As was her custom on Thursday night, Shmryl’s wife was preparing the Shabbat meal. This night, she said: “Shmryl something is wrong with this chicken. I will throw it out and cook another one. Shmryl offered a suggestion: “Don’t throw it out, dear. Our neighbor Beryl cannot afford to buy chicken for Shabbat. Let us give it to him. That way, it will not go to waste and we will do a mitzvah.” And so they do. That Shabbat morning, Shmryl learned that Beryl was home, very sick. Shmryl comes home from Shul and tells his wife that he intends to visit. “You know,” he tells her, “bikkur holim, visiting the sick, is a very big mitzvah.” So he visits Beryl, finds him suffering a severe stomach disorder and then returns home. Next Shabbat Shmryl returns to shul. Again, Beryl is absent. Shmyrl learned that Beryl had died. Returning home, he announced his intention to attend the funeral the next day. “You know,” he tells his wife, halavat ha-met, comforting the bereaved, is a great mitzvah. After the funeral, he said to his wife: “Let’s go to Beryl’s house to pay a shiva visit. You know, nichum avelim, comforting the bereaved is a great mitzvah.” Upon leaving the shiva house, Shmryl turned to his wife: “You know it’s amazing! From one lousy chicken for mitzvahs!” -Neil Gillman and Mort Leifman
There is always more than one way to view life.
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