עיני ה' אלקיך בה מרשית השנה ועד אחרית שנה ... (יא-יב)
MASHAL: The family of R’ Elya Lopian zt”l owned a chicken which laid fresh eggs for them every day. One morning, as the family gathered to eat breakfast, the chicken suddenly jumped up on top of the table. Though startled, R’ Elya’s mother quickly grabbed the chicken and gently placed it on the floor before shooing it off. While it seemed like a nondescript event, young Elya was perturbed, and he asked his mother why she simply took the chicken off the table when it clearly did something wrong. “If I would jump on the table,” he said, “you would get quite angry and probably even punish me. Why then don’t you punish the chicken?”
R’ Elya’s mother explained that although the chicken probably does deserve punishment, it is after all a chicken – and what can you expect from a chicken? A Yiddishe boy on the other hand is not a mindless chicken. On the contrary, there is so much more expected of him and if he jumps on a table like a brainless chicken, he deserves a fitting punishment!
NIMSHAL: R’ Henoch Plotnick shlit’a explains that the Torah tells us, “The eyes of Hashem are constantly on the Land” and by extension on Klal Yisroel as well. As the gentiles of the world run around like mindless chickens going from fad to fad, a Jew’s actions must be more carefully calculated. Thus, while it seems at times that some people “get away” with things, as Hashem’s Chosen People there is so much more expected of us. It is not surprising that the rest of the world views the Jewish people with a critical eye and keeps our every action under a microscope. Although we cannot expect the world to appreciate us for what we are fully worth, we are nevertheless constantly reminded of our value and how every move we do in this world is calculated and documented.