Children's Corner

Suri had invited some friends over to her house after school. The girls were playing jump-rope in the driveway and Mommy could hear their loud and happy voices through the kitchen window.

Mommy didn't mind the noise. She was glad that the girls were having a good time. Still, something bothered her. "Why do I always hear Suri's voice above everyone else's when she is playing?" sighed Mommy to herself. "Yet, when she has something important to say, she often doesn't speak up."

That evening, Mommy asked Suri to sit with her on the couch.

"Suri," began Mommy. "In this week's parshah, the Torah tells us about the beautiful clothes which the kohanim wore."

"Yes. I know, Mommy," Suri interrupted. "We learned about that in school. Morah even showed us pictures of the clothes. I loved those little golden bells and pomegranate-shaped balls which hung at the bottom of the me'eil (robe). "

"Those bells were not sewn onto the kohen gadol's clothes just to make them look pretty," said Mommy.

"Really?" asked Suri. "What else were they for?"

"Those little bells jingled as the kohen gadol approached, so that people would know that he was coming.

"When the Torah describes those bells, it says: 'And [their] sound will be heard as he enters the holy [place].' When it comes to something holy - we should let ourselves be heard. When we are playing, our voices don't always have to be the loudest in the crowd. But when we say berachos, daven, or bench, our voices should be heard loud and clear."

Saying things loud and clear shows that we are excited and proud of what we are doing. That's how we should feel about studying and fulfilling the mitzvos of the Torah. The people around us will hear the excitement in our voices and see how proud we are to do mitzvos. This will encourage them to do more mitzvos.

(Adapted from Likkutei Sichos, Vol. XVI, p. 337ff)