Sunday, April 27, 2014

Crying, Pain & Tears: 1b

Clearly it is impossible to always cry out quietly without making a sound; when people are in pain they tend to scream! A person can't really control how he screams; it's like a person who is ill who sighs uncontrollably even though he is well aware that it will do nothing to alleviate his pain. Even when he stops sighing, all he talks about is his pain which still sounds like his sighs and kvetches. He hasn't really eliminated his sighing.

There was once a person who was accustomed to shouting out to Hashem as he davened. His once had a guest at his home who was quite perplexed, "Why can't you just daven quietly? Why is this shouting necessary?" The two of them began to debate the propriety of shouting during davening but neither one was swayed. After a few days the guest left some money with his host for safekeeping. When he was ready to depart he requested that the host return the money. The host said that he had no knowledge of any money that belonged to his guest.

The guest began to shout, "Give me back my money! I see now that all of your davening and piety was false!." "Why are you shouting," asked the host, "can't you speak softly?" "How can I speak softly," shouted back the guest, "my heart is pounding and full of pain over the fact that you are taking what is mine!"

Returning the money, the host responded, "Now you understand. If you have pain in your heart, you don't speak softly."

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