How true is this idea regarding adults and how much more so when it comes to our children. The future is simply infinite possibilities waiting to happen. What it waits on, is human imagination to crystallize it's possibility.
Then like a stab in the dark we are introduced in this week's Torah reading to Balak, King of Moav, a very angry and hateful person who is bent on destroying the Jewish People. To do so he hires Bilam the soothsayer who has a great reputation for cursing and prophesizing their doom.
One particular blessing that he uttered is recited every morning as an introduction to our morning Tephillah. It is the מה טובו אוהלך יעקב משכנתך ישראל
"How goodly are your tents, O'Yaakov, your dwelling places, O'Yisrael".
Rashi, says that Bilam was prompted to praise the Jewish home when he observed how their entrances were located to assure that they always maintained a sense of modesty. My understanding goes beyond this idea of modesty, it suggests that they were not exhibiting what goes on in the privacy of one's home to the rest of the neighborhood. One family had no interest in what was going on in their neighbor's home. One family was not jealous or envious of the other. Each one lived his or her own individual life style and was not interested how others lived. Today there is too much gossip and Lashan Harah that is being exhibited one to the other and too often we are falling into the trap of talking how one is more frum than the other.
Lately I hear people respond to me when I ask how are you? And they answer, חסדי הי. If that is your answer, than its time to be happy with your lives and to stop comparing to others, i.e. type of car, how large their houses are, the clothing they are wearing.
Jealousy detracts from one's spirituality and is not a character trait that we want to pass on to our children and grandchildren. Be happy and content and life is your Blessing. If we do so we can the begin our daily activities with the blessing of , מה טובו אהליך.
As I reflect upon this very important change in character and recognize how doing so will change the whole dynamics of the family, I am reminded of a magnificent and insightful story.
There is a story of a wealthy man who approached the Baal Shem Tov and asked if he could meet Eliyahu HaNavi, the man who rose to heaven in a chariot of fire. The man had heard rumors that Eliyahu wanders the earth to bless people in need of his help. At first the Baal Shem Tov insisted he didn't know how to find Eliyahu.
One day the Baal Shem Tov said to the man, " you can meet Eliyahu this Shabbos. Here is what you must do:
Fill up your coach with a Shabbos feast : Challah, wine, chicken and vegetables. Pack cakes and fruit and delicacies and bring it all to a certain hut in the forest and ask if you can spend Shabbos there"
On Friday afternoon the wealthy man rode his coach along a winding trail until he came upon the hut the Baal Shem Tov had told him about. He knocked on the door and a poor woman in tattered clothes answered. The wealthy man asked if he could spend Shabbos with the family. The husband and wife were overjoyed to have a guest even though there was barely enough food to go around. Their emaciated children giggled with excitement. Then the wealthy man showed them the feast he had brought. For a moment they froze at the sight of such abundance. And then the children cheered, the wife wept with joy,her husband comforted her. That Shabbos was like no other this family had ever experienced. They ate well, drank well, sang and prayed.
The wealthy man kept staring at the father. Could this be Eliyahu? He asked the poor man to teach him Torah, but the man was illiterate. The father ate until his belly was full. He drank and burped and picked his teeth. This wasn't Eliyahu. All through that night and the next day the wealthy man waited impatiently for Eliyahu to appear. But there was no sign of the holy prophet anywhere. When Shabbos came to an end, the wealthy man was fuming. "The Baal Shem Tov deceived me. He made a fool of me."
He said his goodbyes to the family and raced outside in a huff. As he was stomping away, the wealthy man's boot got stuck in the mud. As he leaned down to pick it up he overheard sounds of rejoicing coming from inside the hut. The children were jumping up and down and squealing with joy over the most wonderful Shabbos they had ever seen. The wife said to her husband, " Who was that man who brought us all the food?" Her husband replied, "Don't you see? It was Eliyahu HaNavi who came to bless us." Suddenly the wealthy man saw who Eliyahu was. "Eliyahu is me." He said to himself.
Yes, we are all Eliyahu. And so often we fail to recognize the role we can play in healing this broken world. We are so much more powerful then we realize.
Peace is in our hands.
Forgiveness is in our hands.
Comforting others is in our hands.
Raising up those in need is in our hands.
Could you imagine what this world would be like if every person claimed his or her identity? What if we unleashed the power within us, the powers to heal this world?
This is truly realizing the absolute חסדי הי.
We are to enjoy the Blessings of Hashem, and to help other in any way we can to rejoice in the life that Hashem has given to all of us.
As we commemorate the disastrous three week period of mourning, let us sublimate our egos and reach out to others with love and compassion.
מה טובו אוהלך יעקב משכנתך ישראל
שבת שלום ומבורך
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