MOSES THE SHEPHERD

Every night when I put my daughter Miriam to sleep, she asks for a story. I told her this one a few nights ago. I’ve read it many times before, yet it impacted me in a way different than ever before.

The story is about the Baal Shem Tov, a great soul and righteous person, who was told through divine inspiration about a person whose spiritual work was greater than his. His name was Moses the Shepherd.

The great master was eager to meet this person, so he gathered a few students and mounted a carriage to the village, not too far away. As they arrived, they noticed Moses out in his field, surrounded by his flock. As his animals grazed, he turned up to heaven and shouted to God, “You’ve given me so many blessings in my life. I love you so much. I wish there was some way I could give back to you.”

Moses threw himself to his knees. “You know I am a simple person. I don’t know how to read or write. I can’t pray. I can’t study. I can’t teach,” he pleaded, “but I have a shepherd’s whistle and I know how to blow it! I hope you accept this action.”

He got up and began blowing his whistle with all his strength. After 45 minutes, Moses fell to the ground, exhausted. He lay there for a long time, and only after regaining his strength did he turn up to heaven and say, “I wish to serve you. You know I am a simple person, there’s not much I know how to do. But I do know how to dance! I hope that you accept this.”

And then Moses started dancing with all of his strength, literally for 30 minutes until he collapsed. Again, he lay there for awhile, regaining his stamina. Finally, he got up again and screamed, “I want to give you something, but there is nothing I have. But I do have a penny in my pocket! Please accept this from me.” He threw the penny up into the sky with all his strength, and out of nowhere a heavenly hand reached out to catch it.

The Baal Shem Tov turned to his students and smiled, “All my life I thought I knew what spiritual work was. Now I realize I haven’t even begun to understand.”

Very often we diminish our own self-worth by telling ourselves subconsciously, “I’m not there yet. Maybe in a year from now, after I’ve really worked on myself and grown, then my work will be important. But now what can I do that is great?”

This thought is from the negative side. As this story shows us, any person at any time can do the greatest of things, as long as he invests himself completely. Right now there is something we each could do that would be more powerful than anything the most righteous person could do, provided we invest all our effort into it. This week, push those doubts out of your minds and continue to train yourself to think, “I can do something great right now!”