It was one of those long, summer afternoons that seem to go on forever. Aron and his younger brother Jack had run out of things to do and were bored. They had even dug through their old games closet that had the most boring games in the world. They were about to give up until Jack pulled something out of an old cardboard box. “Hey, look at this!” he called out. Aron, hopeful, turned to look at what Jack had found and groaned. It was some old picture book of his.

Aron hadn’t touched the book or even thought about it in years. “Not interested,” he said. But Jack was exhilarated. “It’s so nice. I’m going to look at it, okay?” Aron was about to let him take it when something inside bristled. It was, after all, his book. Why should he have to share it?

“Put it back. It’s mine,” he said angrily. His brother protested. “Why can’t I look at it? You’re not even using it!” Jack had a point, but still, Aron just didn’t feel like sharing. “I said ‘no,’ and besides, I changed my mind. That book is one of my favorites, and I want to look at it by myself.” With that, he pulled the book out of his younger brother’s hands. Aron sat down on the nearby couch and began to read as Jack sulked in his room. The book was way too young for Aron and not very interesting anymore, but still, it was his, and he just didn’t feel like sharing.

He flipped through the pages and smiled as he came upon a familiar picture that he still remembered after all these years. But his smile soon turned to shock, and embarrassment, as he noticed the words underneath ‘SHARING, IS CARING!’ Suddenly he started to remember. The whole book was about how important it is to be kind and share your things. That was why he used to love the book.

Aron looked over at his sad brother and felt terrible. “What am I doing?” he asked himself. “I’m certainly not being very caring now! I don’t care about this old book anymore, but it would mean a lot to Jack.” So being the good person that Aron was he went up to Jack’s room and read the book to him.

Connection to the parsha:

In this week’s parsha, while the Jews were going to Eretz Yisrael they had to pass through Edom. The people of Edom were selfish, and even when Moshe said that Bnei Yisrael would pay for food and drink and not touch anything along the way, they wouldn’t let them pass through. We shouldn’t follow in the ways of Edom, but we should act kindly to each other and share.

Questions for the week:

1. Do you usually share?

2. If so, do you feel good when you do it?

3. Do you regret sharing after you do it?

Challenge for the week:

Try to act kindly and share.

Maayan Singer is a third grader at Yeshivat He’atid who loves to find lessons in the parsha and share them with the world.