The Turkey Prince #45 min read

This series is dedicated to the loving memory of Rabbi Moshe David Averick, l’illui nishmas Moshe David ben Naftali Yosef HaLevi v’Leah. May his neshama have an aliyah.

וְהַמֶּלֶךְ הָיָה בְּצַעַר גָּדוֹל מִזֶּה, עַד שֶׁבָּא חָכָם אֶחָד וְאָמַר: ‘אֲנִי מְקַבֵּל עַל עַצְמִי לְרַפְאוֹתוֹ’. וְהִפְשִׁיט גַּם כֵּן אֶת עַצְמוֹ עָרוּם וְיָשַׁב תַּחַת הַשֻּׁלְחָן אֵצֶל בֶּן הַמֶּלֶךְ הַנִּזְכָּר לְעֵיל וְגַם כֵּן גָּרַר פֵּרוּרִים וַעֲצָמוֹת

And the King was distressed greatly from this, until one Wise Man came and said, “I accept upon myself to heal him.” He also stripped himself naked and he sat under the table next to the Prince mentioned earlier, and he also pecked/dragged pieces of bread and bones.

In the last chapter, we suggested that the King’s great distress resulted from the despair of the healers. It can also be understood on its most basic level, that the King was distressed by his son’s predicament. All parents know the natural pain one feels when their children are in some form of trial. כביכול, how much more so this should be for the Father of fathers, HaKadosh Baruch Hu! Sometimes, simply knowing that someone cares about one’s situation can strengthen them to carry on.  

At this stage the other main character of the story enters the scene: the Wise Man. Why is he called Wise? Surely, there was great wisdom among the healers. The Wise Man, however, will accomplish what no one else was able.

We mentioned that the healers’ inability to rejuvenate the prince echoes the failure of the magicians and wise men of Egypt to explain the dreams to Pharaoh in Parshas Mikeitz. Interestingly, Rabbeinu Bachya states the following there:

Our sages in Bereshis Rabbah 89:6 used this incident to explain the meaning of Mishlei 14:6: “A scoffer seeks wisdom in vain; but knowledge comes easily to him who is understanding.” The scoffer is Pharaoh, whereas the easily acquired knowledge is Yosef.

(Rabbeinu Bachya to Bereishis 41:9 – “ד״ה ואין פותר אותם לפרעה”).

Pharaoh’s folly was placing his trust in experts, while Yosef’s wisdom was placing his trust in Hashem. This mistake of Pharaoh is only an echo of the mistake of his magicians and wise men. When a person is grasped by a shigaon, an unnatural situation, we must know the necessity to involve Hashem in rectifying it. This is one understanding of why we refer to this healer as the Wise Man.

Another explanation of the Wise Man’s special wisdom in the manner of Shlomo HaMelech’s teaching, “Teach the youth according to his way” (Mishlei 22:6). Rav Kalonymus Kalman Shapira (1889 – 1943), the Aish Kodesh of Piaseczna, elaborates on this point in his groundbreaking work on education, Chovos HaTalmidim. In his introduction, the Aish Kodesh teaches the following:

And as much as possible, the father and educator should make the lad understand and internalize this in his mind and intellect – that the obligation is upon the child to develop and educate himself into a Jewish adult, a tree in God’s garden in Eden. The father or the educator is just the guide that will instruct him how to educate himself, and about what God said…

In other words, in all circumstances, parents and teachers should demonstrate to their charges that they and the students are equals on the same team. They are both there to accomplish the same goal: to grow in Torah, Mitzvos and Yiras Shamayim. The educator must simply act as a guide to help the student develop independence in their personal spiritual journey. The more a teacher can exhibit that he, too, is on his own path of growth, the greater ability the teacher will have to be seen as authentic and genuine by the student.

Rabbi Dr. Avraham Twerski of the Chernobyl Chassidic dynasty (whose first yahrtzeit was yesterday) was once asked to discuss children and self-esteem. He told the following personal story to illustrate the right paradigm for correcting children without harming their self-worth.

When Rabbi Dr. Twerski was ten years old, he was a very talented chess player. A Rabbi was visiting his family for Rosh Hashanah, and during the afternoon asked to play chess with him. At first, young Twerski said that it’s Rosh Hashanah, but the Rabbi persisted, and he acquiesced. Later that day, the Shamas of Avraham’s father brought him to his father’s study to speak with him. Avraham sat and waited silently for his father to speak. Rabbi Yaakov Yisrael Twerski asked his son if he had played chess on Rosh Hashanah. He answered that he had, but that the Rabbi he had played with had said that it was allowed. Rabbi Yaakov Yisrael Twerski shook his head disappointingly. Avraham got the message, understanding from this that his father had not approved of what he had done. Before Avraham was dismissed out of the room, though, Rabbi Yaakov Yisrael Twerski asked his son, “But you beat him, right?”

As Rabbi Dr. Twerski recites this line, he begins to chuckle heartily. He continues that he responded to his father, “I beat him twice.,” after which the elder Twerski nodded approvingly and dismissed his son.

Rabbi Dr. Twerksi goes on to explain that his father had to tell him that he did not approve of what he had done, but could not allow him to leave the room feeling bad about himself either. Rabbi Dr. Twerski summarizes this lesson by explaining that although a parent must occasionally discipline their child, it cannot be done in a way that make the child feel that they themselves are bad.

When discussing self-esteem with those who know they lack it, it can be quite the disheartening experience. Rabbi Dr. Twerski’s story teaches the sensitivity required to reproach, and the importance of building the person up while doing so. This equilibrium can be hard to strike, and some of us can end up with a low self-esteem.

The Wise Man embraces this approach, and promptly sets himself down on the floor next to the prince, on equal footing. The Wise Man is simply there for the prince, sharing the space and sending a message of solidarity.

The first recorded words of the Wise Man are also particularly meaningful when viewed through this lens. The Wise Man states that he accepts upon himself to heal the prince. This connotes a shouldering of the prince’s burden, and implies that the prince’s health and wellbeing is intimately tied together with that of the Wise Man. The teacher must see the student’s struggle as his own, not as something removed from himself.

The Alter of Novardok, Reb Yosef Yozel Horowitz in Sefer Madreigas HaAdam teaches the following understanding of the episode of Moshe’s appointment of the seventy elders:

As for those with no desire to accept [communal] responsibility on themselves, reasoning that the responsibility is more weight than the worker can handle, this is a mistake. We can bring proof against this, in what we find in the Torah, that Moshe Rabbeinu requested helpers from Hashem, saying “I am not able to carry this burden alone etc.” (Bamidbar 11:14). Hashem responded to him, “Gather for me seventy men… and I will draw from the spirit which is on you etc.” (Bamidbar 11:16-17). This is perplexing. Was it not his intention in his request that Hashem give him helpers, as if to say, give additional strength from what he already has? But in response, what did Hashem give him? Hashem supplied him seventy men, but he did not supply him with seventy additional units of power on top of his own strengths, because he drew from Moshe’s spirit and gave it to them… It is the very measurement and weight that Moshe had originally, only that now it is spread amongst seventy men as well, without any essential increase. And we find that the power afforded them came through retraction from Moshe, as it says “and I will draw…” (Bamidbar 11:17)

Chapter 11 of Maamer “Mezakeh Es HaRabim”.

When it comes to communal work, it is in accordance with the measure of accepted responsibility that Hashem gives an equal amount of Siyata D’Shmaya – heavenly assistance – to fulfill this accepted task. Here, too, it is because of the Wise Man’s acceptance of the responsibility to “heal” the prince which itself made it possible for him to help at all.

Thanks for reading! Join us next week as we continue our exploration of this parable!