HACHAYOL - MyShliach

4
Mendel hears of yasha’s true identity… how can
he beat his own yetzer hora this month in
Soldier
——
part 9
hat I’m about to tell you, begged Mendel.
Mendel, is a conversation
I breathed deeply. “Mendel, you’ll
which was held between the President
of the United States and a top
never believe this, but they were talking
about Yasha.”
General of the US Army during the
time my unit was in the Bielsky forest.
No one, other than me and my fellow
soldiers who later heard its contents
from the mouth of the General himself,
knows this conversation ever
took place.
“W
General: Good morning, Mr.
President. How are you feeling today
President: Terrible, General! Your
target is a major Nazi player in this
war. I was patient when you first told
me that your boys failed to capture
him because one of them horribly
botched up a perfectly-planned
ambush operation. But what’s your
excuse this time Why haven’t they
captured HIM yet
General: Well, Mr. President, we lost
communication with the unit about
24 hours ago. We’re working
tirelessly to get to the bottom of—
Mendel anxiously interrupted, “Zaidy,
who’s the president talking about”
“Are you sure you want to know” I
asked.
Soldier
to
“Please, Zaidy Please can you tell me”
—
—
“Zaidy, If you, a
bunch of hardened,
trained soldiers
were able to be
fooled by one
clever Nazi, what
kind of a chance do
I stand against the
worst, most
disgusting enemy of
the whole world,
the Yetzer Hora
“WHAT! Yasha was really a Nazi!!”,
Mendel exclaimed.
Mendel shouted so loud his bubby
came running upstairs to the room.
“What happened” she asked concerned,
“Is everything alright”
“It’s okay,” I reassured my
wife,“Mendel and I just need a
moment to ourselves.”
Looking back at Mendel, I noticed his
breathing was fast and heavy and his
chest and shoulders were heaving; he
looked furious. Then, he pounded his
fist on the desk so hard, my pencil
actually bounced up and down. Suddenly,
he jumped out of his chair, and
began pacing back and forth nervously.
“What’s wrong, Mendel” I asked gently,
“Why are you so angry”
“What’s wrong, Zaidy, is that I just realized
what slime Yasha is. He could’ve
killed you all at any moment, and you
would have never seen it coming. Y—
You shook hands with this man, swam
in the river with him. He twisted you,
Zaidy… DISGUSTING!
But, wait! He saved your life! Why
would he save your life—THE SNAKE!
Why would he do that! If he was a
REAL Nazi, he should’ve just let the
snake kill you! But he pretended to
your friend… Unless of course that
was all just to–“
“Gain our trust—our friendship.” I said
steadily. “Zaydene Zupitsa, Mendel.
Silk Kapote. Remember, I told you that
sometimes the enemy comes dressed
like a real Chosid, befriending you
only so that later he could convince
you not to listen to your Commander-
In-Chief”
Mendel gasped, quickly covering his
mouth with his hand.
“Oy, Hashem!” He whispered.
He took his hand away from his mouth,
and I could see a new, deeper anger
burning in his wide eyes.
Unexpectedly, Mendel’s eyes filled
with tears. He hid his head in shame,
trying to avoid eye-contact.