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Vayishlach

"Then the handmaids came forward -- they and their children -- and they bowed down. Leah, too, came forward with her children and they bowed down; and afterwards, Yosef and Rachel came forward and bowed down" (Bereishis 33:6-7).

Rashi explains: "In the case of all the others, the mothers approached before the children, but in the case of Rachel, Yosef came in front of her. He said; 'My mother is a beautiful woman; for fear that this wicked man will set his fancy on her I will stand in front of her and prevent him from gazing at her.'"

Good people are always concerned for others and will take care of them sacrificially. The following moving story was sent to me as an example of how another young boy (Yosef was only six years old at the time) placed someone else's feelings before his own.

In the days when ice cream sundaes cost much less, a 10-year-old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him.

"How much is an ice cream sundae??" He asked.

"Fifty cents," replied the waitress.

The little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and studied the coins in it.

"Well, how much is a plain dish of ice cream?" He inquired.

By now more people were waiting for a table and the waitress was growing impatient.

"Thirty-five-cents," she brusquely replied. The little boy again counted his coins.

"I will have the plain ice cream," he said.

The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table and walked away. The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier thirty-five cents and left.

When the waitress came back, she began to cry as she wiped down the table. There, placed neatly beside the empty dish, were two nickels and five pennies. You see, the boy could not have the sundae because he felt that he had to have enough left to leave her a nice tip.


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