R. Johanan said: Since the Temple was destroyed, prophecy has been taken from prophets and given to fools and children. -Bava Basra 12b
Tali: I play with invisible people.
Chana: Yes? And do they have names?
Tali: No. (She smiles.) It's Hashem who plays with me!
Chana: (Is flooded by appreciation for this adorable child. And pleased by the fact that her life philosophy was just summed up by a five-year old.)
Tali: But he's not the monster. He's the nice guy.
Chana: Who is?
Tali: Hashem!
~
Chana: What do you think 'Hashem' means?
Tali: He keeps us safe. Whenever we do Shema he gets our hearts up in the sky.
Chana: (OMG-ing at the gorgeous visual image this child has of accepting the yoke of heaven.)
Tali: Does he have a mom and dad?
Chana: No.
Tali: He's his mom and dad?
Chana: I think you could say that.
Tali: (Smiles impishly.) That's funny.
~
Chana: Who taught you about Hashem?
Tali: Nobody.
Chana: Then how do you know about him?
Tali: Because he told me. Because when I pray he tells me.
Chana: What does he tell you?
Tali: A lot of nice things. Because he's nice.
4 comments:
inspiring, we all need a little bit of powerful chizuk like this every now and then.
love, love, love...
I deal with children in my fieldwork this year. I hate how school treats children, they are so strict with them and not friendly. These kids are suffocated in there. They don't really hear children's voices. Yes I am not perfect sometimes I act like them but sometimes if i work hard i really listen to children and they are quite amazing because they coped differently as we do. Once you really listened to them, you could learn a lot from this person (yes child is a person) and want to help them so badly. I pray i do not treat them like they are little people but human who just starting the world and we guide them to stay on the path as they grow. I have a client who everyone hate and I love this child because i let him what he wants to be and i don't get hover him to change.... that kind of stuff.
Lesson: we need to listen children not because they are cute because they are human too.
As cute and innocent as this is, i think it's obvious that her notion of God is not a true one or one that anyone would accept for themselves. Cute stories are nice, but end of the day heresy is heresy. Obviously she is not a heretic, she is just a child; but there is something fundamentally wrong with the attitude of learning from the "wisdom of children" when really, what we are looking at is an undeveloped understanding of reality and not profound insight.
anticipating negative response,
Anonymous
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