Cruise Control

When Dovid was escaping the wrath of King Shaul, his friend Yonasan advised him to hide out in the field and await his report on whether and when it would be safe to return home. 

Yonasan devised a plan with which to secretly convey this information to Dovid.

Yonasan told Dovid: "My servant and I will go out to the fields where you are hiding. I will shoot arrows and tell my servant to fetch them. Listen closely to what I tell him: If I tell my servant 'the arrows are close to you', then you will know that it is safe to return home... 

ואם כה אומר לעלם 'הנה החיצים ממך והלאה' - לך, כי שילחך ה

"But if I tell him 'the arrows are further away', then go, for Hashem has sent you..."
(Shmuel I, 20:22)

Yonasan did not tell Dovid, "Go, because my father is still upset with you." He told him, "Go, for Hashem has sent you."

Gevald or Gevaldik

Chaim Yankel was beside himself. He phoned the police to report that thieves had been in his beloved car.

"Gevald! They've stolen the dashboard, the steering wheel, the brake pedal, even the accelerator," he moaned.

Five minutes later the phone at the police station rang again. It was Chaim Yankel.

"Gevaldik!" Chaim Yankel exclaimed joyfully. "I just realized I got in the back seat by mistake."

***

The Ba'al Shem Tov teaches that the forty-two journeys that the B'nei Yisroel traveled between Mitzrayim and Eretz Yisroel are a metaphor for the journeys that are traveled by a Yid throughout his lifetime.

The question is asked: some of the journeys involved events that were displeasing to Hashem, and some were outright acts of rebellion against Him. How can we say that also these negative-experience journeys are a part of The Plan?

Torah: Chip or Drip

Once, Akiva stood near a well and asked the bystanders, "Who chiseled this rock?"

The people answered, "The water which consistently falls on it every day."

Akiva thought: "Something so soft, has shaped something so tough. The words of Torah, which are strong as iron, can certainly penetrate my heart which is merely flesh and blood."
(אבות דר"נ נוסח א פרק ו)

What is unique about water, and its effect on a hard rock, that has taught Rebbi Akiva about the power of Torah?

***

A stone-cutter patiently chips away at a huge boulder, and can take a break, even for years at a time, and his work will not be undone during the passage of the break-time. The chip in the rock remains, and the work can be resumed at any time.