By Yoni Schwartz
As he entered, his eyes were drawn to the tall, daunting guard towers and razor-like barbed wire surrounding every inch while his ears were pounding from the hounds’ incessant barking as they snared their fang-like teeth at him. Here, nobody got in or out without express permission. It was the '70s, and Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach was visiting a maximum-security prison in upstate New York to sing for the Jewish prisoners there. His aim was to bring them some joy, which he did.
After each song, the prisoners' bitter frowns slowly sweetened into gentle smiles. After singing for them, he asked the guards if he could visit some of the other non-Jewish prisoners. He spoke with them for a while, gave them some inspiration and a hug, and headed for the exit. Suddenly, a bulldozer of a man charged toward him like a steam engine.
The guards clenched their fists, squinted their eyes, and braced for the worst. He approached Rav Shlomo and looked at him with his glassy, watery eyes, and said, “Rabbi, I want to thank you for the hug you gave me.”
“Of course, my pleasure,” said Rav Shlomo.
The inmate continued, “I want you to know that was the first hug I ever got in my life, and I swear to you, if I had ever received a hug like that before, I never would’ve committed the crimes that I’m here for today.”
Comment: In this week’s parsha, Toldos, we learn about how Yitzchak and Rivka raised the next generation. Yitzchak was very aware of who Eisav really was, despite his masquerading as righteous.
Despite this, however, Yitzchak’s love never ceased for Eisav. Why? Perhaps he knew that beneath Eisav’s wickedness on the outside, inside there lies both great potential and a great struggle, in which case, the answer isn’t less love, but more. As a great Rabbi once told the parents of somebody who left orthodoxy and approached him for advice, “If you loved him before, love him even more now!”
Reprinted from the Parshas Toldos 5785 email of Torah Sweets.
