Ohr Torah
Rejoicing in the Path
A parable: as long as a child is walking along the proper path, he derives no particular joy from the path itself. Naively, the child assumes there is no other path, nor possibility of straying, and so he takes it for granted. But if he gets lost, ends up on the wrong path, and then finally searches and finds the proper path again, he rejoices in the same path that he once took for granted. Meanwhile his father, watching from afar, rejoices in both scenarios—he rejoices if his son remains on the proper path, because he is not naive and he knows that many other people have strayed, and he also rejoices if his wayward son returns to the proper path.
There is also the possibility that the child will stray from the path and rejoice in the new path that he finds, mistaking it for a proper path. In this scenario the son rejoices, but the father suffers.
Now, although we have outlined several possible scenarios, only one involves both the father and son rejoicing together, as one. When the son leaves the path but returns, both the son and the father celebrate. In all other scenarios, one individual is rejoicing while the other is not.
This parable captures the essence of the mystical notion that “on Yom Kippur sins are sweetened at their root” and that “one who repents attains the divine joy of G-d Himself.” Although the perfectly righteous, who never leave the path of Torah and Mitzvot, inspire great joy on high, only the penitent—the Baal Teshuva—rejoices in the path, with G-d, as one.
Par. 332
Translated by: Yechiel Krisch
Adapted from the teachings of the Mezritcher Maggid
