How many times do we have a knock on the door and don’t hear it? It’s not the physical knocks that we don’t always hear, but the metaphorical or spiritual knocks. In Parshat Behaalotecha, Hashem sends trumpets, knocks on our door, to ensure the hearing of His calls and requests. We don’t always answer because we don’t want to hear the knock or because we’re not looking to hear it.

There was a man who pushed Torah away. He grew up secular and when he thought of Judaism he thought that people didn’t respect you unless you were religious. One day he stumbled upon a Gemara class. Instead of pushing this man away, they told him to come and learn. Very hesitantly, he decided to sit with them because he was shocked by their kindness. They told him to come back tomorrow and learn with them again. He started coming everyday for about an hour. He would come with no kippah and regular clothing. As time went on, he decided to keep Shabbat, kosher and other mitzvot. The last thing he did was put on a kippah. When someone asked him one day, why did you start doing all the mitzvot, the man explained it was because he finally saw the truth. He had wanted to think so badly about religious people that he was blinded to doing mitzvot until he was put in a situation where no one judged him even for learning without a kippah.

May we always be open to hearing the knocks in our lives, and may we listen to those calls. May we use those calls to bring us closer to Hashem.

Shira Sedek is a passionate educator currently working toward a master’s degree at Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration.