Today’s class has been sponsored for a Refuah Shelemah for Susie Bibi - Shefiah Shoshana Bat Sarah
We continue with the last installment on the topic of how close Hashem is, from the Yerushalmi in Berachot.
Every day, we say in our prayers,
אשרי שאל יעקב בעזרו
Fortunate is the one whom the G-d of Yaakov is there to help
Then it says,
עושה שמים וארץ
The One who makes the heavens and the earth.
What is the connection?
Why mention the “One who makes heaven and earth” after “The G-d of Yaakov is there to help?”
The Yerushalmi says that similar to what we have mentioned in previous classes, when a person has a savior, or patron who can save him, that patron may have certain connections in Israel maybe, but not in America. Or in America, but not in Portugal. His patron may have connections in all the hospitals in America, but now the man is stuck in Argentina, and the patron doesn’t know anyone there. He can’t get anything done for him.
Nobody controls all the areas, but Hashem is
עושה שמים וארץ
The One who made the heavens and the earth.
He has the pull and abilities to get things done anywhere.
The last part of this discussion is that G-d is our relative. He is “קרוב, close” to us. He’s close to everyone. The word קרוב karov can mean close, or it can mean a relative.
Hashem is our relative!
The Yerushalmi tells us the following beautiful thought: When a person has a karov, a relative, who is wealthy, he says, ”You know that fellow? He’s my third cousin.” He’s proud to say, “That guy is married my second cousin!”
He wants to be connected to the wealthy fellow.
But if the relative is poor, even if it’s his own brother, the person sometimes doesn’t want anything to do with him.
Hashem doesn’t work that way. We could be at the lowest level, and still, He always calls us
אחי ורעי My brother and My friend.
As the Pasuk says,
למען אחי ורעי
Hashem alway feels proud, and looks down and says, “You see that? That’s my sonny-boy! That’s my son.”
He’s proud to share that with the angels.
He calls Klal Yisrael “My children.” And that term, “child” is not only used when we are on our best behavior. The Gemarah in Kiddushin say אף על פי שחטא
Even if they sin..
The Yerushalmi says the same thing. Hashem is always proud of us. Sometimes a person may have a child who has made some trouble.... I recall story that happened in Israel, when a certain person committed a crime. His mother was interviewed the following day, and she said she wished she never gave birth to him! So sometimes even a mother will deny her connection to the villain.
But Hashem always looks down at Klal Yisrael and says, “He’s my karov.”
In the words of the Yerushalmi,
ה’ קרא לכל ישראל קרובים
Hashem calls all of Klal Yisrael His relatives.
As the pasuk says,
ובני ישראל עם קרובו
We are a nation of relatives.
Everyone is Hashem’s relative.
That’s why it says that you mistreat somebody, Hashem takes it personally. It says that if you slap someone across the face, it’s like you are, Has V’Shalom, giving G-d a slap. Because G-d looks at all of us in a very close, personal way. It says that even when a wicked person is suffering, G-d says it hurts Him. We can’t fathom or imagine how God feels our pain.
It says
עמו אנכי בצרה
I’m with you, in your pain.
G-d is close to everybody, and, as we are now learning, He is related to everybody. The new twist here is that He looks at us like relatives. Like an uncle that takes care of you. It’s feeling that you have for your relatives, like children who are first cousins that play together; there’s a certain special relationship. I know of some cousins that zoom or phone conference every day now. There’s a special connection. They’re related. That’s the new term we are walking away with, from today’s class, the last of the session of different ways of how G-d feels karov, close to us.
An uncle of mine recently called me and asked me how I was doing. He said, “You have to care about your relatives. You’re my nephew, and I’m calling to check on you.”
That’s how Hashem feels about us! We must realize He’s checking in on us, like we check in on a relative when he needs help. It’s a special feeling we have- it’s my cousin, it’s my brother, it’s my friend.
G-d is proud of that connection, regardless of what we’re up to. Regardless of whether we are smart, or wealthy, or if we are charismatic, G-d always looks at us and says, “That’s My relative. That’s My sonny-boy.”
Have a wonderful day.