A Smile from the Heart

A smile from the heart. A heartfelt" Good Morning", "Good Evening" or "Shabbat Shalom" when we pass someone on the street are all messages Hubby and I try to impart to our children. We never know what kind of an impact any of these messages can have on the receiver. Maybe the person is a street cleaner who woke up at the crack of dawn to start his/her daunting job of cleaning all the garbage that had piled up on the sidewalks and streets. Maybe it was the hungry bus driver, eagerly awaiting his lunch break. It could have been a random woman who hardly slept the night before because her baby was teething. Or maybe it was a random man who was racking his brain trying to figure out how to put food on the table for his family.

I am a big believer in speaking to the heart of the person before whom I am standing and I thank G-d every day for the opportunities that He gives me to teach this important and very valuable lesson to my children.

On our way to his preschool every morning, my five year old and I keep seeing the same very sweet street cleaner who always has a big smile on his face. "This man works very hard every single day so that he can put food on the table for his family", I tell my boy. "Not only does he work hard for his family, but he also works very hard for us and the rest of the people that live in Ramat Beit Shemesh, so that we can walk on clean streets".

This morning, my boy spotted him before I did. It so happens that I had picked up some danishes for the kids for after preschool and for my little guy as a prize after his imminent blood test. I suddenly had what I thought was a great idea. " My boy, here. Go give the nice man a couple of danishes for his coffee break." My boy and I walked over to the street cleaner and with big smiles we said" Here, take some cakes for when you have a coffee break". The sweet man broke out into a giant smile and thanked us profusely for the treats. When we left him, my five year old said" Ema, he said thank you to us so many times".

And that, my boy, is a lesson we can all learn from, for even in the midst of cleaning filth and garbage, this sweet holy man finds reasons to smile every morning and to thank his Creator for all that He gives him.

With Love,
Cigal