This morning I was driving my children to school. Since it was early, the sun wasn't high in the sky yet. But as the journey went on (and it lasted about an hour and a half), the sun climbed higher in the sky and shone more brightly.
It's understandable that it bothers you to look directly at the sun, or to have it shining brightly in your eyes. Given its intensity, it's irritating to our sensitive eyes. When you're driving, it always happens that you turn slightly to one side or the other and, suddenly, the sun is shining directly in your face… This happened today with Shneur Zalman, my almost four-year-old son.
He immediately complained that the sun was bothering him, rubbing his eyes, which had filled with tears from the glare. "Tati!" he shouted. "Get the sun out of your way, turn it off!" My obvious response—while keeping an eye on the highway and the cars—was, "I can't! Look the other way.".
Then, after a few seconds of complaining and shouting, I realized the sun was no longer a problem. Something had happened, and Shneur Zalman wasn't complaining anymore… Looking in the rearview mirror, I saw he had covered himself with his jacket, as if he were in a tent, where the sun's rays couldn't reach…
As always, one must learn from what one sees and hears in order to serve God. In short: the sun represents God. The complaint represents the discomfort of always being observed by God. He knows all our actions, words, and thoughts; we are always before Him. The jacket represents the attempt to hide, to feel that He doesn't see us. But of course, all the jacket accomplishes is that, from one's own perspective, one doesn't see the sunlight, but the sun shines nonetheless… God sees us regardless…
We are in the newly begun month of Elul, the last month of the year, a month of reflection, of meditating on what has happened throughout this year 5767 and of making resolutions for a better year 5768. A month of returning to our Source, of preparing to renew our commitment to Him on Rosh Hashanah.
But there is a condition. The meditation on the past year must be genuine (because God knows what we did and what we didn't do). The reflection must be sincere to be effective. Let's stop hiding behind our jackets and realize that God sees us. And He also understands us, and because He is a Merciful Father, He forgives us and inscribes us in the Book of Life, for a good and sweet year.