this person. We check everyone, judge everyone, and express opinions on everyone.

Yet, we fail to "look" at one person, do not put him on trial, do not examine his actions, his failures, his mistakes... ourselves! Before you rush to judge others, look at yourself first! Do not judge others before you judge yourself! Correct yourself before others, stand on your mistakes, your failures, judge yourself, and check your steps.

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"Open for Me an Opening The Size of a Needle Point..."

A young man approached his father: "Dad, I want to travel to the Far East, and I need you to help me with 10,000 shekels." The father replied, "I will help you, provided you promise me to lay *tefillin* every day while you're abroad."

The son promised, the father gave him special *tefillin*, and the son went abroad, waiting for his father to transfer the money.

A week later, he called his father: "So, when will you transfer the money?" The father asked: "Are you laying *tefillin*?" "Of course," replied the son, "every day." "You'll receive the money in a few days," the father said.

Two weeks later, the son called again: "So, Dad, what about the money?" The father asked: "Are you laying *tefillin* as you promised?" The son replied: "Sure, every day since I arrived!" "You'll receive the money in two days," promised the father.

This went on for three months, until the son finally despaired, returned home, and confronted his father: "You didn't tell me the truth. How can you make a promise to transfer money without keeping it?"

"Did I not keep my promise?!" laughed the father. "Let's open the *tefillin* case I gave you."

The son, not understanding where the father was leading, opened the case. "Take out the *tefillin*," urged the father.

The son took out the *tefillin*, and from the case fell 10,000 shekels in cash...

The Creator says to us: "Dear ones, I have given you commandments, open them - all the treasures are there...".

The Creator does not ask much from us: "Open for Me an opening the size of a needle point..." - just open the *tefillin* case, do one good deed, accept something positive, and "I will open for you an opening the size of a hall" - you'll receive everything...

The Tapestry of Life

As a small child, I always watched my mother embroidering. I loved to sit on the floor, look up, and ask, "Mom, what are you doing?" "Embroidering," she would reply with a wise smile.

Every day the same ritual: Mom sat in the armchair, and I on the floor, staring with curiosity, asking, and receiving the same answer with the wise smile.

One day, I told her that from where I was sitting, everything looked very unclear, very unordered, and not pretty. Many threads of all colors, thick and thin, long and short, many knots, twists, and unclear entanglements... "I don't understand, Mom, what are you doing?"

She smiled and with her sweet voice said, "Go, my son, play outside, and when I am finished, I will call you so you can see my embroidery..."

One day, while I was mid-play in the yard, having long forgotten about the incident, my mother called me to come inside.

When I entered, she unfurled in her hands a rare piece of beautiful art. I gazed at the finished work, and everything was so different! What an amazing piece of art, so many colors, shapes, and patterns! As if they painted the most charming picture in the world!

My mother saw the wonder in my eyes and told me: "My dear, from below, from the floor, you always saw a lot of disorder because you never looked at the work I was embroidering from above..."

Years went by, and many times when life gets tough, I remember my mother's wise words and look up to the heavens asking: "God, my Father, what are you doing?" and it always seems that He replies to me: "My son, I am embroidering your life..."

And as then, I ask: "Why does everything seem so complicated? Why are there so many knots..." Then it seems God replies: "You focus on your work, my son, and I will take care of mine... One day you will be able to see the work complete, and it will be more beautiful than you can imagine - those will be your life."

We do not always understand what is happening in our lives; everything seems complicated, and nothing appears to succeed. It turns out we are looking at the work from below. But from the correct side, God above is weaving our lives... for our benefit!