The Pigeon and the Raven
Summer is here and my son Yisroel decided to grow a plant in a pot on the window sill in our living room. Well, instead of a plant we got a nest. A group of pigeons decided that our plastic box was a great place to lay their eggs.
Well, this gave us the great opportunity to perform the great mitzvah of “Shiluach Hakan” . Moreover, as the eggs hatched and the pigeons quickly grew ( within about three weeks of hatching they flew away), we had a great opportunity to witness first hand the incredible wonders of Hashem’s amazing world.
My family grew attached to these little creatures, and they almost became a part of the family. Well, last Wednesday one of the newborn doves flew away, but his sibling did not appear to realize yet that he or she has wings. Sitting by himself, behind our plastic box on a really hot summer day-my daughter said that he looked like he was ready to cry.
Later in the day, I was in my room when suddenly I heard SCREAMING coming from the living room! I quickly ran over to see what was going on. My kids were screaming and my six year old son Moshe was waving a broomstick. There was a raven perched on a rail right next to our little pigeon. Terrified by the scene, my kids were trying to get the raven to go away. But suddenly, our little lonely pigeon who had never flown in his life-darted out of our window sill so quickly that he looked like a little missile that had just been launched. Our pigeon was free. The raven left and there was calm again in my home.
The Torah teaches us that we can learn how to serve Hashem from everything we experience in life. As I began to ponder, I realized that there is a very profound lesson that one can learn from this episode.
Chazal tell us, ” VeParoh Hekriv”-Pharo brought the Jewish people closer to Hashem. When he was running after us by the Yam Suf, his impending arrival caused many to lift up their eyes to their Father in Heaven. Also, the Talmud in Megilla teaches us that Haman’s seal caused the Jewsish people to do more teshuva than all of the prophets. Sometimes it is specifically our enemies that bring the best out of us.
Well on October 7th our enemies attacked again. However, for many Jews, this has been a great catalyst to reawaken their souls and reconnect to Hashem and His Torah in a much more deeper way. Because, the neshama of a Jew is much greater and more powerful than most of us realize. Because of the frivolities of life, many of us fail to even come close to tapping into the incredible spiritual power that is contained within our souls. But then October 7the arrived.Since then, the great Jewsih soul is beginning to awaken from its slumber. The raven got ready to pounce. And many of us discovered that we have wings.
-Ariel