PAPA IS IN PAIN, TOO!
The Talmud teaches us that just as we wear tefillin on our heads and our arms to attach our-selves to HaShem, so does HaShem wear tefillin on His head (so to speak) and on His arm to attach Himself to us. Just as in our tefillin we have Torah portions which express our commitment to Him, so in His tefillin are Torah portions which express His commitment to us. Judaism is not merely the religion of the Jewish people – it is a loving relationship between HaShem and His beloved people.
The Talmud teaches us that when the Jewish people are in pain HaShem cries “My head hurts, My arm hurts”. Our Sages explain that HaShem feels the pain in His head and in His arm because those are the symbolic body parts which connect HaShem to His beloved people. Therefore when His people are in pain His head and arm are in pain as well. The Talmud states that HaShem’s pain is not limited to the communal pain of the Jewish people but even the pain of every individual Jew causes pain to HaShem. The relationship HaShem has with the people of Israel applies to every single individual.
This week’s Parsha, Toldos, opens with the scene in which Yitzchak and Rivka are davening to HaShem so that Rivka could conceive. Rivka was unable to conceive and they so much wanted to have a child to continue the legacy of Avraham and to build the Jewish people from their child. There was nothing more important to them than this dream.
Our Sages teach us that “HaShem desires the prayers of tzadikim” and therefore He designed it that Rivka should be unable to conceive. In their pain of childlessness they will daven to Ha-Shem. How are we to understand this? Does HaShem not know that they will daven to Him even if they have a child? After all, they are tzadikim!
Perhaps in light of our opening paragraph we can feel the answer.
Let us consider the following. Someone’s father dies suddenly and naturally they are in great pain. At the same time their friend lost their spouse suddenly. Each of these people who are close friends recognize the loss that each other suffered. If each one will reach out to support and encourage the other one, the friendship between them will bond immeasurably. Relationships bond with incredible strength when friends reach out and share in each other’s pain, especially when they themselves are in a similar pain.
The Nefesh Hachaim explains that the proper focus of all our prayers should be on the pain of HaShem. Even though so many of the brachos of the Shmone Esrei focus on our personal needs, the intent of those bra-chos is the pain in which HaShem finds Himself because His people are sick or because His people are lacking financial resources and so on. Yes, we daven for those needs but we must be focused on His pain and request HaShem to cure His people so that His pain should dissipate.
Of course we wonder if HaShem is in pain over the pain of His people why does He not stop the pain! In answering this question the Nefesh Hachaim draws the parallel to the doctor who must amputate his son’s leg to stop the infection from spreading. The emotional pain of the father far exceeds the pain of the son, but he must do it, nonetheless. If for some reason we must be subjected to pain for our overall welfare it still causes pain to our Father. The prayers we daven to HaShem must reflect our sharing in His pain, not only our own. In that expression of sharing in each other’s pain we draw ourselves so very close to HaShem that this very prayer can alter the need for that amputation. Hence, when Yitzchak and Rivka davened for a child they were focusing on the pain HaShem had in their state of childlessness.
In building the Jewish people we can appreciate how HaShem wanted this expression of sharing in each other’s pain to be a key factor in the birth of Yaakov. The very birth of Yaakov should sprout from the deepened relationship of Yitzhak and Rivka’s prayers as they reached out to HaShem focusing on His pain.
May HaShem grant us the strength to be able to transcend our own pain and focus on Papa’s pain.
Have a wonderful Shabbos.
Paysach Diskind