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Did you ever look for guarantors, so you can take a loan at the bank? Not everybody can be a guarantor. He or she needs to have the possibility (and the willingness 😉 ) to pay.
Something similar happened to our ancestors, 3333 years ago in the Desert. G-d wanted to give them the Torah, His previous wisdom, but He wanted guarantors. Who would be responsible that the Jews would always keep the Torah?
The Jews proposed our Patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but G-d did not agree. They then proposed our Prophets, but this was not approved either. Then, the Jews proposed their children, and G-d agreed. But how exactly could our Patriarch, our Prophets, or our children guarantee that we will keep the Torah?
When they proposed the Patriarchs, the Jews meant that the guarantee would be the characteristics we inherited from them. Each one of us, inside him, has a strong faith and love for G-d. But G-d knew this would not be enough. Because this faith can stay hidden and not express itself in action…
When they proposed the Prophets, the Jews were relying on the leaders of each generation. Those who will lead us and inspire us to keep the Torah. But this is not enough either…
Finally, the guarantors which were approved were the children. G-d knows that when it comes to our children, we will do anything. When it comes to ourselves, it does not matter to cut corners, but for our kids, we want the best! Yet… if we want to raise proper children, we ourselves need to show the good example. Children imitate their parents and learn a lot from them. But not so much what what the parents say. They lean much more from their behavior, their priorities, their characteristics and their actions.
Thus, our children, and more specifically our responsibility to raise them, can guarantee that we will continue to keep the Torah.
Soon we will celebrate Shavuot, the Holiday of the Giving of the Torah. Especially on this holiday, we cannot leave the children out of it, since they are the guarantors… But as we said before, if we want our children to be interested, we first need to be interested ourselves. Let us study the 10 Commandments. Let us think about how we can improve our observance of Torah and Mitzvot.
This Shavuot, let us receive once again the Torah in joy and health. In this merit, G-d will protect all of us from illnesses and from the terrorists that want to harm us and bring Moshiach now!
Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameach!
Hanna
