All My Sons 

I Don’t Want Any Gift 

At last, he felt that his heart had started beating again and the blood had gone back to flowing in his veins. Since that Simchat Torah there had been no day and no night. The only moments when he could breathe were when he received a telephone call or message from his son who was fighting in Gaza. 

A great feeling of paralyzing heaviness rests upon him twenty-four hours a day and eases its hold only during those seconds when he receives a sign of life from the fighting son, and even more so when he hears his voice. 

This was one of those moments of grace. 

“Abba, I’m sorry”, he heard the voice that he so missed on the other end of the line. “I apologize for not calling to wish you a happy birthday. We were so busy here with fighting. When I come home, I’ll buy you a big gift, I promise.” 

At that moment, he broke down. For several weeks already he had been controlling himself forcibly. As a father he felt responsible to show his son how strong he was and therefore he had not revealed the extent of his feelings and yearnings. But those words of his son managed to crack the stone walls that he had constructed around his heart. 

“My dear son,” he said, his voice choked with emotion, “I don’t need any gift. I just want you. I so much want to see you, safe and sound, back at home…” 

This is a true story that we heard from the father himself. May Hashem return home all the soldiers and hostages and injured, safe and sound. But there is no father who cannot understand and identify with the feelings of yearning and pain and worry. Even though on routine days, when life flows smoothly, that love is somewhat dormant and pushed aside, it is always there; and when the son is in trouble or in some danger, it erupts like a volcano.  

A Kiss from the Creator 

There are endless numbers of good effects that come from the clear knowledge that Hashem yitbarach is a good and loving father. Last week, we showed how this awareness illuminates the Torah laws as well as the difficulties and changes that every Jew and Klal Yisrael in general experience. 

This week, if Hashem wills it, we will see that this awareness is the strongest motivator – awakening us to disseminate materials and to bring people closer to Judaism. Because if a father’s love for his child is always strong and great – when the son is in a dangerous and faraway place, and when he is miserable and feeling wretched, his father’s love comes up even more vigorously and floods his heart. 

A real Jew who has a Jewish heart is supposed to be full of gratitude to Hashem every day of his life, and all his aspirations and longings should be to give back at least something to his Creator; to “pay back” something to Hashem – “How can I repay Hashem” – to return even a small amount of our great debt to Him. 

If you would say to Hashem: “Hashem, what gift do you want?”, Hashem would say to you: 

“Even a flesh-and-blood father who is lacking many things doesn’t need any gifts; he just wants his beloved son who is in trouble and in bondage to return to him. 

 

“How much more so I, Who lacks nothing, ‘for Mine is the world and all that fills it’ – certainly I don’t need anything. But if you want to give me a gift that will be truly meaningful to me, return my sons to me, my sons who are far away from me and I so yearn for them, those poor sons who don’t even know that they are my sons, my sons who are so far from emuna (faith) and are suffering so much. Return my children to me and I will give you a kiss…” 

Go All the Way 

So many Jews are already gaining strength from the words of emuna and the knowledge that Hashem yitbarach is a good father and loves them very much in any situation, and unconditionally, and always, always wants to do them good, no matter where they are and what their spiritual state is. When one possesses this knowledge, prayer is different, teshuva (repentance) is different, their belief in themselves is different; hope, joy, security, peace of mind – everything takes a step up.  

Why? Because they are living the knowledge that Hashem loves every Jew like an only son! In any situation, and unconditionally! 

So, if you are really living this and believing in this – go all the way. And know and believe that just like Hashem loves you unconditionally and as if you are a single child, and misses your presence, even though you have acted against His will – believe that Hashem loves all His children that way. Even if you see a Jew who seems very far away, even if he is anti-religion, chalila – he too is a son of Hashem. He is a baby who was taken captive [by non-Jews and had no chance to learn about his Judaism] and Hashem doesn’t want us to hate him, but rather to feel compassion for him and draw him closer and return him to his Father in Heaven with love and brotherly feelings and peace and friendship. 

In our generation it is really easy. Because the hearts are open and many Jews are waiting for someone to approach them, show them the way, speak to them in the language of emuna, give them a booklet, invite them for a Shabbat meal or study, put tefillin on them, take them to the Kotel. Anybody who goes out to Jews these days finds “diamonds strewn on the floor”, precious children of Hashem, worth their very weight in gold, hundreds and thousands of them, and can give Hashem the biggest presents in the world very easily! 

If you don’t know where to start, then start with your own viewpoint. You see Jews in the street? Accustom yourself to looking at them lovingly and favorably, like lost children of Hashem. And if you are used to saying that the secular Jews are the lost children of Hashem, today there are also many religious and ultra-Orthodox people who are lost children, and one must adopt the awareness that all of them, with no exceptions, are beloved children that Hashem misses, and one should feel compassion for all of them, with no exceptions, drawing them closer with love to their Father in Heaven. And even if you don’t know how to talk, you can give them books and booklets about emuna. 

Father’s Sons 

In this week’s parasha, the holy Torah surprises us with a unique form of speech. One of the most interesting mitzvahs is the mitzvah of shilu’ach haken  It is a seemingly simple mitzvah, but the Torah uncharacteristically promises a tremendous reward for it.  

In this mitzvah, the Torah¹ describes a bird that has fledglings or eggs, and one is supposed to send away the mother bird before taking them from her. The Torah calls these fledglings and eggs “sons”, which is a very human description that doesn’t seem to apply to animals, not to mention fledglings and eggs.  

Rabbi Natan of Breslev writes at length about the laws of this mitzvah, in keeping with the approach of the holy Zohar, and explaining that those “sons” are Jewish souls that are the children of Hashem! The mitzvah of shilu’ach haken is much more than merciful treatment of the poor bird, and the Gemara actually forbids us to relate to it as an expression of Hashem’s compassion towards the bird; rather, it is an allegory referring to the exile of the Shechina (Divine Presence) and the painful distance between the Creator of the World and the Jewish people – which are the bird – and the Jewish souls – who are the sons. If the bird is the mother and the fledglings are the sons – then the father is Hashem yitbarach Himself, our merciful Father.  

This entire world is a ‘path’ that we are all walking on, and on the way, we will meet endless numbers of Hashem’s lost children, described by Rabbi Natan as “… souls that fell into exile and turmoil… souls that have been exiled from their place”.² And the Torah commands us that even when we are learning Torah and praying, our intention should be to elevate all those souls who are our fellow Jews and bring them out of their exile. And that is why I wrote in the siddur and here too, in past essays, that one should say before every mitzvah and prayer, “in the name of all Yisrael”. 

Even more so when we are engaged in this matter itself – going out to the Jewish people and drawing them closer to their Father in Heaven Who loves them and misses them so much – that is the heart of the heart of the deep message of this holy mitzvah: to have mercy on Hashem’s beloved and lost sons. 

That is why disseminating materials and keiruv rechokim (bringing close the ones who are far away) is the greatest thing in our generation, especially now, during Elul, when all of us want to gain many merits. I can promise all my readers that there is no merit or good deed that even comes close to that of disseminating materials. 

Even if you went out and didn’t manage to influence anyone – your advantage is incalculable; and certainly if you wish to and pray and believe that Jewish neshamas (souls) are Hashem’s beloved children and that Hashem is with you while you are disseminating materials, and helps you for the sake of His honor to do the most precious and important thing in His eyes, yitbarach – you will certainly have the merit and your efforts will bear fruit and you will bring souls closer to Hashem, for every soul is a complete world. And in the merit of this, not only will you merit a good and sweet year, but you will also be tilting the balance of the scales for the entire Jewish nation in a favorable direction, for salvations and the complete Redemption with mercy, very soon, Amen. 

Editor’s Notes:

¹ Deuteronomy (Numbers) 22:6-7 

² Likutei Halakhot, Yora De’ah, Halakhot Shilu’ach Haken