This passage was adapted from How the Children Became Stars by Aaron Zerah. Sorin Books, 2000.
A poor man lived with his wife and six children in a very small
one-room house. They were always getting in each other's way and there was so little space
they could hardly breathe! Finally the man could stand it no more. He talked to his wife and
asked her what to do. "Go see the rabbi," she told him, and after arguing a while,
he went.
The rabbi greeted
him and said, "I see something is troubling you. Whatever it is, you can tell me."
And so the poor man told the rabbi how miserable things were at home with him, his wife, and
the six children all eating and living and sleeping in one room. The poor man told the rabbi,
"We're even starting to yell and fight with each other. Life couldn't be worse."
The rabbi thought
very deeply about the poor man's problem. Then he said, "Do exactly as I tell you and
things will get better. Do you promise?"
"I promise," the poor man said.
The rabbi then asked the poor man a strange question. "Do you own any animals?"
"Yes," he said. "I have one cow, one goat, and some chickens."
"Good," the rabbi said. "When you get home, take the chickens into your house
to live with you."
The poor man
was astonished to hear this advice from the rabbi, but he had promised to do exactly what
the rabbi said. So he went home and took all the chickens into the tiny one-room house.
The next day
the poor man ran back to see the rabbi. "What have you done to me, Rabbi?" he cried.
"It's awful. I did what you told me and the chickens are all over the house! Rabbi, help
me!" The rabbi listened and said calmly, "Now go home and take the goat inside."
The poor man did as the
rabbi said, but hurried back again the next day. "It has gotten worse, Rabbi," he
moaned. "The goat is smashing up all the furniture and eating everything in sight!"
The rabbi said, "Go home and take the cow into the house, and may God bless you."
The man couldn't
believe his ears, but he still went home and did as he was told. But he soon returned to see
the rabbi, crying and wailing. "What a nightmare you have brought to my house, Rabbi!
With the cow added, it's like living in a stable! Can human beings live with animals?"
The rabbi said,
"My friend, you are right. Go home now and take all the animals out of your house."
And the poor man went quickly home and took the cow, the goat and the chickens out of the
house.
The next day
he came running back to the rabbi again. "Oh Rabbi," he said with a big smile on
his face, "we have such a good life now. The animals are all out of the house. The house
is so quiet and we've got room to spare! What a joy!"
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