1 Adar II 5774
Rosh Chodesh II
"Did you notice that the further people are from the truth, the more they consider someone who turns away from evil to be a fool?" (Rebbe Nachman, Sefer Ha Middot, Emet)
Rebbe Nachman's Stories: The Tainted Grain
The king’s star gazer saw that the grain harvested that year was tainted. Anyone who would eat from it would became insane. “What can we do?” said the king. “It is not possible to destroy the crop for we do not have enough grain stored to feed the entire population.”
“Perhaps,” said the star gazer, “we should set aside enough grain for ourselves. At least that way we could maintain our sanity.” The king replied, “If we do that, we’ll be considered crazy. If everyone behaves one way and we behave differently, we’ll be considered the not normal ones.
“Rather,” said the king, “I suggest that we too eat from the crop, like everyone else. However, to remind ourselves that we are not normal, we will make a mark on our foreheads. Even if we are insane, whenever we look at each other, we will remember that we are insane!”
That said... A tale of two Israels - the sane and the insane
The 'sane' Britain discussed Peace in our Time with Herr Hitler in the late 1930s; the 'insane' Britain said 'We will never surrender'.
ReplyDeleteThe 'insane' Israel launched a pre-emptive strike in 1967 against all odds; the 'sane' Israel sat tight in 1973 so as not to offend the nations of the world, thus allowing the Arabs to come in and kill thousands of Israeli soldiers.
Excellent points, Elliot.
ReplyDeleteThanks Devorah, there are many more examples. Indeed the whole establishment and survival of the State of Israel was not 'natural.'
ReplyDelete