Jake and Brian were in Mike’s backyard having a catch with a frisbee. Considering that Jake was a national frisbee champ, sometimes his arm got the best of him. This afternoon, Jake launched a throw that crossed the backyard, cleared Mike’s fence, cleared the neighbor’s fence, and landed on the sidewalk around the corner. The boys, who had to leave anyway, waved goodbye to Mike and went to retrieve the frisbee. Incidentally, their disc landed right next to an elderly woman who was carrying two heavy-looking packages and who looked like she needed help.
Without a second thought, Brian and Jake offered to carry the packages for the woman, who introduced herself as Jennifer Syss (“my friends call me Jenna, but you can call me Mrs. Syss”). Brian and Jake were not expecting this task to take too long, as Mrs. Syss couldn’t have been carrying the packages (which were pretty heavy) very far, but they were in for a surprise.
“Head down the block and make a left at the corner,” began Mrs. Syss. Jake and Brian looked at each other with puzzled looks, but followed her directions nonetheless. After rounding the corner, the trio found themselves standing in front of a beautiful garden full of colorful flowers. Mrs. Syss asked Jake and Brian to put the packages down and proceeded to identify and describe each and every flower in the garden. After her lesson, Mrs. Syss tested the boys until they each correctly listed the name of each flower. “Well done, gentlemen, not much further now; just to the end of the block and right around the corner.” Again Brian and Jake exchanged confused looks, but shrugged and lifted the packages once again.
After rounding the corner, it became clear that this was once again not the last stop. The entire block was taken up by three large buildings, all three having been built 200 years beforehand. Once again, Mrs. Syss used this as an opportunity to teach the boys, this time about the history of the town, starting with these three buildings. Again, Mrs. Syss tested Jake and Brian, and again, had them continue carrying the bags to the end of the block and around the corner.
The elderly woman led the way, finally stopping in front of a small but well-kept home. As Mrs. Syss began to climb the stairs, the boys followed with the packages, relieved that their unexpected workout was coming to an end. But just then, Mrs. Syss turned to Jake and Brian and said, “There’s someone here I’d really like you boys to meet. After this, we will head home,” before knocking on the door. So with a heavy sigh, Jake and Brian put the packages down and followed Mrs. Syss inside.
While inside, Brian and Jake were introduced to Rabbi Moseson, an elderly gentleman with an amazing life story. He spoke to the boys for over two hours, sharing words of Torah and a few jokes. Brian and Jake sat spellbound, enjoying every second of this interaction. Afterward, they agreed to return the following Sunday to visit the rabbi, who had a hard time getting around on his own.
Finally, there was only one stop left for the packages (they hoped). They followed Mrs. Syss one last time, who, of course, directed them to “head down the block and turn the corner.” When Mrs. Syss announced “we’re home!” Brian and Jake found themselves standing right on the SPOT THAT THE FRISBEE LANDED! Mrs. Syss had them walk all around the block just to carry the packages back to where they started! However, this wasn’t a waste; now the boys were much wiser.
Of course Hashem could have created the world all at once; some say He actually did. If so, why does Hashem present creation as having lasted seven days? Why did Hashem “go out of His way”? Like Mrs. Jenna Syss, Hashem organized Ma’aseh Bereishit in a way that helps us learn—about the nature of the world, about the nature of Hashem, and many other life lessons. This Shabbat, take a look at the story of Creation and ask yourselves: “What can I learn from this?”
Shabbat Shalom!
Yair Daar is an assistant principal and the resident parsha storyteller at Yeshivat He’Atid. He can be reached at: [email protected].
