Once a week, the fifth grade has library hour. Every student is allowed to check out books.

"Mrs. Katz," Miriam asked the librarian. "May I take out books for my friend Chani? She isn't in school today, but I know what she likes to read."

"Yes, Miriam," replied Mrs. Katz. "I'm glad to see that Chani has such a good friend as you."

Soon Miriam came back to the librarian's desk with two books. "This one is for me, and this is for Chani," she pointed out.

"Miriam, fifth graders are allowed two books a week," Mrs. Katz reminded her. "Wouldn't you like to check out another book each for you and for Chani?"

"Yes," explained Miriam, slightly embarrassed. "But last week I spent more time reading than doing homework and helping out at home, so this week I decided to take out only one book."

"You are doing the right thing, Miriam. But what about Chani? Perhaps she would like two books. I know she loves to read."

"Chani and I are good friends. We often do the same things. Since I'm taking out one for myself, I'll take out just one for her, as well."

"Miriam, I'm not your Chumash teacher, but I would like to share an idea from the parshah with you. When Yitzchak reached the age of 123 he said, 'I don't know how much longer I will live.' At this point in his life, why would Yitzchak be concerned about how long he would live?"

"We learned that in class," answered Miriam. "Our Morah taught us that when a person reaches within five years of the number of years his parents lived, he should be concerned with the length of time he himself will live. Since Yitzchak had reached the age of 123, and his mother Sarah had passed away at the age of 127, he started thinking about this question."

"That's good, Miriam," said Mrs. Katz. "But still, Yitzchak's father Avraham had lived till 175. And HaShem had blessed Yitzchak. Surely, His blessing would grant Yitzchak long life. Why was Yitzchak concerned?

"You see, Miriam, Yitzchak wasn't sure whether or not he was worthy of HaShem's blessing. That's why he started to show concern at the earliest time the Torah recommends. In general, Yitzchak was strict with himself. He knew that from the Akeidah onward, he was compared to a sacrifice, and he tried to see to it that everything he did was befitting this holiness.

"But being strict with himself didn't stop him from being generous with others. We see that when Yitzchak blessed Yaakov, he said, 'May HaShem give you the dew of the heaven and the richness of the earth.' Our Rabbis say that Yitzchak's blessing to Yaakov was even more generous than Yaakov's blessing to his own sons, or Moshe's blessing to Bnei Yisrael.

"You see, Miriam, with ourselves we can be strict. But we don't have to demand from others all that we expect from ourselves."

(Adapted from Likkutei Sichos, Vol. XV, p. 320)