For the next few weeks, in preparation for Chanukah in Chelm on Friday, December 23, I will be sharing stories from the mythical shtetl of Chelm, a place where even the wise are foolish. This particular story is one I wrote about Moishe the famous fence builder of Chelm, famous everywhere except in his hometown. I share it in honor of this week’s Torah portion, Vayishlach, about the reunion of Jacob and Esau.
Moishe, the famous fence builder of Chelm, was famous everywhere except in Chelm. That was until Mr. and Mrs, Cohen visited their cousins in Warsaw, who had just had a fence installed by Moishe. Shocked that they themselves did not have a fence built by Moishe, the Cohens rushed home to have one built. Mind you in Chelm, there never had been a need for fences. It was the type of town where everyone came and went from one another’s houses. But this mattered little to the Cohens. They simply had to have the fence.
Everyone admired the new fence when it was built. Pretty soon every house in Chelm had a fence as well. And all the town residents took time to admire the new addition to their homes, not realizing how different their town had become. That is until a great rainstorm came and the Cohen’s cat ran off afraid of lightning. They searched everywhere for her the next morning finding her the next day nuzzling with the Stern dog from next door. The two were inseparable, but a fence divided the houses. There was only one solution possible, they would need Moishe to build a bridge. This is how Moishe the great fence builder of Chelm became the great bridge builder of Chelm. May all our fences be replaced by bridges. Our world would be better off because of it.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Alex