Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] In the Torah, we are sometimes referred to as God's slaves.
[00:00:07] Sometimes we are referred to as God's children.
[00:00:11] So which one are we?
[00:00:13] There are places where God calls us slaves. There are places where God calls us children in the Torah.
[00:00:20] And really we can be both. And which one we are at each moment really depends on us.
[00:00:31] What is the difference between a slave and a child?
[00:00:36] Let's say there is a mom and pop business and their son is helping them out in the business.
[00:00:42] Needless to say, he grew up in this business. He knows everything what the father and the mother are doing there. Not only that, he also probably understands that one day he, his parents are going to retire and he's going to be running this business.
[00:00:56] And he knows all the in and outs and he understands everything what his parents are doing. And whenever he's given a task, he always has a good understanding. Why exactly is he doing this task?
[00:01:09] And he is putting his entire heart and soul into whatever he's doing.
[00:01:14] That's a son.
[00:01:16] What about the slave? Let's say the same business has a slave. And this is a very good slave. This is a very trusted slave.
[00:01:24] This is a slave that has been working there for a very long time. And the owners know that he is doing a great job, but he's still a slave. What does mean he's still a slave? He still does things only because he has to. If he will be offered to be freed and do something else, he'll take up this chance in a jiffy.
[00:01:50] So he is doing everything what he is told to do.
[00:01:54] But he is lacking the deep understanding of why he's doing it. He is not even bothering to figure out why he's doing it. And he is not putting his heart and soul into it.
[00:02:05] So now which way we treat our Judaism is going to determine what? Whether we are slaves or whether we are children of God.
[00:02:16] I wake up in the morning and I know I have to go to shul and I really don't want to go to shul. I really would rather sleep, but I know I have to. So I drag myself out of my bed and I sighing and mourning and I'm making my way to my synagogue and I'm begrudgingly putting on fill in just because I'm told to. I. I'm doing it all just because I'm forced to do it.
[00:02:40] At this moment, I am a slave.
[00:02:44] Now usually we are used to looking down at slaves, but you probably heard me say many times, and probably every other rabbi will tell you, as long as people do good things.
[00:02:55] I don't care why they do them. If somebody is a slave and he's doing only good things, I want him to continue.
[00:03:03] I would rather people not murder and not steal and feel like they're doing it just because they have to, than people be very sincere to themselves and murder and steal.
[00:03:15] So as long as people are doing the right thing, I'm all for it. But people themselves feel like they're doing it because they have to, because they're coerced, because they're forced.
[00:03:25] So at that moment, they're slaves. And God calls us the therefore slaves.
[00:03:30] But then we learn the Torah. That's why we are encouraged to learn the Torah, to understand why we are doing things that we are doing. And then slowly we are becoming children of God because we understand everything what's going on and we feel for it. We put our heart and soul into it.
[00:03:45] Now, I also have an interesting point to make that really, when little children are just growing up in the very beginning of their upbringing, parents very often treat their children closer to how you treat a slave. I told you what to do. Just do it.
[00:04:06] And you will not be able to understand why I'm telling you to do what I'm telling you to do.
[00:04:10] Just do it. And it's very important, by the way, for children to understand the concept of authority.
[00:04:16] They have to know that there are things that they need to do just because their people told them it's going to help them in the future lives. Going to help them in their schooling is going to help them with forcing themselves to do what they know they have to do. Because most of the time we will have to be forcing ourselves to do things throughout our lives.
[00:04:34] And we are not only doing things because we feel like it.
[00:04:39] So in the beginning of every child's life, he's being treated like a slave by his parents, or somewhat like a slave by his parents. This is a preparation that children get for the rest of their lives.
[00:04:51] And this is how they understand the respect for authority. That's how they understand that they need to do things, even if they don't feel like it.
[00:05:00] And when little children act like this, this is how they are in the beginning treated. But then, slowly but surely, every parent and every teacher and every educator is explaining things to the child. And through his own experience and through what he hears and through what he reads, the child is beginning to understand the why of everything. And slowly he is turning into what we called over here a child, a proper child who is helping his parents run their business.
[00:05:31] So this is the difference between a slave and a child of God. And this is why God calls us both slaves and children. And this is why, really, it is up to us which one we're going to be.
