I’ve seen this before. I’ve never understood what the appeal is about. It’s obviously fiction, and not really good fiction at that. It casts the characters in incredibly unrealistic light (What grocer would belittle a customer in front of other customers like that? What grocer would mockingly refuse to sell groceries? Why wouldn’t the generous man have shown more anger at the grocer’s mocking of the woman? How can a single woman with that many kids, not already have food stamps and other government aid?). As a moral message it also doesn’t really make much sense, because rather than directly using the generosity of someone nearby, a miracle is performed, ostensibly because the fictional grocer is so mean spirited he refuses to sell groceries to a poor, starving woman with a large number of kids (all this in front of other customers).

Most of the time when I see it, it is accompanied by the assurances that it is a true story.

There are plenty of real life stories of generosity that show us how God takes care of us. This one more or less insults the intelligence of the reader.

I’m sorry I sound harsh, it’s just that I see this as one of many invented stories that flood email boxes and tend to make people more cynical than caring. It’s like eating artificially-flavored, artificially-sweetened, processed stuff, when real-life, home-made, all-natural food is within arm’s reach.

Here’s a true story that’s very inspiring. 

To read others like it you can visit http://www.artscroll.com/Chapters/ (this one is under Echoes Of The Maggid, chapter 5)