Max Lischer was a happy man in his lot. He was the scion of an upper-class family, and as such he was also very wealthy. The family fortune was passed down from generation to generation, and it could be said of Lischer that he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth.<\/p>\r\n
As his family had done for generations, he wanted to pass on his wealth and success to his children. Two of his sons thought the same way, but Bill, his third son, wouldn't hear of it. He wanted to start all over again, and he wasn't willing to accept anything from his father.<\/p>\r\n
The arguments between them didn't stop until Bill announced that he was leaving home and moving to another city. There, he promised, he would prove to his father that it was possible to get rich without inheriting any fortune from the family.<\/p>\r\n
Bill arrived at his new place.<\/p>\r\n
He knew no one, but he was motivated to succeed. On his first day, he looked for a job, but couldn't find one that needed an employee. He didn't have a single coin in his pocket, being true to his promise to start everything from scratch.<\/p>\r\n
Evening was falling, and Bill began to fear that he had made a mistake in his thoughts. He could not find a place to sleep. He had no choice; he lay down on a city bench, almost in despair, and tried to fall asleep.<\/p>\r\n
Seconds before he fell asleep, he felt a hand shaking him.<\/p>\r\n
\"Why are you sleeping on a bench?\" the man asked.<\/p>\r\n
Bill explained the situation he had found himself in, and the man invited him to his home.<\/p>\r\n
In the following days, the kind man housed Bill in his home, and in return, he asked that he take his dog for a walk every afternoon.<\/p>\r\n
Bill felt lucky: for such a small thing, the man had provided him with a place to stay.<\/p>\r\n
A week passed. Bill managed to find a job as an assistant baker in a large bakery. The salary he was promised was higher than usual, and the bakery owner explained to him that he seemed born for the job. The high salary he received allowed him to rent an apartment for himself and even save a small amount each month. He liked working in the bakery, and little by little Bill learned the secrets of the profession.<\/p>\r\n
A year later, he decided he could open a small bakery on his own.<\/p>\r\n
The bakery opened, but Bill was unable to make much money. It was far from the shopping centers, and not many people visited it. For several months, Bill hoped that the bakery would take off, but nothing improved.<\/p>\r\n
One day a nice man came into the bakery. He bought some produce and complimented Bill on the successful pastries. He suggested that he move the bakery to the city mall. "I give you my word: your bakery will become the most sought-after in the mall," he promised.<\/p>\r\n
Bill smiled wryly. He knew that to open a bakery in the mall, he would have to pay a eviction fee to another store in the mall to rent its space. This was a legendary amount, on top of the extremely high rent he would have to pay each month.<\/p>\r\n
The man, sensing his thoughts, announced: "I believe so much in the success of your pastries that I am willing to be your partner..."\"<\/p>\r\n
After a few days, the man arrived with a practical offer. The eviction fee was incredibly low, and he was willing to pay half of it, of course. The rent was also lower than usual. Bill jumped at the offer, and the bakery opened under the management of the two.<\/p>\r\n
After a year, Bill began to feel that success was within his grasp. He decided it was time to send a letter to his father and inform him of this.<\/p>\r\n
\u00a0Max Lischer opened the letter that came to him directly from his son:<\/p>\r\n
Dear Dad,<\/p>\r\n
I feel obliged to tell you that I think I have won the constant argument between us. Today, three years after I left home, I have become a successful man, even though I started from scratch! For the purpose of this letter, I have made a calculation, and my net worth is two hundred thousand dollars!!! It is a pity that my brothers did not think like me, and I hope you will agree with me.<\/p>\r\n
With love<\/p>\r\n
Bill.<\/p>\r\n
A few days later, Bill received a reply letter from his father. Bill opened the letter with a sense of triumph, expecting to see an acknowledgment of his success.<\/p>\r\n
Dear Bill,<\/p>\r\n
I feel obligated to tell you that despite what you think... I won the argument.<\/p>\r\n
Have you ever wondered why a mysterious man approached you while you were sleeping on the bench? Have you ever wondered how a walk with a dog earned you a place to live? The answer may surprise you: I sent the man, and I even paid him rent for the weeks you lived with him.<\/p>\r\n
Let's move on: Have you ever asked yourself how, when you worked as a baker's assistant, you received such a respectable salary? Today, as a bakery owner, you surely know that the salary for that is zero. The rest of the amount you would have received, I paid.<\/p>\r\n
Have you ever asked yourself how the eviction fee for a successful store came to be so low? Have you ever asked how the rent you pay is so low? I believe the answers to these questions are already clear to you.<\/p>\r\n
For the purpose of the letter, I calculated all the amounts I invested for your success; the amount is exactly two hundred thousand dollars...<\/p>\r\n
With love<\/p>\r\n
father<\/p>\r\n
PS: Your partner is not really a partner; he is my messenger who used my money to help you, so your true partner, and in fact your constant partner, is me...<\/p>\r\n
\u2022<\/p>\r\n
This story beautifully expresses how the Holy One, blessed be He, is with us at every moment. While the message is true all year long, it is especially evident on the day of Purim.<\/p>\r\n
If a Gentile historian had written the story of the scroll, the scroll would have told of a king who ruled the entire world and exalted one of his ministers (Haman), and when the minister decided to kill those he hated (the Jews), the king agreed, only the minister did not consider that the king's wife belonged to the people he wanted to destroy, and thus his advice was thwarted...<\/p>\r\n
That is, the story itself does not show that everything is providence from above, but the true story of the scroll proves to us that all events, even those that seem to have a natural cause, occurred under complete providence.<\/p>\r\n
The name of the holiday of Purim ('Pur' - fate) is meant to teach us that even what we think of as fate or luck is directed from above. The message of the holiday of Purim, that God is the constant partner in all the events that befall us, should accompany us throughout the year...<\/p>\r\n
\u2022 This story appears in the new book 'The End of a Story' by author Avi Zohar - which is currently being published.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A year later, Bill sent a letter to his father in which he announced his victory: Here, this is how you can become a rich person even without any initial capital. \u2022 What did his father answer him, and how does all this relate to the holiday of Purim and the Scroll of Esther?","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[159],"tags":[18519,18520,1785],"class_list":["post-351866","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-159","tag-18519","tag-18520","tag-1785"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n