The Boy and the Noose

Hashem loves us more than we love ourselves.  Sometimes the trials of life may make us think Hashem has abandoned us.  However, we should surely know that it’s all just a call from On High to return to our loving Father in Heaven.  The Ahavas Chaim, by Rav Menachem Menashe ob"m, Parshat Bamidbar page 18, relates a parable which portrays this fundamental in our lives:

There was once a renowned millionaire from a prestigious family line. He led an ideal life but had one great anguish – his only son was wicked.  The son became drunk nightly with boorish friends and paid the entire bill. His licentious behavior pained the father, who had better expectations of his only son. One day the millionaire invited the mayor of the city, prominent rabbis and his son to his home. At the gathering, he gave large sums of money to the mayor, to the rabbis and to his son. The father then wrote a will instructing that upon his death, the keys to his house would be deposited with the chief of police who, on the first anniversary of the father’s death, would allow the son to enter the house for six hours and take anything he wishes. Everyone signed the will and went on their way. 

Sometime later, the father passed away. A large crowd attended the funeral. The son, angered by his father’s rebuff, did not attend. He didn’t even mourn. The son still had an ample amount of money and continued his nightly drinking while paying his friends’ bills. Eight months later, however, the money ran out.  The son then asked one of his drinking buddies for some bread. The “friend”, however, turned him away. “But I paid for all your partying and drinking for so many years!”  Exclaimed the son. Still the friend refused. The son asked another one of his drinking “friends” to stay overnight. This “friend” was even crueler. He beat the son and threw him out on the street like a dog. “How could you do this to me?!” asked the son in anguish. He then realized that they were only his friends as long as he paid their bills. With nowhere else to turn, he borrowed money from the mafia, promising that he would soon enter his father’s house and pay back the loan.

The first anniversary of his father’s death arrived and the chief of police unlocked the house for the son. When the mafia caught wind of the news, they also arrived at the house, holding sticks and warning the son: “If you don’t pay us everything you borrowed as soon as you come out, we will kill you!”

The son passed the gate of the house and cringed at the sight. His father’s once beautiful grounds had been destroyed. He sobbed, wondering: “Is this all that is left of my father’s orchard?” He opened the door and found the house emptied. Only some spider webs remained. He searched for his father’s rare book collection. The collection was gone, but instead he found a letter on a barren bookshelf. The letter read: “Son, I know that there are unscrupulous people waiting outside to kill you. Upstairs you will find a chair and noose that I prepared for you. Better to die privately than to be tortured and killed in public.”

The son agreed with his father’s counsel and went upstairs where he found the chair and noose. On the chair was another letter which said: “My son, since you did not heed my voice while I was alive, I wrote out the confession prayer for you to recite so that you may die free of sin.”  The son began to weep bitterly. He said the entire confession, asking his father and the Almighty for forgiveness. He then got up on the chair, and although he had tears in his eyes, his heart was filled with joy knowing that he would leave this world having made true repentance. He put his neck in the noose and jumped.

The noose was suspended by a beam which broke with his weight. Another letter dropped from above the beam. This letter read: “To my special son, I am sure that you regret your actions, as you were willing to leave this world in true repentance. I buried for you all of my money in a certain place in the garden.  Please, my son, find a wife and follow the righteous path that I exemplified.”

The boy left the house and paid the mafia in full. He married a righteous woman and gave a lot of charity. No one in town understood what had happened to him. However, they clearly saw that he was no longer the same rebellious son, but a new pious individual.

The father in this parable is Hashem. Even if we spend the money He gives us in the wrong way and live a lifestyle that does not heed Hashem's wishes, Hashem is constantly waiting for us to return to Him, promising us all the goodness and happiness in the world.