Re'eh

There is an argument in the gemara between Reb Meir & Reb Yehudah regarding a verse in our parsha. The posuk says בנים אתם לה אלקיכם you are children to Hashem your God. Reb Yehudah states that the Jews are only considered children of Hashem when they comply with his wishes. Reb Meir disagrees, maintaining that even when the Jews do not display the proper respect & devotion to Hashem, they still enjoy the special status of being "children of Hashem". Rashba notes that although in disputes between Reb Yehudah & Reb Meir we usually follow Reb Yehudah, in this case we follow Reb Meir. Thus, Jews are irrevocably & unconditionally deemed children of Hashem.    

The Rabbi of Ludz once came to talk to one of the ministers of the king. As they were talking, the king’s minister was very impressed with the knowledge & sharpness of the rabbi.   He remarked, “How unfortunate is it that you were born a Jew. Had you been born a Christian, you could have risen so far as being the Pope!  
The rabbi smiled and answered, “instead of feeling sorry for me that I was born a Jew, feel sorry for yourself that you were born a Christian. As a Christian, the most you could become is the level of Pope who is serving the "son of God". However, had you been born a Jew, you could have reached a way higher level  ‎of being an actual son of God Himself, for the Jews are בנים לה!  

What does this mean to us that we are בנים לה ? How does it affect each one of us personally? 

When the Chafetz Chaim was very old, already in his nineties,  ‎Reb Chaim Ozer asked him to come to Vilna to speak to the people about family purity.  Because of his age, the Chafetz Chaim didn't go anywhere anymore, However, because Reb Chaim Ozer asked him, he was willing to take the trip. Since his family didn't want him to go, they said they wouldn't help him; but when they saw that he was going out to go himself, barely walking, they agreed to go & took him to Vilna. When he arrived, thousands of people came to greet him. He spoke on Friday night for the women with over six thousand women attending. The next day, on Shabbos, he spoke for the men, with also over six thousand men in attendance. 


On Shabbos late afternoon, he received people with individual ‎needs. One man came to talk to him about his problems. After the Chafetz Chaim answered his questions, he took the man's hands in his & spoke to him earnestly about Emuna until he saw that his words made an impact on the man. When he left the house, the Chafetz Chaim was overheard saying to himself "it was worth it to come from Radin to Vilna just to strengthen one man's Emuna".  Even though he had spoken to thousands of people, he had no way of knowing if it had accomplished anything; but for that one man that he knew he had affected, it was all worth it. 


This powerful story demonstrates that each & every one of us is important for we are all Hashem’s children. Just as a parent cares about each child individually & tries to do what's best for that child, so, too, Hashem treats each one of us as that special child & He will always do what's best for us. Each one of us matters to Him as an individual. So, if we can internalize that & know that Hashem loves us & only wants what's best for us, we should try to reciprocate that love & try to get closer to Hashem whatever way we can!