Shoftim: Who Is More In Touch With Reality, The Child Or The Adult?

What inhibits us from realising our full potential? What is it that prevents us from being true to ourselves? How can we free ourselves from the shackles which tie us down? There was a time in our lives when things were simple. We were young and innocent. We dreamed big. We were optimistic about the future. We believed that people were inherently good. We were taught that in the end all would be good. But then we discovered that things weren’t as simple as we thought. People weren’t that innocent and some behaved in a bad way. The older we grew and the more experienced we were, the less optimistic we became about the future. Who then knows more about life? Who’s more in touch with reality? Who’s closer to G-d? Is it the child or the adult? A prominent rabbi in Jerusalem once told me, that if one is seeking to discover G-d, one should listen carefully to children. Children were also the guarantors behind G-d giving the Torah to the Jewish people at Mount Sinai.

Children embody the potential of life. We as adults live our lives in the arduous process of trying to realise that potential. G-d who is the source of all existence, incorporates both the potential and the reality of life. At the core of our being is that innocent child. It is humanity in its pristine state. Yes we must navigate carefully through life to overcome the hurdles in our path created by people who have lost their way. However we should always retain that core faith in both G-d and humanity, we had as a child. This in turn should serve as our compass in our navigating through life.