This last week was amazing. I started the week off working in Israel meeting 1/3 of the 2000 summer Israeli emissaries coming to camp this summer at a training run at the Jewish Agency. With the backdrop of the last 18 months, it was truly uplifting to see these young people be so excited about this coming summer.

After that I connected with my son Yishama who is in Israel for the year or what seems like will be the rest of his life. He started his Passover break, but since he was not coming home for the holiday we took the moment to travel together and hike in the Alps for a few days.

As the story goes, the great nineteenth century Orthodox leader, Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, once surprised his students by insisting that he needed to visit Switzerland. When his students asked him why it was so important, he answered: “When I reach the gates of heaven, I will be asked many questions. And I will have good answers for most of them. But what will I say when God asks me, ‘Nu Samson, did you see my Alps?’” So we too, we went to the Alps.

Along our walks I was reminded of one of my favorite Hassidic stories.  The story goes that a Rebbe is walking and sees a little boy standing by a wall crying. The Rebbe asks the boy why he is crying. The boy replies that he was playing Hide and Seek with his friends and he thinks that his friends forgot about him. At this point the Rebbe starts crying and the boys asks him why the Rebbe is crying. The Rebbe responds, ” Now I understand how God feels“.

A few weeks passed and the Rebbe found himself walking past the same little boy standing by the same wall, but this time he is giggling uncontrollably. The Rebbe was happy to see that boy was not crying, but was curious as to why he was laughing. Upon being asked the boy explained that he and his friends were playing Hide and Seek again. The Rebbe was confused. This does not seem like a good hiding place and with your giggling, they will surely find you. And the boy smiled and replied, now you know how God feels.

OK, the addendum I added this week, but it does not make it any less true. Often when we were walking in the Alps we realized that God is not doing a good job hiding. With a spectacular waterfall here and a towering mountain peek there, it seemed that God was giggling and giving away God’s hiding place. Amidst a world of darkness and sadness, it felt very special to giggle and play. Every moment was more beautiful than the last. Be that beholding the majesty of creation of the natural world or learning about the man that Yishama is becoming. I feel very blessed.