This morning my wife needed me to take our triplets to school. No sweat, I figured. I got this! So she dressed them, fed them, and got them all ready, and when it came time to walk them the 8 blocks to school they went outside, stood on the steps, and demanded that I drive them.
I explained that the car wasn’t available (Shevy needed it to go to a school play for the older kids), but they were having none of it. They refused to budge. I tried to coax and even bribe them, but when the three of them gang up together it’s tough going!
Finally, I resorted to telling them, “Listen, I’m going to school and you can decide if you want to come with me. Otherwise you can stay home all day.” I counted to three and started walking.
Well, that got Avigayil moving! She decided she could handle the walk. A few steps later, Dovid joined us too. But as I continued walking, I noticed that Yehuda still hadn’t left the front steps.
I went back and tried to coax him again, but he was adamant. Car or no dice! So I counted to three again and started walking with Dovid and Avigayil, but still he wouldn’t join us. I called my wife and told her to watch him from the window to make sure he’s safe, while I kept walking with the other two to make it clear I was serious.
As I walked down the street, a passerby came over to me frantically, and said, “You forgot your child! He’s standing there all alone and it’s really dangerous!”
My initial reaction was, “Dude, I got this! Calm down. I have 8 kids—teens to toddlers—and I’m on duty 24 hours a day.”
But then I saw it from his perspective. He doesn’t know all that. He sees a distracted father, on the phone, walking with two kids and one kid left behind. It really looks like I forgot my third child! He has no idea that I’m anything but distracted. I’m on the phone with my wife, making sure my kid is safe, asking her advice, very aware that he’s back there on the steps, hoping he will cave and join us. But from his view, my child is in immediate danger and he needs to call the police or even CPS!
It struck me as an important and timely lesson. It often seems to us that G-d has abandoned us. He’s off on His “phone,” distracted, unaware of the real crises going on in the world. It feels like we are left alone to struggle through the pain and the challenges. But nothing could be further from the truth! G-d is more present than we can comprehend. He loves and cares for us like a father, always watching over us, our safety His top priority.
This weekend, we are going to celebrate the holiday of Shavuot for the 3334th time. It’s a time when G-d reveals Himself us in all His glory. Just as He revealed Himself at Sinai, He will reveal Himself to us. It’s the ideal time to recognize His presence, love, and care. So let’s open our eyes and pay attention!
Oh, and in the end, Yehuda got his way. I walked Avigayil and Dovid to school and Shevy drove Yehuda on her way to the school play.
Have a uplifting and inspiring Shavuos.
Rabbi Uriel Vigler