The farmer's son was returning
from the market with the crate of chickens his father had entrusted to him,
when all of a sudden the box fell and broke open. Chickens scurried off in
different directions, but the determined boy walked all over the neighborhood, scooping up the wayward birds and returned them to the repaired crate.
Hoping he had found them all,
the boy returned home...
"Pa, the chickens got
loose," the boy confessed sadly, "but I managed to find all twelve of
them."
"Well, you did real good,
son," the farmer beamed. "I sent you home with seven."
***
We Daven to Hashem that we merit seeing the results of our Avodah. Sometimes Hashem blesses us with results that surpass our expectations. Other times, we need a strong Emunah and Bitachon to stay committed...
In a letter to a Chosid who bemoaned the lack of results of his work in Shlichus, the Rebbe elaborated with an analogy from the farming process.
When planting his field, a farmer does not skimp on the amount of seeds he sows. He doesn't say, “I need only 40 plants, so I will only sow 40 seeds”... He understands that of the many seeds he will plant, there will be many that will not yield a healthy sapling, if anything at all, and that he must be ready to invest a disproportionately larger amount of seeds in order to yield the desired amount of plants.
In a letter to a Chosid who bemoaned the lack of results of his work in Shlichus, the Rebbe elaborated with an analogy from the farming process.
When planting his field, a farmer does not skimp on the amount of seeds he sows. He doesn't say, “I need only 40 plants, so I will only sow 40 seeds”... He understands that of the many seeds he will plant, there will be many that will not yield a healthy sapling, if anything at all, and that he must be ready to invest a disproportionately larger amount of seeds in order to yield the desired amount of plants.
The farmer knows that if he sows only 40 seeds, he may not even reap a single plant...
The Yetzer Hara tries to discourage us: “Why
waste so many seeds, when only so few will actually sprout?” He tries to
convince us to lessen our dedication with the argument that our efforts will go to waste anyway. In fact, what the Yetzer Hara really wants is for us to sow the minimum 40 seeds so that we won't end up reaping even one single plant, R"L. Surely a lack of any results is convincing enough that it isn't even worth trying...
And, yet, when we are uninspired, we easily take to these excuses. Our laziness takes over and we and
resort to a Chinuch that lacks the energy, focus and drive needed for this important task. Needless to say, such minimal sowing does not yield any plants, R"L.
***
In order for us to raise children who will grow strong in their Yiddishkeit and commitment to their Tafkid, our dedication and investment has to be limitless. We must not get discouraged by
the seeds that do not yield plants. We have to expect and be ready to push past these “failures”, and remember that for every one seed that takes root, we
need to “squander” a few more.
Dovid Hamelech writes: הזורעים בדמעה ברינה יקצורו - Those who sow with tears will reap with joy (Tehillim 126:5). Unlike the farming analogy, when we sow properly, Hashem
blesses our efforts with results that surpass the expectation.
May Hashem bless us with abundant Nachas, and to come home with more “chickens”
than we set out to get.
Based on a letter from the Rebbe, Rosh Chodesh Elul, 5716 - Igros Kodesh, Vol. 13, p. 412
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