A ruler once had an astronomically expensive horse and kept a close watch on it at all times. One day, he rode to another city and led it into the stable. At the stable entrance he posted a guard to make sure it wouldn’t be stolen. So that guard would not doze off, the ruler advised him to busy himself in thought over various things. In the middle of the night, the ruler rose and went to the guard, finding him deep in thought.
“What are you thinking about?” the ruler asked.
“I am contemplating the question of where the wood goes when one hammers a nail into it.”
“Great,” said the ruler. You’re doing good thinking.”
A few hours later the ruler approached the guard again.
“What are you thinking about now?”
“I’m thinking about where the hole goes when you eat a bagel.”
“Wonderful,” said the ruler, and he went back to sleep.
In the early morning the ruler again found the guard lost in contemplation.
“What are you thinking about now?” the ruler asked him.
“I’m thinking about how it could be that with the stable closed and me sitting at the entrance with my thoughts, the horse could just disappear?”
When a person is caught up in their unnecessary ruminations, the evil inclination comes and steals their common sense.
–A Hasidic story, from a weekly parashah collection by Aaron Goldscheider
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