Our grandchildren called the other day and shared with us a series of ‘knock knock’ jokes. Of course we laughed along with them even though most of them were the same jokes we remembered from our youth.
The other night I had a fitful sleep. I guess it was because my father (Boruch ben Chaya Dabah – who, thank G-d, is showing some improvement) has been in the ICU for the past three weeks, and not being able to visit or communicate with him, finally got to me. May he and all those that are sick be granted a speedy and complete recovery!
I tried to distract these thoughts and surprisingly I came to the following knock knock scenario. “Knock Knock” – Who is there? – G-d! – OMG!
The Kotzker Rebbe, who was noted for his sharp wit, asked a group of youngsters, where is G-d? Most of them responded: He is everywhere – Up, down and all around! However, they saw that the Rebbe wasn’t satisfied. So one conjectured, ‘in Heaven.’ Another said, ‘He resides on His Throne.’ When they finally ran out of answers, they asked the Rebbe, “Please tell us where He is?” The Rebbe answered, “My children,” ‘He is – wherever you let Him in!’
So our objective in life is to allow G-d into our lives. We are fortunate because G-d directed us through His Torah and Mitzvos how to find G-d and ‘let Him in.’
There are times when G-d Knocks and that knock causes us to say, Oh My G-d – and we thus let Him in!
We can all agree that we are currently living through a major knock, where a small germ crippled an entire world. This has brought many to recognize the power of G-d. We can borrow from a few steps of AA – we recognize how powerless we are – in the face of a Higher Power.
The primary focus of the two Parshas we read this week is on a spiritually generated malady called Tzoraas, which appeared on a person, garment or house. This indicated that the person thus stricken was not up to snuff regarding his interpersonal relations with others. He either spoke Loshon Hara – ill about others – or he spread rumors or was stingy. The appearance of Tzoraas was G-d’s knock, indicating that things needed to be repaired.
The Torah tells us that the Kohainim – the priests – were the ones entrusted to determine if, in fact, the malady was indeed Tzoraas. They then directed the people what they should do and how they should conduct themselves.
If it was indeed Tzoraas, the person was quarantined and remained there until he repented and the Tzoraas disappeared. He then presented offerings which involved a detailed process before he was able to return to normal life.
This knock of Tzoraas happened only to people on a heightened level of spirituality. Once the Temple was destroyed it no longer occurs, so that currently G-d does not knock in this way.
My father in his Sefer – a book he published – writes about a story that happened over sixty years ago. He noticed that a friend of his who was generally a jovial guy, suddenly became down. Out of concern, my father asked if he needed to share anything. His friend told him that he had a disturbing dream, which although he did not want to go into detail, made him feel that G-d was not happy with him.
My father advised his friend to go to Rabbi Shmuel Dovid Warshafshik o.b.m. the rabbi of the Yeshiva RJJ, and to share his sentiments with him. When the rabbi heard the young man say that the dream showed that G-d doesn’t love him, he immediately corrected him, saying, “On the contrary, this communication that you received indicates that G-d is very close to you. G-d shook you up because He cares about you and wants you to come closer to Him.” The young man took these words to heart and turned around and became an outstanding person in character development. He was devoted to Torah, he built a beautiful family and he became phenomenally wealthy. His philanthropy is still felt by individuals and institutions around the world.
Turning now to our situation with the virus and the related crisis. One can look at it as an indication that G-d is upset with us and kind of throw up their hands and give up. Or, one can look at it and say, “Look how distant we thought we were from G-d and that He possibly was not that interested in us. Yet we see that this is not so, for G-d has come to us knocking and caring for us as if to say ‘I’m Here, I sent you this virus so that you have time to pause and recognize Me, for I yearn for you to inch that much closer to Me.’”
May we perceive His knock and acknowledge His presence and may our sincere devotion activate G-d’s compassion, so that His kindness will eliminate this pandemic and restore our lives!
