There once lived a king, whose beloved son seemed to have lost his mind. Instead of acting like a normal human being, his every gesture was like that of a chicken! From not wearing clothes to eating off the ground, this prince had surely lost it! The king rushed to proclaim a big reward for anyone who could cure his son's behavioral change. But every psychologist, psychiatrist, magician, and therapist failed miserably at finding a way to change the prince back to his former self.
One day, when hope seemed lost, an elderly man entered the palace, claiming to have a solution. "Leave me alone here with the prince," he requested. The King agreed and everyone left the room. The man approached the prince, who was now sitting under the table, bawking like a chicken. Like the prince, the man too took off his clothes and knelt on the floor, bawking like a chicken. "What are you doing!?" the prince yelled at him. "I'm also a chicken," the old man replied. Content with this answer, the prince continued on his life as a chicken, as did the old man. A few hours later, the old man asked a servant walking past for a pair of pants. "Now I know you're lying! You're a human, not a chicken!" yelled the prince. "No, no," replied the man,
"I am a chicken. Why can't chickens also wear pants?" The prince agreed that this was possible, and took a pair for himself." A few hours passed, and the old man now asked a servant for a plate of chicken, with a fork and a knife. "What are you doing!?" The prince asked. "I am a chicken who enjoys a plate of fine food, eaten on a nice tablecloth. You should try it too." With slowly growing agreement, the prince sat up on a chair next tot he old man and they began to eat properly. As time passed, the old man succeeded in developing the prince back to a human reality.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe, like the tzaddikim ("righteous ones") throughout our history, worked tirelessly as a guide and living example. What was he trying to accomplish? Was it to bring Judaism to those who hadn't or couldn't experience much, sending his emissaries worldwide? Was it helping everyone who met him & wrote to him both physically and spiritually? Was it teaching amazing ideas in Torah scholarship? Yes, it was all of that. But ultimately, the Rebbe labored to take the Jewish people from a narrow minded view point to a whole new reality; a better life. To be more sensitive, both to our fellow man and to G-d. Not to be hard, cold and superficial. But to open our minds and our hearts to G-d and to others.
Like the old man and the prince, the Rebbe slowly guided us not to be like an animal, and trample over everything and everyone, but to stop and appreciate the world around us, the G-dly vitality invested in it, and the people we came in contact with. In one word, to be a mentch. Literally meaning "man, or person," in Judaism this term means a lot more. To be a human and not a chicken, doesn't mean that much of a difference in today's society. Both eat, often whatever comes their way without thought or appreciation. Both desire comfort and pleasure. But when G-d asks of us to be human, He means more than that. We have the capability of not only becoming spiritually enlightened people, but of lifting up the world around us, from inanimate matter to animal and even human life, to a higher, loftier place then ever before. If we are conscious that the bread in front of me is a gift from G-d, kernels of wheat that somehow exist and can be developed into this food that gives me energy and life for my day, and I thank G-d for it with a blessing, I am a human who is fulfilling my role of elevating this created matter. From the Prime Minister of Israel to a simple person, the Rebbe tried to impart this concept of living a higher life.
Even though the Rebbe has since passed away, his teachings and inspiration remain. To always be joyful, to see G-d in everything that happens to us, to love a fellow Jew like yourself, to help the world around us, to transform this material world into a lovely dwelling place for G-d. Like Moshe of old, G-d gives us leaders to show us the path to fulfilling our inherent potential. At first goodness and holiness may startle us and seem absurd, like the prince who saw these proper human actions that were foreign to his thinking. But slowly, through work, we can develop ourselves, with the help & inspiration of our leaders, into fulfilling our spiritual potentials, in line with the essence of who we are.
For a 2 min. glimpse at one of the Rebbe's talks connected to the above idea, see here: It's a beautiful world
Shabbat Shalom!
This is one of my favorite stories ever...
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