At the same time, we are individual molds and thus cannot always fathom the nisyonos – trials – dealt another. Sure, we can reprimand and say, “You shouldn’t have wandered there in the first place.” But as the past cannot be undone, the next course of action becomes yet another trial. Take the instance of the man whom your letter addresses. Is his eventual act not preferable to that of the married man who continues to string both his long-suffering wife and mistress along in unending duplicity?
To our second writer, the mom who had to endure the heart-wrenching pain of discovering that her son was molested by one trusted to play the role of community leader, no less: Your wait for justice was slow and painful, and gratifying as it finally was, the wrong done to your son will forever be a part of him. Again, a past that cannot be undone, but it can be learned from.
We must do more than protect our children from dangerous, human predators. We must do our utmost to ensure that none of our children will, Heaven forbid, morph into one of those dreaded molesters/abusers/pedophiles (each, we might keep in mind, once some mom’s innocent child).
Only by fostering open, loving and caring relationships with our children can we give them the best chance to fend off the advances of twisted mortals and to recognize right from wrong.