Outside the study door of the great Rabbi, Menachem Mendel of Lubavitch, stood his little grandson, a boy of four or five years old. He was waiting for a private meeting with his grandfather, to receive a blessing in honor of his birthday.
As the door opened and the little boy walked in, he burst into tears. His grandfather lovingly calmed his grandson and asked him, “Why are you crying, my child?”
Trying to muffle his sobs, grandpa, he cried, “I just learned that G-d appeared to Abraham. Why doesn’t He appear to us, too?”
Gentle, wise eyes gazed deeply into the child and comforted his burdened little heart. “My dear grandson,” the great Rabbi explained, “When a ninety-nine year old, a holy man, decides to circumcise himself, then he deserves to have G-d appear to him.”
Children often burst into tears when they do not get what they want. But are those things really worth crying about?
We can see from this story what a child should insist upon, and what could bring him to the point of tears. A young child should want to see G-d, not only to be told about it. The story teaches every child could desire and ask for this.
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