“Yonatan has to disappear for a little while for R’ Shalom to take notice of us again. Since his precious prodigy was born, it’s like we don’t even exist!”

R' Shalom was a talmid chacham blessed with a brilliant mind, a pleasant nature, and a lot of money.  But as he neared his 50th birthday, the blessing he and his wife were still waiting for was the gift of children.

R’ Shalom took a group of local orphans under his wing and lovingly taught them Torah. His wife supplied them with hot meals. The orphans viewed him as a father, and over the years, he merited marrying the oldest ones off to wonderful partners.

And then, to everyone’s astonishment, a miracle occurred. R’ Shalom and his wife celebrated the birth of their very own baby boy. They named him Yonatan.

***

The orphans came to the bris and participated in their benefactor’s simchah. They rejoiced at the indescribable happiness etched upon R’ Shalom’s face. Two weeks following the bris, R’ Shalom resumed his regular Torah classes.

The day he returned to the beis medrash was an exciting one. The orphans stood up and began dancing around him.

“Your simchah is our simchah, Rebbi,” said Aharon, the oldest and most outspoken of the orphan talmidim. “But to be honest, we thought perhaps you wouldn’t return to us because you would be too busy at home...”

“Chas v’shalom!” R’ Shalom declared. “Talmidim are also children.”

“So it’s business as usual?”

“Of course!”

***

When Yonatan was old enough to begin learning Torah, R’ Shalom began to spend less and less time outside of home.  He would sit for hours with his only child and patiently teach him the building blocks of Torah knowledge.

The orphans weren’t exactly thrilled that he was spending less time with them, but they understood and held no grudges. That is, everyone except Aharon.

“Why does Rebbi keep leaving an hour earlier each day?” Aharon challenged R’ Shalom after shiur. “Every week we get less and less time!”

“Leave Rebbi alone!” the other orphans cried. “He’s allowed to spend time with his son!”

Aharon snapped back a retort, and before long, a rift began to grow between the orphan talmidim. Some of them joined Aharon’s side, encouraging his endless complaints and derogatory remarks. He stirred a feeling of jealousy in their hearts that grew stronger each day.

Meanwhile, Yonatan was showing signs of incredible brilliance and exceptional middos. His father understood that this boy was going to be a tremendous tzaddik, and he redoubled his efforts to shield Yonatan from outside influences.

“I’ll tell you what needs to be done!” Aharon said one night as they walked to R’ Shalom’s house for supper. “Yonatan has to disappear for a little while for R’ Shalom to take notice of us again. Since his precious prodigy was born, it’s like we don’t even exist!”

“So… you’re planning a murder?”

“No!” Aharon snapped impatiently. “I have an idea. As you know, R’ Shalom has never allowed Yonatan out of the house except to take a short break from his learning in their enclosed backyard. If we can lure him away from the backyard, maybe we can, uh, help him get lost in a forest somewhere...”

“That’s too dangerous!”

“Nah, the boy will survive, despite a few scares and maybe a scratch or two. But he’ll be out of the picture long enough for R’ Shalom to wake and up and remember how he used to love us.”