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"Love and Forgiveness"

Writer's picture: Elissa FelderElissa Felder

"Love and Forgiveness"


"Now Israel loved Joseph more than all of his sons since

he was a child of his old age,"

and of his favorite wife, Rachel.


Parental love is so important and so foundational.

Children thrive when they feel loved.

We crave love from our parents.


Each child is a God- given gift, a responsibility and

a source for great expansiveness.

Yet the capacity of parents to communicate

that love is sometimes complicated.


We show our love by

what we do, what we say and

how and what we give.

Our love is in our concern and in the help that we offer.


Most parents lovingly and happily give to their children.

The parent to child relationship is characterized by

a flow of love and of giving.

Love flows in the direction of giving.

Yet it is also a cycle.

The receiver is also giving by receiving,

by being grateful,

by giving happiness by way of thanks,

by feeding back warmth and love.

When we feel appreciated, we feel good and want to give more.


Rabbi Dessler tell us that;

"The faculty of giving is a sublime power.

Man has been given this power enabling him to be merciful,

to bestow happiness, to give of himself.

God created man in His own image."

We, like God, who is the giver par excellence,

have the power to be givers.


"There is nobody in the whole world who doesn't possess at least a spark of the faculty of giving."


The Torah teaches that a person is bound in love to the work of his hands,

for in it he finds himself.

We see a part of ourselves in those to whom we give.

This attachment is love.


The spiritual work of being human is to learn how to give,

how to love, and how to forgive.

Love and forgiveness are intertwined.

Perhaps we can learn about God by loving each other wholly and

forgiving each other fully.

Each of us longs to be loved and to be forgiven by our

mothers and fathers, sons and daughters.


The love I feel towards my children is unconditional, deep,

essential, powerful, and all consuming.

It is visceral, existential, defining and overwhelming.

It overflows from within my soul.


Our parent- child relationships; our sibling relationships,

the one between partners and between friends are deep and complicated.

They force us to confront ourselves and

are the playing field for refining our relationship

to ourselves, to others and to God.

Through working on being more giving, loving and forgiving

we can dispel negative emotions and

widen the net of who we love.


May we through being more giving become more loving.

May we receive from others thanks and appreciation.

May the cycle of giving and taking give us much joy, happiness and contentment.


May we feel deeply grateful to God and to each other.

May this Shabbos be one of rest and reflection.

May this Chanukah be filled with wonderful life-affirming miracles and

for opportunities to shed light into dark places.


Much love

Elissa


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