MITZVAH MISSION # 2 - Parshat Noach
(Please read together with your child)
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ROCHEL'S SIGNS
ln this week's parsha our Forefather Yaakov meets his cousin Rochel and immediately decides he wants to marry her! He goes to Rochel's father Lavan and asks him for his permission to marry Rochel. "Okay, says Lavan", But first, I want you to work for me for seven years, and as payment, you can marry Rochel!"
So Yaakov works for Lavan for seven years, and the day of his wedding to Rochel comes closer and closer.
But Lavan is a sneaky guy and a liar. Lavan wants Yaakov to marry Rochel's older sister, Leah. Lavan thinks to himself, "Leah should marry Yaakov because she's older. l'm going to switch Rochel and Leah at the wedding, and Yakov won't know until it's too late!"
Yaakov is pretty smart and knows that Lavan is up to something. So he and Rochel make up a secret sign to give to each other so that Yaakov will know whether its Rochel or not. On the night of the wedding, Yaakov gives his bride the secret sign, and she makes the right sign back, so he is sure it is Rochel. But the next morning, he finds out that it was really Leah!
What happened?
Rochel knew that Leah was going to take her place, and she realized that when Yaakov will ask Leah for the signs and she won't know them, she would be terribly embarrassed!
Rochel told Leah the secret sign so that she wouldn't be embarrassed. Thgat is how Rochel let her sister marry the man that she herself wanted to marry.
THE MITZVA
One of the 613 mitzvot in the Torah is not to embarrass another person.
The Torah says that embarrassing someone is like killing him! How's that?
When a person gets embarrassed, his face first gets red, and then white, because the blood rushes to his face and then leaves it. So embarassing someone is like spilling their blood!
Some examples that the Torah gives for what not to do:
- Reminding someone of something they did in the past that was wrong or silly
- Making fun of someone's family or where they come from
- Playing a trick on someone (by telling them something that's not true)
MITZVAH MISSION OF THE WEEK:
Be sensitive to another's feelings. Catch yourself before laughing at someone or saying something that will make them feel bad.
Share your experience how you were sensitive to another:
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