It was just another day in the room that was a hurricane of toys.
My baby once again had the gall to play with his older brother’s toy. My toddler decided, that today was the day that he took matters into his own hands. He walked confidently over to his baby brother and wrenched the toy from his hands.
Naturally the baby burst into tears.
It might have dawned on the toddler that his father was right there in the room with him though and had seen the whole event unfold. In fact, it was quite likely that he did realize this because as I marched over towards him, my toddler was suddenly very busy with his cars and was avoiding eye contact like the plague.
I would have none of it however and demanded that my toddler “look at what he did.”
When my toddler stopped avoiding the situation and saw the baby crying on the floor, what happened?
He cried too.
We are about to enter Shabbos Hazon. Hazon means vision. God just wants us to look at the results of our own actions. To stop distracting ourselves with whatever silliness we put on our screens and pay attention to the bigger picture.
When you remove your blinders and pay attention to what you are doing to the people around you, only then can you really feel it and only then will you be able to change.
The end of the story is that once my toddler cried at what he had done, I reached down and hugged him. Once the message hits home, no further punishment is needed. The child can be consoled.
God wants to reach down and hug us too. Let’s really hear the message this year so that He can.
Good Shabbos and have an easy and meaningful fast day,
Rabbi A and the JET Team
Too cute and funny, then serious. Perfect.