Chloe's Time Machine and the Rule of Tzedakah
The time machine looked like a refrigerator box with aluminum foil and Christmas lights — because that's exactly what it was. But when Chloe pressed the big red button (a painted jar lid), something actually happened. The box shook, the lights flickered, and suddenly Chloe was standing in a medieval village, still holding a juice box.
"Oh no," Chloe said. A knight on horseback nearly ran them over. A chicken stole their juice box. A very confused blacksmith stared at Chloe's sneakers and asked, "What manner of footwear is this?"
Chloe quickly realized two things: time travel was real, and they had no idea how to get back. The only clue was a note that had appeared in the box: "The machine returns you home when you practice tzedakah three times. No shortcuts."
So Chloe got to work. First, they helped a young girl carry water from the well — the bucket was enormous and the girl was small. That counted as one. Then they helped the blacksmith fix his bellows using a technique they'd learned in science class (duct tape existed in the future, but ingenuity was timeless). That was two.
The third act took longer. A boy in the village was being teased for wanting to be a painter instead of a farmer. The other children mocked his drawings. Chloe sat down next to the boy and said, "In the future, some of the most important people in the world are artists. Don't ever stop drawing." The boy smiled — and centuries later, his paintings would hang in a museum.
The box reappeared with a shimmer. Chloe stepped inside, pressed the red button, and was back in the backyard. The lesson was clear: tzedakah isn't just something that matters now. It echoes through time, changing the future in ways you can never predict.
Talk about it
Chloe helped people in the past and discovered kindness changes the future.
Three questions for lights-out
- What did Chloe do to help the people in the village?
- Why do you think the boy's smile mattered so much?
- How could helping someone today change things years from now?
Words worth knowing
- tzedakah
- doing kind things for people who need help
- medieval
- a very long time ago, like in castles and knights
- bellows
- a tool that pushes air into a fire to make it hotter
- teased
- when other kids laugh at someone in a mean way
- ingenuity
- coming up with smart, creative ideas to fix things
Why did the time machine only work after tzedakah?
The story teaches that kindness is the most powerful thing—it's what makes time travel worth doing. Helping others connects past, present, and future.
Is tzedakah the same as regular helping?
Tzedakah is giving and helping because it's the right thing to do, not for praise or reward. It comes from the heart and makes a real difference.