אות - קל

I heard that the Rebbe once spoke about famous miracle workers. He used the following parable: 203 This parable is cited word for word in Tzaddik #226. A king once had two sons, one wise and the other foolish. He put the fool in charge of all his treasuries. The wise son, on the other hand, was not given any position, and just sat beside the king continually.

The people found this very difficult to understand. Here the son who was totally devoid of wisdom was given all the authority and had to be approached every time someone wished to deposit or withdraw anything from the king’s treasury. On the other hand, the wise son had no authority at all.

The king answered, “What is so special about disbursing money from an existing treasury?

“But my wise son sits beside me and uses his mind. Many times he comes up with a new idea that would never have occurred to me. He may tell me about lands I have never heard about and show me how to conquer them. This is how I build up my treasury.

“My son – the overseer - merely distributes what I already have.

“My wise son is therefore much more important than his brother, even if it appears that he has no direct position. For he is the one responsible for acquiring the treasury in the first place.”