Yom Kippur is coming culminating in Ten days of strict Judgement. This time of year we all have an image of Hashem that he is frowning and looking Down at us with a deep stare telling us “you better come back to me or I’ll strike you down” This image of Hashem is totally wrong. Hashem wants us more than anything to Do Teshuva and come back to Him.
Theres a story of a man who rushes onto the 11:00 train just before the doors close. He looks worn out, dejected and disheartened. He stands holding onto the bar as the train starts to leave the station. An older man with an empty seat next to him says to him “hey it’s a long journey take a seat” The man hurriedly replies “NO”. Anyway some time into the long journey he decides he’s getting tired so he sits down next to the older man. The older man through the course of the journey tries to make conversation noticing that the young man was down and looked uneasy. The younger man wasn’t in the mood for talking. Until eventually the man tried again to make conversation and asked why he was so troubled and looked so worried
.
The young man suddenly opened up and starting telling the older man his life story. He was a troubled child who didn’t get on with his parents though it was mainly his fault. He was failing at school and always in trouble. His parents asked him to do one thing and he would purposely do the opposite. Fortunately he was good at something, he was good with his hands and when he was 16 he managed to invent a product and patented it and made millions by the time he was 21. He moved out of his parent’s house – something he had always dreamed of doing – and found a mansion on the other side of the city. He married a beautiful woman and had a couple of amazing kids. A few years down the line he got a phone call about a business venture; he would have to invest most of his fortune to enable a ten fold profit. He did so and soon realised that the phone call was false and the company ran off with his fortune.
Soon his wife found out and couldn’t stay with him and took the children with! He had nowhere to run no one to turn to and he had no money. He thought he would have to ask his parents for help, for it was the only help he would get!
After years of not speaking to them he couldn’t just suddenly turn up at the door, even calling them would be difficult so he thought he’d write them a letter.
In the letter he said he would be on this train on this day it arrives at 14:30. At the end of the platform there is a tree. If you forgive me you will tie a white handkerchief around the tree. If I see the white handkerchief I will get off the train and I will know you have forgiven me. If there is no white handkerchief I know you have not forgiven me and will carry on my way!
The old man was very sympathetic and assured him that everything would be ok and he is sure that the white handkerchief would be tied around the tree.
As the journey was coming to its end the young man was becoming very nervy and anxious. He told the older man he was too scared to look. As the station platform drew nearer he felt very tense and the old man asked If he would like him to look out for the tree. The young man agreed and shut his eyes. The platform approached even closer, 400 yards 200 yards 50 yards by now the man could see that the whole tree was covered; every branch had its own white handkerchief. The old man said “They have forgiven you. The young man smiled and delighted he got off the train after thanking the man and hugged both his parents who were there waiting for him to disembark the train!
This is Hashem, The parents in this story were always going to forgive the man just like Hashem is always ready to forgive us. At this time of year we are on a journey and we have waiting for us a Father in Heaven who is happy and more than willing to welcome us back. He wants nothing more than for us to cling to Him and come back to him.
May we all return to Hashem with complete Teshuva and set ourselves up for a year filled with good Mazel, Brocha, Hatzlocha and Parnosa.
