Galina-Hava

Fairy Tale for my Grandsons and Granddaughters.

Once upon a time, there was a little Jewish settlement sheltered in a thick forest far away from big cities, just as many others scattered over Belarus and Ukraine. But there was something special about it. A small river with clean cold water was merrily winding through the local fields. After one of its turns, it jumped from a large stone as a waterfall and spread making a small lake, as if resting, and then ran on minding its own business. No one knew where the river originated. Some people said that it flew out of pure celestial heights.
Local Jews used the little lake as a Mikvah. Early in the morning men came and plunged into the clear water, and then prayed, studied the Torah and did many other things. Late at night, when the moon was hidden in the clouds and the stars were reflected in the water, women came to the little lake. They plunged into the starry Mikvah, and wonderful children with eyes radiant like stars and pure souls were born to them. At the age of three, the boys went to Heder. Their Melamed, who had taught a lot of children in many settlements in his lifetime, did not cease to wonder how easily these children learned and how great was their desire to study. So, the life of the Jews in this settlement passed peacefully in prayers, study of the Torah and work.
Once a new person appeared in the settlement. He differed greatly from everyone. His hair was cut differently, he was dressed differently, spoke in a different way and did not pray together with everybody. Perhaps, he had grown up among strangers and strange customs.
No one knew where he came from and what his name was. But no one asked him about it. He settled in a semi-broken hut on the edge of the village. "Let him live, – said the Jews, – as long as he does not disturb us". They started calling him "Ben Ish Zar" (Hebrew) – "Stranger" among themselves. No one called him to come to his home on the Sabbath, and no one visited him. This man had strolled over many roads during his lifetime, had a chance to live in many towns and villages. He had been always alone and was accustomed to solitude.
But this time everything seemed strange to him. In the morning he was watching the local Jews go to the lake to plunge into the Mikvah, then pray and finally sit together studying something. He was watching their children with their wonderful eyes run to the Heder. But no one paid attention to him. The man felt hurt and offended, and conceived an evil deed.
The Stranger went to a swamp nearby and loaded a full handcart with sticky swamp mud. He waited until night, and when the lights went out in all the houses, he crept to the lake, poured out all the mud into it, and, besides, threw lots of heavy stones and garbage into the clear water. "Now let's see how nice and clean you will be without your bathing!" - he muttered to himself.
In the morning, the men came to the Mikvah and saw a muddy puddle instead of their pure and transparent little lake. The Jews got frightened and fled to the Rebbe. "Perhaps the Stranger has done it", they said. The Rebbe listened to their story, hung his head and kept silence for a long time. Then he said: "A man cannot spoil anything protected by the Almighty. Apparently, our Heavenly Father is angry with us". The Jews started to cry, "Rebbe, every morning we plunge into the Mikvah, we pray with all our hearts, we learn our holy Torah, we donate money and help the poor. How could we incur the anger of our Heavenly Father? "
The Rebbe replied, "Go and think it over. You must find an answer to this question yourselves."
In the evening, the women came to the lake and saw the distressing sight. "Woe to us! We cannot manage without our Mikvah." They took buckets and shovels and started scooping the mud out of the lake, taking out heavy stones and throwing away the garbage. The women were working all night, and by the morning no mud, stones or garbage were left, and the river has brought fresh clean water into it.
The next night, the Stranger decided to look at the results of his evil deed. He came to the lake, looked and could not believe his eyes, "Where is the mud? Where are all the stones and garbage?" The clear water was quietly sleeping, and the stars were reflected in it. He bent down to have a closer look, but could not hold on and fell into the water. When he got out of the water, he felt unbearably ashamed of his deed. He sat down on a stone and wept bitterly: "How could I do this? Heavenly Father, forgive me!"
The man was weeping for a long time and finally fell asleep. And he dreamt to be a little boy standing in an empty room. It was dark, and only in one place there was a faint light. A woman in a headscarf was standing at a table covering her face with her hands. A small candle was lit in front of her. Then she withdrew her hands from her face and said in a low voice, "Go to the people, my boy, and beg them for forgiveness, and our Heavenly Father has already forgiven you." The man woke up; his tears had dried up, and his heart was light and clear.
The man went to the village, but it was empty. He entered every house, but did not find anyone – neither children nor adults. And then he heard strange sounds, either singing or weeping. So he went in the direction of these sounds and found himself in front of a house. The door was open. All the men were singing, weeping and punching their chests. The man came in and stopped. The Jews finished singing, noticed the Stranger and froze in surprise.
"Forgive me, please! It is me who has ruined your lake", he whispered almost inaudibly, but everyone heard him. Rabbi came up to him and said, "It is us who must ask for your forgiveness. We have been busy with our own affairs only and have not welcomed you with love and helped you. Forgive us!"
The next morning the men came to the Mikvah and saw wonderful flowers blossoming on its banks, which have been never seen in these places. After that, people began telling amazing stories about the Mikvah. Jews started coming from distant places to plunge into its magic water. Sick and weak people came out of it full of strength and ready to learn the Torah tirelessly. The blind could see not only what was around them, but also what was happening in the heart of hearts of the Jews. The deaf could hear not only the birds singing and the wind blowing, but also the song of gratitude the created world was singing to its Creator.

I was born in Belarus, USSR, in 1948. During my childhood and school years
my family lived in Sakhalin and Kuriles.
I graduated from Petrozavodsk Pedagogical Institute and after that worked as
primary school teacher and creative class teacher in Petrozavodsk (Karelia)
In 1993 my family repatriated to Israel. First 15 years we lived and worked
in Jerusalem. On my 60th birthday I made myself a gift - I went to class to well-known artist Margaret Levin and for the first time picked up a brush and oil paints. For three years I get great pleasure from totally new to me kind of creative activity. Since 2009 I live in Qiryat Gat and there I continue my studies with wonderful artist and teacher Sergey Levin. Each lesson opens for me a new world of artistic images, techniques for working with colors and most importantly great joy, which I wish to share with everyone.

Hava Reznik
27.01.2012

Fairy Tale for my Grandsons and Granddaughters.

Once upon a time, there was a little Jewish settlement sheltered in a thick forest far away from big cities, just as many others scattered over Belarus and Ukraine. But there was something special about it. A small river with clean cold water was merrily winding through the local fields. After one of its turns, it jumped from a large stone as a waterfall and spread making a small lake, as if resting, and then ran on minding its own business. No one knew where the river originated. Some people said that it flew out of pure celestial heights.
Local Jews used the little lake as a Mikvah. Early in the morning men came and plunged into the clear water, and then prayed, studied the Torah and did many other things. Late at night, when the moon was hidden in the clouds and the stars were reflected in the water, women came to the little lake. They plunged into the starry Mikvah, and wonderful children with eyes radiant like stars and pure souls were born to them. At the age of three, the boys went to Heder. Their Melamed, who had taught a lot of children in many settlements in his lifetime, did not cease to wonder how easily these children learned and how great was their desire to study. So, the life of the Jews in this settlement passed peacefully in prayers, study of the Torah and work.
Once a new person appeared in the settlement. He differed greatly from everyone. His hair was cut differently, he was dressed differently, spoke in a different way and did not pray together with everybody. Perhaps, he had grown up among strangers and strange customs.
No one knew where he came from and what his name was. But no one asked him about it. He settled in a semi-broken hut on the edge of the village. "Let him live, – said the Jews, – as long as he does not disturb us". They started calling him "Ben Ish Zar" (Hebrew) – "Stranger" among themselves. No one called him to come to his home on the Sabbath, and no one visited him. This man had strolled over many roads during his lifetime, had a chance to live in many towns and villages. He had been always alone and was accustomed to solitude.
But this time everything seemed strange to him. In the morning he was watching the local Jews go to the lake to plunge into the Mikvah, then pray and finally sit together studying something. He was watching their children with their wonderful eyes run to the Heder. But no one paid attention to him. The man felt hurt and offended, and conceived an evil deed.
The Stranger went to a swamp nearby and loaded a full handcart with sticky swamp mud. He waited until night, and when the lights went out in all the houses, he crept to the lake, poured out all the mud into it, and, besides, threw lots of heavy stones and garbage into the clear water. "Now let's see how nice and clean you will be without your bathing!" - he muttered to himself.
In the morning, the men came to the Mikvah and saw a muddy puddle instead of their pure and transparent little lake. The Jews got frightened and fled to the Rebbe. "Perhaps the Stranger has done it", they said. The Rebbe listened to their story, hung his head and kept silence for a long time. Then he said: "A man cannot spoil anything protected by the Almighty. Apparently, our Heavenly Father is angry with us". The Jews started to cry, "Rebbe, every morning we plunge into the Mikvah, we pray with all our hearts, we learn our holy Torah, we donate money and help the poor. How could we incur the anger of our Heavenly Father? "
The Rebbe replied, "Go and think it over. You must find an answer to this question yourselves."
In the evening, the women came to the lake and saw the distressing sight. "Woe to us! We cannot manage without our Mikvah." They took buckets and shovels and started scooping the mud out of the lake, taking out heavy stones and throwing away the garbage. The women were working all night, and by the morning no mud, stones or garbage were left, and the river has brought fresh clean water into it.
The next night, the Stranger decided to look at the results of his evil deed. He came to the lake, looked and could not believe his eyes, "Where is the mud? Where are all the stones and garbage?" The clear water was quietly sleeping, and the stars were reflected in it. He bent down to have a closer look, but could not hold on and fell into the water. When he got out of the water, he felt unbearably ashamed of his deed. He sat down on a stone and wept bitterly: "How could I do this? Heavenly Father, forgive me!"
The man was weeping for a long time and finally fell asleep. And he dreamt to be a little boy standing in an empty room. It was dark, and only in one place there was a faint light. A woman in a headscarf was standing at a table covering her face with her hands. A small candle was lit in front of her. Then she withdrew her hands from her face and said in a low voice, "Go to the people, my boy, and beg them for forgiveness, and our Heavenly Father has already forgiven you." The man woke up; his tears had dried up, and his heart was light and clear.
The man went to the village, but it was empty. He entered every house, but did not find anyone – neither children nor adults. And then he heard strange sounds, either singing or weeping. So he went in the direction of these sounds and found himself in front of a house. The door was open. All the men were singing, weeping and punching their chests. The man came in and stopped. The Jews finished singing, noticed the Stranger and froze in surprise.
"Forgive me, please! It is me who has ruined your lake", he whispered almost inaudibly, but everyone heard him. Rabbi came up to him and said, "It is us who must ask for your forgiveness. We have been busy with our own affairs only and have not welcomed you with love and helped you. Forgive us!"
The next morning the men came to the Mikvah and saw wonderful flowers blossoming on its banks, which have been never seen in these places. After that, people began telling amazing stories about the Mikvah. Jews started coming from distant places to plunge into its magic water. Sick and weak people came out of it full of strength and ready to learn the Torah tirelessly. The blind could see not only what was around them, but also what was happening in the heart of hearts of the Jews. The deaf could hear not only the birds singing and the wind blowing, but also the song of gratitude the created world was singing to its Creator.