Wine

[Music] Did you ever hear of the city called Grape Town? Well, the city of Gratown is a very interesting city indeed. And there is a special reason why it's called Grape Town. for Grape Town was famous for the delicious wine that was made there. In fact, the people of that city were known as the merry wine makers of Grape Town. And the wine they made was something special. It was so delicious. People came from all parts of the country and from far away places just to get that delicious wine. As hard as they tried, the wine makers of the other cities just couldn't make their wine taste so delicious as the wine made in Grape Town. Yes, Grape Town was a merry town, and so were all the people of Grape Town who earned their living by making the special delicious wine. One day something very strange happened and Grape Town wasn't at all merry again. Yes, something strange. Something very sad happened which brought about a big change in the city of Grave Town. And it all happened like this. Early one morning, there was some excitement in the city. A large crowd gathered in the center of the marketplace. They were waiting for someone to arrive. They were waiting for the royal messenger who was to bring them an important message from his majesty, the king. Finally, the large crowd cheered as the royal messenger arrived. and took his place at the top of the platform which stood in the center of the marketplace. The crowd was hushed to a perfect silence as he unrolled a large scroll and began reading. Here ye hear ye. In 10 days his majesty the king is going to visit your city, the city of Gratown. His majesty has heard so much about the famous merry wine makers of Grape Town and the delicious wine they produce and therefore would like to honor them with a royal visit. Now you can imagine how excited all the people of Grape Town became when they heard that the king himself is going to honor them with a royal visit. Immediately they all gathered into the town hall to meet and to decide how to plan a grand welcome fitting for his majesty the king. Yes, once a year the king would honor one of his cities with a royal visit. And this year it was Grape Town. Everyone offered some ideas and suggestions as how to make the grand welcome in a most impressive and honorable manner. It didn't take long when they came up with a great idea. They all decided to build a very big barrel in the center of the marketplace. And this barrel was to be 15 ft tall. And it was to be decorated in a most artistic manner with colorful flowers and beautiful ornaments. And at the bottom of the gigantic barrel, there was to be a golden faucet. Now, can you guess what they were going to do with this gigantic barrel? Well, they were going to fill it up with the famous wine of Grape Town. So, every person living in Grape Town was ordered to bring one gallon of wine and pour it into the big barrel. By doing this, the entire barrel would be filled with the famous delicious wine made by the merry wine makers of Grape Town. And this is how they would greet the king. For when the king would arrive, they would lead him to this huge barrel of wine and honor him to be the first one to turn the golden faucet and fill his golden cup with delicious wine of grape town. Within moments, everyone left the town hall and got busy in preparing for the grand welcome. As soon as the gigantic barrel was built and artistically decorated from top to bottom, a long ladder was placed at the side of the barrel so that everyone may climb up to the top of the barrel and pour in one gallon of wine. Now, everything seemed to be going along pretty well until something very tragic happened. For in the city of Grape Town, there was a bobber called Getel, and he was so anxious to be the first one to get to the big barrel and pour in the first gallon of wine. But as he was about to fill his bottle with wine, he thought to himself, "My, this wine is so expensive. It would be foolish to give away so much precious wine. What would happen if I would pour water into the large barrel instead of wine? No one would be able to tell the difference. After all, with so many people in Grape Town and each one pouring a full gallon of wine into the great barrel, just one gallon of water wouldn't make a difference after all. So Getel the Barber filled his bottle with water and poured it into the big barrel. Well, dear children, that wouldn't have been so tragic after all. That is if it was only Gzel the bobber who poured water into the barrel. But alas, Barl the butcher, Kaim the tailor, and Hershel the shoe maker also came up with the same idea. And they also poured water into the barrel. Oh, how awful. For they were making such a foolish mistake. They thought, "Why should I bring wine? Let someone else do it." Not realizing that someone else may also say the same thing. And so, dear children, that's exactly what happened. Everyone in Grape Town was too selfish and too greedy to give away a gallon of wine. And they thought they could fool everyone else by bringing water. So everyone brought water and there wasn't a drop of wine in the big barrel. My were they in for a surprise for the great day finally arrived. and his majesty the king came to great town. The king was so pleased to see the beautifully decorated gigantic barrel built especially for him. The governor of the city was called upon to honor the king with a golden cup and direct the king to the golden faucet. Your majesty, said the governor, we have been honored with the king's visit and wish to show our true appreciation for such a majestic honor. And therefore, we wish to present his majesty with this golden cup. And as the king will turn the golden faucet, out will come the delicious wine prepared by the merry wine makers of grape town. The crowd was hushed to a perfect silence as the king reached out to place the golden cup under the golden faucet. Slowly the king turned the faucet and you can guess what happened. For instead of delicious wine, out came water. Just plain water. Oh, how embarrassing. Oh, how awful. Now the wine makers of grape town have failed to gain favor in the eyes of his majesty the king. How will they ever be able to explain to the king what had happened? Who knows how long they will have to wait till they will again be worthy of having the king honor them with a royal visit. Yes, dear children, this story teaches us an important lesson to remember at all times. If there is something good to do, do it yourself, never say, "Let someone else do it." For someone else may say the same thing, and it will never be done. As the Torah teaches us, always set yourself as a good example in doing what is good in the eyes of Hashem, so that others may follow you and do the same.