Yossele was a young, poor orphan boy living alone with his mother. One day, he came to school, and his Rebbi walked in and said, “Children, I have a surprise for you. I brought a cake in honor of the siyum that we made yesterday.” The boys were ecstatic for this rare treat!
The Rebbi handed out the pieces, and every child quickly devoured his slice – except for Yossele. Yossele thought to himself, My mother does everything for me. I have to bring this cake home for her. So he took a napkin, wrapped up the cake, put it in his pocket, and tried to forget about it.
But an hour later, he couldn’t resist. He stuck his hand into his pocket, broke off a small piece, and ate it. A little while later, he struggled again. He couldn’t hold back and took another small piece and ate it.
This repeated itself again and again. By the end of the day, he stuck his hand into his pocket one last time, and there were only a few crumbs left. He said to himself, No way! I cannot finish it. I have to give something to my mother!
He ran home. His mother greeted him. He looked her in the eye and immediately burst into tears.
His mother said, “Yossele, what’s the matter?”
Through his tears, Yossele said, “Mommy, you don’t understand. The Rebbi gave out cake. I got a piece, and I really wanted to save it and give it to you, but I couldn’t resist. I ended up taking a little bit, and then a little bit more, and now all I have left are these crumbs.”
Yossele’s mother asked to see the crumbs. Yossele took the napkin out of his pocket and handed it to his mother. She opened it, looked at the crumbs, and kissed them.
She said, “Yossele! These crumbs mean the world to me! These crumbs tell me the story of how hard it was for you—how much you struggled—and yet you still made sure to save me a piece.”
So often we struggle, we fail, and we feel like we have nothing to offer the Ribono Shel Olam. This is what I’m giving Hashem? This measly crumb? But the Ribono Shel Olam doesn’t look at it that way. He looks at that crumb and sees the story it tells. This precious crumb is so beloved by Hashem, because in a world that is no piece of cake, we fight to give Hashem whatever crumbs we can.
In Shir HaShirim, Klal Yisrael is trying to send a message to Hashem, to call Him back to His beloved nation: “Im timtze’u es dodi, mah tagidu lo, shecholas ahavah ani—If you see my beloved, tell Him that I am lovesick for Him.”
The Midrash explains this message as saying, “Af al pi shecholah ani—Even though I am spiritually sick, ahuvah ani lo—I am beloved to Him.” Even though we live in a world that is spiritually sick, the Jewish soul yearns deeply for Hashem.
Hashem knows how badly we are tempted to eat the piece of cake – Af al pi shecholah ani – and despite all this, he sees how much we are ahuvah ani lo. Hashem cherishes every crumb, and the story that it tells.
This article was found in Nekuda Tova Issue 38.
