You are children to Hashem – בנים אתם לה'
Many years ago, there was a king who had an only son. To train him, he sent him specifically to a regular school where all other boys his age went, even the commoners. But when it came time for recess – when his friends were playing their games and wasting their time, the king appointed private teacher who taught him additional things that the other boys his age did not have to learn. This is how all his time was spent, not leaving him free time for child’s play, and he certainly had no time to waste.
One day the boy turned to his father the king with a complaint – why can’t he play with his friends and their games, and take walks with them after the studies?
His father answered him, “I have two answers for you: First, you have to learn wisdom and crafts that your friends do not have to, and even in the future they will not need this knowledge and awareness. Therefore, you must spend your time studying so that when the day comes you will be able to rule the country with wisdom. Another reason, it is not appropriate that the son of the king associate with the commonfolk, even if right now they are your friends, you must always remember that you are more important than they are!”
The Torah says (14:1) ' אלוקיכם, לא תתגודדו ולא תשימו ה'בנים אתם ל קרחה בין עיניכם' – ‘You are children to Hashem, your G-d, you shall not cut yourselves and you shall not make a bald spot between your eyes’, and this is what the Tanna says in Avos (3:14), ‘Beloved are the people of Israel, for they are described as children of the Omnipresent, a greater love is that it was made known to them that they are described as children of the Omnipresent’. That is, before the Torah prohibits things to us, it explains the reason, ‘you are children to Hashem, your G-d’, you cannot conduct yourselves like the goyim, because you are not like them, you are much more important, you are children of HaKadosh Baruch Hu.
Chazal coined an expression, ‘The Torah descends to the thinking of man’ (see Rashi to 21:21 and related Gemara in Sanhedrin 72b), and here it is possible to see this. True, much more is demanded of us that from the other nations, but together with this we are considered more important than the other nations. We say in the name of HaRav R’ Shlomo of Karlin that the greatest sin is that the person forgets he is the son of a king. Therefore, if we always remember that we are the children of HaKadosh Baruch Hu, then it will be easier for us to keep all 613 mitzvos, for we are not like all the other nations, we are the children of Hashem, our G-d!
-Tiv HaTorah – Re’eh
