"After a few hours of hard work all the newly baked matzos were put in a
basket, in which had been laid a clean table-cloth; and, when all had
been carefully packed in, they were covered with another white cloth.
What I felt most was not being allowed to taste a bit, for it is
forbidden till Seder to eat any of the matzos. As I was carrying the
basket home, I felt as if the devil was in me, and the temptation was so
strong that I undid the cord and took one out. Hearing someone coming up
behind me, I slipped it hurriedly into my pocket and took up the basket
and started off again.
"I heard the footsteps coming closer until who should come up to me but
my best friend, Jonathan? He glared at me and said: 'Oh you sinner in
Israel!' 'Why, what have I done?' I exclaimed. 'I saw you put a matzo in
your pocket!' he said.
"I felt hot all over, for I did not want him to have a bad opinion of
me, as we had sworn friendship to each other like Jonathan and David.
"So I took the matzo out of my pocket, threw it in the gutter, and
jumped on it.
"'Why have you done that?' he said. 'Because I don't want you to think
badly of me.' 'Yet you did not care for what God thought!' he said.
'Don't you know that our Rabbis say that a bad thought is just as evil
as a bad deed; for, if we check a bad thought or wish, it helps us not
to put the bad thoughts or wish into action. If we were as anxious to
please God as we are to please our friends, and to be as well thought of
by Him, we should check our bad thoughts before they led us to do bad
deeds.'
"He said, too, that he was sorry to see that I cared more for his
approval than I did for God's approval. I promised for the future to try
to overcome any evil thoughts or wishes that came into my mind so that I
should not be so tempted to do wrong--in fact I would try to check a bad
thought in the bud.
"Then he forgave me, and we parted good friends, for I love him. He is
exactly what I think Jonathan must have been to David, and I will write
more about him in another letter.
"When I arrived home, we had to prepare and cleanse the house for
Passover. We had to do all the work ourselves, for we could not hire any
helpers except, by a stroke of luck, the 'white-washers,' as they are
called.