ברוך תהיה מכל העמים וכו' (ז-יד)
MASHAL: A young man was working as a waiter in an upscale East-Side restaurant to make ends meet. He would see food being thrown out every night, and then he would see all the homeless people starving in the street on his way home. After months of seeing all the food being thrown out night after night, he asked his boss if he could take the food out to the homeless people at night. The boss said it was fine.
The young waiter began taking the food and doling it out to the appreciative homeless people in their shantys. Except for one ragged and filthy woman, who always ran away when he came by and refused to eat. He finally cornered her, and asked why she refused to eat. “I don’t eat from no Jews,” was her gruff reply. The young man laughed and said, “Jew? My name is Andy McCormick! No Jewish blood here!”
But the woman refused to listen. “No, you’re Jewish. There’s no doubt! Only a Jew will do something like this!”
Later that night, the man came home and told his mom the story. Instantly, she turned white! “What’s wrong, Mom?” he asked concerned. She sighed and explained, “I never told you this but your father and I are Jewish. After the war, we changed our name to McCormick, so we wouldn’t be known as Jews!” Today, this man is an observant Jew living in Israel.
NIMSHAL: The Jewish people are unique. So much so, that even if they themselves might not want to admit it; even if they feel like living their lives in as “gentile” a way as possible, nevertheless, it is clear to the entire world that we, Klal Yisroel, are different. They might not like it but they are forced to grudgingly admit that it is the truth. As Jews, we must all take pride in our heritage so that not only will the gentile nations see it - we ourselves will see it too!