Two boys standing in line – not for a ball game, not for goodies, not to meet a sports star, but to ask a piercing question: How should they respond to classmates who might make fun of their yarmulkeand tzitzit, their kashrus and Shabbos observance? The midrashic account that unfolded so long ago came to vivid life to me as I spoke with those children.
“Who,” asked Hashem, “will guarantee that My Torah will never be lost?”
“We offer you our children, Hashem, our sons and our daughters,” responded Am Yisrael. “They will be our surety.” To that, Hashem readily consented.
Sitting not far from me during my exchange with those boys and their parents was one of the rabbis from the community. “Rabbi,” I said, “we must find a yeshiva for these boys.” And then I turned to the parents. “Your boys are beacons from Sinai capable of igniting the Divine Light in the dense darkness of our world. Guard and protect that light; make certain it shines ever brightly and shows the way to the coming of Mashiach.”
I looked at the parents and their eyes told me they fully understood.
As many of you know, I’m still recovering from a broken femur, knee, and hip. The drive to Bensalem was not short or easy but I would embark on that journey a thousand times more. It energized me; it pumped my heart and gave me the fuel that enables me to run– to participate in the Olympics and win!
Every morning at the conclusion of our morning service we say a beautiful prayer. “Zot briti – this is My Covenant with them,” says Hashem. “The words I shall place upon your lips shall not depart from your lips or from your children or your children’s children for now and forever more.”
Can a mere human make such a prediction with the assurance he would never be proven wrong? Could a mere mortal have known those words, proclaimed millennia ago, would remain on the lips of children who no longer speak the language in which they were said, who don’t understand the Book in which they are found, and who fail to recognize who uttered them?
Those magnificent, soul-stirring words were spoken by the Prophet Isaiah. But most of us recite that passage by rote. It’s part of our morning prayers but we’re in a hurry to finish and therefore never give a second thought to the awesomeness of it all.
We Jews should rejoice in our heritage. We are living proof of G-d’s Word. Studying it, living by it – that is our precious calling. Can there be a greater privilege than that?
We want our children to have self-esteem. We take them to therapists. We give them VIP training not just in their studies but also in sports, music, the arts, etc. But can there be a greater generator of self-esteem in children than their knowing they were chosen to be the guarantors of the Torah?
May G-d give us children who carry with pride this sacred calling and may He grant us the wisdom and privilege to be parents who glory in this holy mission.