Introduction:
In
a previous letter, we cited the following teachings:
In
one prayer, David relates to Hashem as his Mother, and he says to
Hashem:
“I
swear that I calmed and quieted my soul like a suckling child on its
mother, like a suckling child is my soul.” (Psalm 131:2)
“Like
a suckling child is my soul” – My
soul within me was before You as an infant suckling its mother’s
breasts. (Commentary
of Rashi)
In
another prayer, David records the following words of Hashem
concerning His loving and fatherly relationship with David:
“And
My faithfulness and My lovingkindness shall be with him…He (David)
will cry to Me, ‘You are my Father; my God and the Rock of my
salvation.’ ” (Psalm 89:25, 27)
In
this letter, we shall cite some additional sources which refer to
Hashem as the compassionate Father.
Dear
Friends,
As
we discussed previously, there is a special blessing which
serves as an introduction to the morning psalms. This blessing is
known as Baruch
Sh’omar – Blessed
is the One Who spoke, and in the opening passage, it states:
“Blessed
is the One Who has compassion on the earth; blessed is the One Who
has compassion on the creatures.”
It
is not enough, however, to begin our morning psalms with the
consciousness that Hashem is the One Who has compassion on the earth
and on the creatures. We need to also be conscious that Hashem has
compassion on us! In this spirit, the next segment of
Baruch Sh’omar
begins with the
following words:
“Blessed
are You, Hashem, our God, Sovereign of the Universe, the God Who is
the compassionate Father.”
When
our compassionate Father began to redeem us from bondage, He told
Moshe to give the following message to Pharaoh:
“My
firstborn child is Israel” (Exodus 4:22).
As
Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch explains, Israel is the firstborn among
the peoples in the spiritual sense, and in the future, the other
peoples will join Israel as Hashem’s children.
In
the above verse, Israel, as a single entity, is called the “child”
of Hashem. In another verse, Moshe proclaims to the people that all
of them as individuals are the “children” of Hashem:
“You
are children to Hashem, your God” (Deuteronomy 14:1).
A
commentator on the Mishnah, Tiferes Yisrael, discusses the teaching
that all the people are Hashem’s children, and in his commentary on
Yoma 8:9, he writes:
“There
is no need for any intermediary whatsoever between the children and
their Father, the Compassionate One, since it is His
compassion itself that serves as Israel's purification and
mikvah (purifying waters).”
This
teaching reminds us that even when we stumble and sin, we can always
engage in the process of teshuvah
– returning to our compassionate Father. The Tiferes Yisrael
therefore adds the following insight regarding the relationship
between the People of Israel and their Father:
“His
hands are always open to receive their teshuvah and to embrace
them with great love and eternal love.”
The
above teaching can give us a deeper understanding of the following
prayer which we say before we chant the morning Shema
– the proclamation
of the Divine Oneness and Unity:
“Our
Father, the compassionate Father, Who is ever compassionate, have
mercy on us and put it into our hearts to gain insight and
understanding, to hear, to learn, to teach, to safeguard, to do, and
to fulfill all the words of Your Torah’s teaching with love.”
Shalom,
Yosef
Ben Shlomo Hakohen (See below)
Related
Teachings:
In
the following prayer, the Prophet Isaiah said:
1.
“And now, Hashem, You are our Father” (Isaiah 64:7).
According
to the commentator, Radak, Isaiah is proclaiming: Even
though we sinned before You, we are Your children.
2.
The phrase, Avinu
Malkeinu – our
Father, our Sovereign – appears in a number of our prayers. As we
discussed previously, through acknowledging the Compassionate and
Life-Giving One as our Sovereign, we remind ourselves that the human
being is not the sovereign over the earth, for the role of the human
being is to serve as the caretaker of the earth (Genesis 2:15). Given
the importance of recognizing the Divine sovereignty, shouldn’t the
above phrase first refer to Hashem as “Sovereign” before
referring to Hashem as “Father”? In this way, we would pray, “Our
Sovereign, our Father.” Instead, we pray, “Our Father, our
Sovereign.” Why do we first mention “Father”? The relationship
of a child to a parent is more intimate than the relationship of a
citizen of a country to its sovereign. The wording of this prayer is
therefore indicating that there are occasions when we must first be
aware of our intimate closeness to Hashem through being His children,
before addressing Him as the Sovereign. This may be why the phrase,
“Our Father, our Sovereign,” is repeated again and again in a
special prayer that we chant during the ten days of teshuvah
between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, as in order to return to Hashem,
we need to first be aware of our intimate closeness to Him as His
children.
3.
The following prayers are chanted on the weekday mornings – Monday
and Thursday – when we read a segment from the weekly Torah
portion:
“As
a father has compassion on his children, so may You have compassion
on us , O Hashem, and save us for Your Name’s sake.”
“May
it be the will of our Father in Heaven to establish the House of our
lives (the Temple) and to once again cause His Shechinah (Divine
Presence) to dwell in our midst, speedily in our days – and let us
say, Amen.”
“May
it be the will of our Father in Heaven that we may hear and receive
good tidings of salvation and consolation, and that He may gather our
dispersed from the four corners of the earth – and let us say,
Amen.”
Hazon
– Our Universal Vision: www.shemayisrael.co.il/publicat/hazon/
The letter above was sent as "My Firstborn Child" -181
