I recently went away for a few days with my wife to rejuvenate ourselves. Our hotel had a minyan with a very diverse crowd. The person in charge was Chassidish but did not wear the classic long coat and hat. The nusach for davening was Lubavitch. The person who davened from the amud was Sephardi. The people attending were from all over— Lakewood, Baltimore, the Five Towns, Flatbush and Passaic. If these people lived in one city, each of them would have davened in a different shul. But when they’re away from home, they are all very happy to be in the company of each other and to daven together.
The Slonimer Rebbe says Parshas Re’eh contains one of the most important concepts in the Torah: “Banim Atem LaHashem Elokeichem.” Moshe tells the Jewish nation that Hashem considers them His children, with the resulting love of a parent for a child. There is a dispute in the Gemara whether this statement is conditional or not. Rabbi Yehuda says that only when the Jewish nation keeps the Torah and mitzvos are they considered Hashem’s children. Rebbi Meir, however, disagrees and says that regardless of a Jew’s actions, he is always considered a child of Hashem.
The Gemara says that, as a general rule, whenever there’s a dispute between Rabbi Yehuda and Rebbi Meir, we rule like Rebbi Yehuda, because in spite of the fact that Rebbi Meir was unparalleled in his generation in his knowledge of halacha, the rabbis were not able to fully comprehend his positions. In this case, however, regarding the issue of Hashem treating Bnei Yisrael as His children, we rule in accordance with Rebbi Meir, since Rebbi Meir brought four pesukim to support his position.
Parshat Re’eh is always read on Shabbos Mevorchim for Rosh Chodesh Elul. It used to be that Elul was synonymous with self-improvement and deep introspection. People would get very terrified when Elul and Rosh Hashanah were approaching. Some bemoan the fact that we have lost that feeling of apprehension. Personally, I think the issue is not the loss of sensitivity, but rather that our approach needs to be different.
For thousands of years, we related to discipline in a heavy-handed way. Teachers used to have sticks or paddles and if a kid misbehaved, they were hit. This style of discipline stopped years ago since it’s just not the approach of our generation. The pasuk says “Musar Hashem bni al timas—My son, don’t repulse the reproach of Hashem.”The Slonimer Rebbe says that we need to focus on the word bni—my son. When you give love and build up a child, he feels special and is motivated to succeed. The only way to approach self-improvement is to have a positive view of ourselves and to focus on how Hashem loves us, just as a parent loves all of their children. We need to feel we are children of Hashem.
The conclusion of the pasuk, which states that we are children of Hashem, is the warning not to lacerate oneself or pull out one’s hair upon grieving for the loss of a close relative. What’s the connection between these two points? Lacerating oneself or pulling one’s hair out is an expression of permanent despair, whereas if we feel we are children of Hashem and Hashem is always watching over us, we have no reason to despair.
The Nesivos Shalom notes that in the last bracha of Shemoneh Esrei, we ask Hashem, “Barcheinu avinu kulanu kached”—Bless us our father when we are all together. This illustrates that Hashem is considered our father…when we are all together. We should view all Jews, regardless of their dress or actions, as our brothers and sisters. Then we will merit that Hashem will treat us with the love that a parent has for His child.
Rabbi Baruch Bodenheim is the associate rosh yeshiva of Passaic Torah Institute (PTI)/Yeshiva Ner Boruch. Rabbi Bodenheim can be reached at [email protected]. For more info about PTI and its Torah classes, visit www.pti.shulcloud.com
