What It Means to Be God's Child: The Timeless Message of Parashat Re'eh

In this week's Torah portion, Re'eh, we read:

"You are children of the Lord your God. You shall not cut yourselves or make a bald spot between your eyes for the dead, for you are a holy people to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be His treasured nation from among all the peoples on the face of the earth." (Deuteronomy 14:1–2)

The Netivot Shalom cites the commentary of the Ibn Ezra, who explains this verse as follows:

"Once you know that you are children of the Lord your God, and that He loves you more than a father loves his son, you should not wound yourselves over anything He does, for everything He does is for the good. Even if you do not understand His ways—just as young children do not understand the actions of their father but trust him—so too should you trust Him."

Death Is Not an End

The Netivot Shalom also quotes the Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh, who offers another profound interpretation:

"The verse says, 'You are children of the Lord your God,' teaching that when a Jew passes away, he is not truly lost. It is like a father who sends his son on a business trip to another city, and after some time calls him home. The son is absent only from the place he left, but he still exists. In fact, it is better for him, because he has returned to his father, the Source of Life. Therefore, there is no reason to cut ourselves or make bald spots in mourning. This is unlike the nations of the world, who are not called God's children. The word 'you' excludes them. They grieve over death because they perceive it as final, but for Israel there is no true concept of death, for 'You are children of the Lord your God.'"

The Netivot Shalom further cites the Sforno, who writes:

"It is not fitting to express overwhelming grief over the death of a loved one when one still has a Relative far greater than any earthly relative, with whom there remains hope and connection. Since you are children of the Lord, whose existence is eternal, it is not appropriate to mourn any deceased person with absolute despair."

The Comfort of an Eternal Father

The Netivot Shalom explains that the Torah is teaching us something extraordinary. Even at the moment of life's greatest tragedy, when the person dearest to us departs this world and grief seems unbearable, we are commanded: "Do not cut yourselves or make a bald spot for the dead." Why? Because you have not lost the One who is closest to you.

You are children of the Lord your God. Your eternal Father remains with you. He is alive forever, and His presence never leaves you. Therefore, although mourning is natural and necessary, despair is not. We are called to place our trust in God and believe that everything He does is ultimately for the good. With that faith, we do not express grief in ways that reflect hopelessness.

When a Jew truly lives with the awareness that "You are children of the Lord your God," when the reality of God's fatherly love fills the heart, then even in the most devastating moments, when sorrow overwhelms a person and reason seems to disappear, he still senses that his closest Companion, the eternal God, is with him.

When a person relates to God as a child to a loving Father, Heaven responds to him accordingly.

A Relationship That Can Never Be Broken

The Netivot Shalom continues by emphasizing that this concept that we are God's children, is one of the fundamental principles of Jewish faith.

A Jew must believe that he remains God's child under all circumstances. Even when the Jewish people fail to fulfill God's will, they are still His children. This is one of the foundations of the Torah and of Jewish belief.

Even a Jew who has transgressed every prohibition in the Torah can still stand before God and pour out his heart in prayer. A child never ceases to be a child. That relationship is eternal. No matter how far a person may have strayed, his identity as God's beloved child remains unchanged forever.