The Turtle’s Message
The more that I thought about what I had seen, the more I realized that Hashem was giving me a message. Here it is - the turtle's message.
“One must always look at the inner wisdom behind everything, and must connect himself to that wisdom within each creation, so that the inner wisdom will enlighten him and each thing will bring him closer to Hashem.” (Likutei Moharan, I:1)
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My son wanted a pet. Over a few months he tried to persuade me to get a dog or a cat, maybe a rabbit or a goat. I always said "No, you'll get bored of it and in the end I will be the one taking care of the pet. I don't want to spend my time looking after a pet" The summer arrived and we moved into our newly built house. After the settling in efforts my husband took us to Zfat for a few days. We stayed in a cottage with a garden attached. In the garden lived a turtle. "Mummy, can we get a turtle. They aren't much work, please…"
Well I had to agree they weren't too much work, so I muttered "Maybe, we'll see. . ." and promptly forgot all about it.
A couple of days after we returned home guess what we found in our garden – a turtle. "Hashem sent me a turtle, you said we could get a turtle! Can we keep it, mummy?" Three pairs of eyes looked at me plaintively, what could I say? Hashem had sent us a turtle.
The turtle became a part of the family. It got a name (Rocky), we fed it (bug free lettuce), we brought it in at night to be warm, took it out in the day for fresh air. We even secluded an area in the garden where he could run around without getting lost. In short it was the center of attraction. In the way of most pets the excitement past. More and more often I found no one interested in the turtle – even though all that was needed was to put a lettuce leaf into his area. Yes, I was now the one taking care of the pet. I began to wonder why Hashem had sent the turtle to us.
One summer day, during a particularly hot spell, I thought the turtle must be overheating. I decided to make a pool for him to cool off in. I found an old frying pan about the right size. I filled it with water and put it in the turtle's area. Then I placed 2 rocks one inside and one just outside the pot to help the turtle climb in and out. The turtle didn't notice the 'pool'. Why would it leave the shade to wander about in the sun looking for a pool when there never had been a pool before? I decided to show him the pond. I picked up the turtle and placed it gently into the water.
To my surprise the turtle 'freaked-out'. It rushed at the sides of the pool, ignoring the specially placed rocks and started to try to climb up the extremely steep and slippery sides. Eventually it reached the top of the side; of course it was extremely narrow. The poor turtle fell forwards landing full force on to its nose. The turtle, looking totally shocked and miserable, slouched off to its shade.
The more that I thought about what I had seen, the more I realized that Hashem was giving me a message. Here it is – the turtle's message.
Sometimes Hashem gives us a nissayon – a trial, we need to work through the trial, pray to Hashem, find the message, do Teshuva etc.
Sometimes Hashem gives us a CHESED GALUI – a visible gift, which we totally don't recognize. Instead of enjoying the hesed and thanking Hashem, we think it is a nissayon. We freak-out, over-react, beat ourselves up. While Hashem and the angels look at us in wonder and laugh at our silliness.
So now when I think Hashem has sent me a nissayon I try to take a second, objective look. MAYBE IT'S A CHESED. I should know better than the turtle…
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