Each one of us carries a potentially very big weapon—the words that we speak. Our words can hurt or heal. They can be used to do wonderful things if we use them the positive way they are meant to be used.. In our Torah portion, we learn not to use words to hurt other people: “You shall not hurt each other (with words).” We shouldn’t embarrass anybody about things he used to do wrong. When someone asks us for advice, we are responsible to give good, trustworthy advice and not to mislead people. God listens to everything we say and He’s very happy when we use our powerful words the right way.

In our story, a girl passes a big test of speech and helps out a friend.

Change of Address

Jenny had her eye on this dress for a long time. It was a gorgeous pink chiffon with lavender trim.

“I would feel like a queen in that dress,” Jenny would tell herself.

The dress was on display in the window of Fashion-World. The only problem was the price tag. It was way beyond Jenny’s budget.

Then one day Jenny looked at an ad in the paper and couldn’t believe her eyes. “Fashion-World Sale! All dresses at half price!” it said.

Jenny and her sister practically ran to the store. But when they got there the dress was gone!

“Where’s the pink dress from the window?” Jenny asked the saleslady with a gasp. “Oh, a girl is trying it on in the dressing room right now,” she answered.

Right then Sandy, one of Jenny’s best friends, came walking out of the dressing room in the pink dress. It looked fantastic on her.

Sandy noticed her friend and came right over to her. “Oh Jenny,” She said. “I’m so glad to see you. I just can’t decide whether or not to buy this dress. Tell me what you think. If you say it looks good on me, I’ll buy it. If not, I’m putting it back.”

Jenny and her sister looked at each other. Jenny’s sister bent over and whispered “What luck. All you have to do is tell her not to take it, and it will be all yours.”

Jenny smiled, but then thought to herself, How can I tell her not to take the dress? She’s trusting me for my honest opinion. And the truth is that it looks great on her. But still…”

Sandy interrupted Jenny’s thoughts. “So what do you think?” she asked.

Jenny hesitated a few seconds and said, “Sandy, you should definitely take the dress. It’s really you.”

Her friend smiled. “Oh thank you so much Jenny,” she said. “I know I can trust your advice.” She turned towards the sales clerk to buy the dress.

Jenny walked out of the store without a new dress but feeling like a queen, inside and out.