החדש הזה לכם ראש חדשים ראשון הוא לכם ... (יב-ב)
MASHAL: The following story is told over by R’ Shlomo Farhi: “One day, I got a call from a Holocaust survivor who was interested in putting on tefillin each day. However, he did not have the money to buy himself a pair, so I informed the people in my community about this special tzedakah opportunity. An unusual number of people responded to this particular request. Many people wanted to partake in this rare mitzvah, and I received far money than what was needed. We bought the tefillin, made a respectable spread for the occasion, and he started wearing them.
“One week later, I received a call from an individual requesting to participate in buying the tefillin for the man who didn’t have. To his disappointment, I told him that everything had been paid for already. The man on the phone asked if he could be put in contact with one of the donors who might agree to sell their share in the mitzvah, saying that it would mean so much to him to just be able to take part.
“I gave him two numbers, but to my surprise, neither of them agreed! He offered large sums for just a small piece of the mitzvah, but neither were willing to relinquish any part.
“Later, when I asked one of the donors who were contacted why he refused, he told me something amazing. ‘I wasn’t initially going to say no,’ he said. ‘But when I saw how he was willing to pay all the money in the world for the zechus, I started to feel how important it was. The more he talked, the more it instilled in me the value of the mitzvah!’”
NIMSHAL: The first mitzvah in the Torah is mentioned in this week’s parsha (see first Rashi in Bereishis). Now is a good time for us to reflect on the value of each and every mitzvah that will be discussed throughout the Torah from here on.