Teaching Team

Frankie Lee and the Baal Shem Tov

By Toby Janicki  | Comments (3) | Posted on May 12, 2008

I got home from work last Thursday with a lot on my mind. It had been a busy day and there was a lot I still wanted to accomplish before I went to bed. I walked in the door and got the usual greetings from my family and then my wife Shannon informed me, "Frankie Lee is here again."

Frankie Lee is a neighbor dog that we met last Sunday. She's a tiny black and white mutt. We found her wandering the road out front of our house. After calling the phone number on her dog collar we discovered that she used to belong to the woman down the street but now our neighbor across the street was taking care of her. Apparently, Frankie Lee had gotten pregnant and her original owner doesn't want her anymore.

Despite the fact that we had just recently got a dog of our own, my kids instantly fell in love with Frankie. I think she knows it because twice already last week she has made the trek from her owner's house down our long driveway to come see us.

As I stepped outside last Thursday to say hello to Frankie, my oldest son, Aharon, blurted out that she has a tick and it's big. I felt queasy, so I told him to remove it and promptly got him some tweezers. Naturally he couldn't so I reluctantly stepped in. "Why don't we give her a bath?" my eldest daughter Channah suggested. Taking one look at Frankie it was obvious she hadn't gotten one in a very long time. I sighed at the thought of it, but said "OK," knowing it was the right thing to do. After the bath my youngest daughter, Abby, brushed Frankie for almost half an hour.

As we brought Frankie back to her temporary home for the night, I was reminded of a teaching by the Baal Shem Tov I had read just a few days earlier. He told his disciples:

"The moment you see anyone suffering, no matter who it is-- whether someone important or ordinary, whether someone righteous or wicked, and whether a Jew or a non-Jew, even animals, birds or insects-- you must act immediately to relieve their pain and suffering, doing everything you can, even beyond your ability, to help them, for that's the essence of Judaism."

So that day I didn't get everything done that I wanted to accomplish, but I thought to myself "tomorrow is another day." Yet with the help of my family I was able to relieve a little bit of suffering from one of God's creatures. Sometimes amongst all my studies it takes my children to help me realize what is most important.

About the Author: Toby Janicki is a teacher, writer and speaker for FFOZ. He is also a writer for messiah magazine and the author of the Restoration Workbook and a new book on the Mezuzah.

Search in blogs...

Feeds

Use RSS feeds to track this section in your favorite reader.

FFOZ Blogs RSS Feed

Browse Entries

• « How did you begin observing Shabbat?
• Blogs...
• » Help Wanted: German Translator for Lichtenstein Project

Select a Blog

• Events and Administration
• Founder’s Blog
• Guest Contributors
• Publications
• Shalom Tour
• Teaching Team
• The Siddur Project
• Site Info Blog

Most Recent Entries

• A Dead Sea Stone: In Three Days You Shall Live
• Our 4th of July Bang!
• America Believes in God
• Shabbat and Fireworks
• Plum Tuckered Out!
• Blind Ambition
• A Shot in the Dark: A Bulgarian Translator
• Obama and Dobson Talk Some Torah
• I Cried Today
• The World's Oldest Church?
• It's Summer...Now What?
• Help Wanted: Artist
• Forum people have faces!
• Shabbat Shalom is Coming!
• New Testament Burning In Israel

Select a Previous Month