“Rabbi, are you crazy? How many kids do you have?”
“Five.”
“Five?”
“How on earth will you pay tuition for five kids?”
“Do you know how much college costs these days?”
“How will you save money to provide for your five children?”
“How will you afford to feed five children?”
“How will you buy a house on the Upper East Side that can house five children?”
“How will you ever go on a family vacation?”
“You are a Chabad rabbi, right? Do you know how much Chabad rabbis make? Yup, zero, or close to that at least.”
This past Shabbat morning, G-d blessed me and my wife with a beautiful baby girl, our fifth child: a Shabbat baby, named Chana Mushka.
When I introduced the baby to my four-year-old son, Zalman, I said to him, “Zalman, look, we have a new baby!” To which he replied, “What happened to Sara (our two-year old)? We don’t have her anymore?”
Fortunately, we have a seven-seat minivan, and as I moved my four-year-old’s car seat to the back to make room for the new baby’s car seat, I asked myself all these questions and more. How will we cope with five kids? How will we afford them?
And truthfully, I do not have it all figured out.
But in this week’s Torah portion the Jews found themselves in a serious trouble. The Egyptians were chasing them from behind, with a very well equipped army, and in front of them, blocking their way, was a deep sea. To the left and the right they were surrounded by wild, dangerous animals, so they were completely stuck, with their lives in imminent danger from every direction.
They began to argue, unable to decide cohesively how to proceed, until one individual, Nachshon, jumped into the sea. He said, “G-d, you promised to redeem us from Egypt and bring us to Mount Sinai to receive the Torah. You promised! So I am going to ignore this major obstacle in front of us and forge ahead. He waded in, deeper and deeper, until the water reached his nose. Another step and he would be unable to breathe. As he took that final step, the sea split and the entire nation was able to cross through safely on dry land.
There are times in life when you just have to jump in with both feet and trust that G-d will do His part. Thinking about whether or not to have another child? Just jump in. I have yet to meet a person on their deathbed who regretted not having more children.
There are times to think, and times where it’s better not to ponder too much, but just to go for it. When we do a mitzvah, G-d helps. He is the boss, the conductor of this world. With His help, we will all bring many more healthy children into the world.