Lean on Me (KB)

There is a beautiful kabbalistic story about a husband and wife whose only child has been told that he will not live very long. With all other options exhausted, the couple takes their child to a tzadik , a great and mighty righteous soul, in the hope that he can save the boy. The tzadik cries and pleads with Heaven, begging that the boy’s life be spared. Hours and hours pass, but nothing happens. Eventually, the tzadik goes back to the parents and sadly says, “I’m sorry, but the Gates of Heaven are not open. The Upper Worlds have decreed that I cannot open the Gate of Healing.” Hopeless and despondent, the parents begin their long journey to take their child back home to die. But as he is watching the family’s carriage disappear in the distance, the righteous tzadik suddenly has a powerful realization that strikes his heart. “Wait a second,” he says to himself. “What have I done?” He jumps into his own carriage and races to catch up to the young family. When he reaches them, he embraces them and says, “If I cannot draw healing from Heaven for your son, at least I can cry with you in your sorrow.” With that, he sits down with them to share in their pain. But as he does, the Heavens open, and the boy is healed. We, as the spiritually enlightened people we are trying to become, need to take part not only in the joy, but also in the sorrows of life with those who are dear to us. We cannot create a consciousness of unity and sharing if this consciousness applies only at certain times. We are here to become like the Creator, Whose love is unconditional. Every single thing that we do in our life—every single action, whether positive or negative—provides a signal to the Other World that allows a corresponding energy to filter back to our own lives.