“Aharon, why should I trust you? The last time I went with you, I woke up all alone in an unfamiliar forest”

The orphans soon found out what Yonatan had managed to accomplish.

“Unbelievable...” Aharon shook his head in disbelief. “It’s the kid’s first time in the outside world and already he’s making big news.”

“Jealous?” one of the other orphans asked.

“Yes, actually, but that’s not the point. The point is that he’s supposed to be lost, wandering around a forest, and instead he’s playing hero. Our plan failed completely.”

“So Rebbi will continue favoring him...”

“Exactly.”

*********

Yonatan was paraded around the city as their newfound hero. It was a full two weeks after the incident that he finally was able to travel back to his father. He was escorted by emissaries from the Jewish community.

“Yonatan!”

Reb Shalom and his wife rushed from their home to embrace their only son.

“You took so long, we were getting terribly worried about you! What happened?”

“Baruch Hashem, happy to be home. Haven’t Aharon and the others returned already?”

“True, but what difference does that make?”

“Didn’t they tell you what happened to me?”

“No. All they said was that you got lost during the journey and that when you found them you insisted on staying with someone else.”

Yonatan stopped himself from revealing to his father what had really happened in the forest.

“Your son is a hero, a very special person,” one of the Jewish emissaries told Reb Shalom.

“You must have a very long story to tell me.” Reb Shalom smiled at his son.

“Yes.”

*******

After Reb Shalom learned how his son had so selflessly spent all of his money to help secure a tzaddik’s burial, he was filled with even more love and pride for his only child. It was clear to Reb Shalom that his son was an extraordinary neshamah, someone who was capable of accomplishing tremendous things.

Yonatan went back to his learning schedule and never told his father anything about what the orphans had done to him. An entire year passed before Aharon once again approached Yonatan to invite him on another journey to the marketplace.

“Aharon, why should I trust you? The last time I went with you, I woke up all alone in an unfamiliar forest.”

“I told you already, that was a mistake. Besides, have you forgotten what you accomplished last time you went with us? You’re going to do big things again this time, I just feel it in my bones.”

“Well, my father has started struggling financially a bit… I suppose I could go just one more time.”

“Great. We’ll keep a good eye on you, don’t worry.”

(Excerpted from Mishpacha Jr., Issue 773)