Stories We Tell: The Seed

[URJ Intro] Welcome back to Stories We Tell, a podcast presented by ReformJudaism.org. For those of you that are regular listeners, you know that each week we share a story to reflect on a bit through Shabbat, or through the rest of the week. As some other podcasts do, we are actually just about to take a little bit of a hiatus for just a few weeks to collect a few more stories.

In the meantime, we'll be sharing some of our favorite stories that have already run. For those of you that have heard them, we think you'll like them again. And for those for whom they are new, we think you'll love them for the very first time. Rabbi Matthew Gewirtz, the Senior Rabbi of Congregation B'nai Jeshurun in New Jersey, shares the story of The Seed.

[Rabbi Matthew Gewirtz] There was this kingdom in this faraway place. And the king, himself, was beginning to get on in age, and he wanted to find a successor. He wanted to find the next person who would become King. And he tried to figure out what kind of contest he could hold to find the appropriate King. He thought to himself, I'm going to have a contest of whoever it is that can grow the finest tree or plant or crop.

So he calls everyone together in the kingdom, and he hands out seeds. And he says to all the kids who get seeds, whoever comes back a year from now with the most beautiful plant or tree or crop, that person is going to become King. Now at the same time in this kingdom, there's a young man-- oh, 12, 13 years old, who happens to have a green thumb. He can grow anything.

He grows beautiful plants. He grows beautiful trees. He even has gardens that go outside of his house. He does gardening for other people. And he thought to himself, this is it. This is what I do best. I'm going to be the next King. So sure enough, he takes the seeds that were given to him and he does everything he can to make these seeds grow-- and nothing happens.

He changes dirt. He changes the pots they're put in. He changes the kind of watering that he does. No matter what he does, these seeds grow into nothing. Well, a year goes by and it's time for the contest to be judged. The King puts out a call and all the kids line up. Thousands of kids line up with the most beautiful trees-- the short, the tall, the wide, the colors-- Just gorgeous.

And of course, this kid's all in line with his parents and he can't do anything but cry. And finally, he gets to his place with the king. And the king says, young man, I don't understand. What are you doing here? Where's your plant? King, you don't understand. This is what I do best. All year long, I've put all my hard work into this plant. I've tried different water. I've tried different plants.

I've tried different kinds of dirt. I've put in everything I could. I put in all of my integrity, all of my sweat, all of my hard work-- And he's crying and crying and crying. And the king says, well, listen. What you've given me is what you've given me. The judgment will come tomorrow. And sure enough-- And I wouldn't spend, of course, your time even telling you the story, if it weren't this kid who won the contest.

And he says, King, I don't understand. How could I have won? I came to you with an empty pot. And he says, young man, you don't understand. I gave out boiled seeds to everyone. No one should have won this contest in that way. Everyone else who showed up with trees and plants and crops, all of them somehow stole or they cheated or they took from someplace else.

You're the only one who took what never could have grown, and you filled your pot with everything that's important-- with honesty, with integrity, with hard work, with steadfast love and compassion and generosity. Young men, your pot may look empty, but yours is fuller than anyone else's here. And, indeed, you're going to be the next King.

All the work you put into that pot, those are exactly the same qualities-- the selfsame qualities-- that every King needs to be able to govern his or her kingdom, to make sure his people are safe and cared for and loved, and make sure they have a healthy society. You're going to be that King, the one that helps them flourish and find well-being, because of everything you brought to this contest and put into that pot.

[URJ Outro] Now that you've heard the story of The Seed, we're curious about a time when you told the truth-- even if it meant potential embarrassment for you. And how did it turn out? If you want to share that with us a bit, we'd love to hear about it on social media. You can find us at Facebook.com/ReformJudaism and on Twitter, where our handle is @ReformJudaism, and thanks for listening to Stories We Tell this week.

If you enjoyed the story, rate and review us on iTunes. And you can always find new episodes every Thursday on ReformJudaism.org, where you can also learn more about Jewish rituals and culture and holidays and more. Stories We Tell is a project of the Union for Reform Judaism, a leading voice in the discussion of modern Jewish life. And until next week, l'hitroat!