Pack up your troubles: two tales

[Jayhawker Soule]

I'm aware of an old Chasidic story which I thought I might share for no particular reason ...

It is told that the rabbi of one particular town instructed all its inhabitants to put their troubles in a sack, and then to leave that sack in the town square. And so it was done.​

​

Some time later, this rabbi told the inhabitants to return to the square and take whichever sack they wished.​

​

Each returned, searched, and took the sack that he or she had left.​

I spent a short bit of time searching for the source of this tale, only to stumble upon a much different story ...

See The surprising story of the song 'Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag'​

We are sometimes find ourselves wedded to our own pain yet divorced from the pain of others.

 

[JustGeorge]

I'm aware of an old Chasidic story which I thought I might share for no particular reason ...

It is told that the rabbi of one particular town instructed all its inhabitants to put their troubles in a sack, and then to leave that sack in the town square. And so it was done.​

​

Some time later, this rabbi told the inhabitants to return to the square and take whichever sack they wished.​

​

Each returned, searched, and took the sack that he or she had left.​

I spent a short bit of time searching for the source of this tale, only to stumble upon a much different story ...

See The surprising story of the song 'Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag'​

We are sometimes find ourselves wedded to our own pain yet divorced from the pain of others.

I wonder how things would go if everyone picked a different bag.

We all have different ways of solving problems, different skills and resources. If everyone picked a different bag, perhaps some of the bags would get emptied...