ויאמרו איש אל אחיו אבל אשמים אנחנו על אחינו ... (מב-כא)
MASHAL: There are times when we are wronged and cheated, and we may find it difficult to forgive the wrongdoer for his deed and move past it. To help overcome these feelings, Harav Yisroel Belsky zt”l would tell the following parable:
The New York City Marathon is an annual city-wide event that courses through the five boroughs of New York City, with tens of thousands of participants from dozens of countries. It is considered the largest marathon in the world.
One year on the day of the marathon, Reuven met his friend Shimon getting ready to participate in the marathon. He was “jogging” in place, wearing his spandex and all. Suddenly, an idea stuck in his head. “As you know, Pesach is approaching,” Reuven said to Shimon. “I promised my grandmother in Staten Island, that I would bring to her the necessary potatoes that she needs for Yom Tov. It’ll be a lot quicker and save me valuable time if you can bring it to her. If it’s not too big of a deal, and since you’re going to be passing in that direction anyways, would you be able to take some potatoes - just a 50-pound bag - for my grandma?”
“As much as I’d like to help out,” said Shimon, “I simply cannot. When I run, I can’t have extra weight on myself!”
NIMSHAL: When a person can’t find it in his heart to forgive someone, he is in essence walking around with a heavy sack of potatoes on his shoulders. A person must train himself to look past offenses committed against him and raise himself above life’s challenges. If we can live our lives in this manner, it will be a more pleasurable life and we’ll find it easier to forgive when we’re slighted. A person with such attributes will be able to “run” through life light as a feather, free as a bird. This is the extraordinary attribute Yosef exemplified!