Past, Present, Future — And a Window on the Train

Today’s parashah is Shemini—a portion filled with fire and silence, Divine closeness, and the holiness of separation. But today, we’re going to zoom in on something subtle. Almost hidden. A moment tucked into the laws of kashrut, thatcarries a whisper of deep mussar.     And itbegins with a story.     A 24-year-old boy is sitting on the train with his father.  Suddenly, he turns to his dad and shouts out, excitedly:  “Dad, Dad, look outside the window! The trees—they’re rushing past us!”   An elderly couple sitting nearby looks over, clearly confused and even pitying. Why is a grown man acting like a child?     A few minutes later, the boy shouts again:      “Dad! The clouds—they’re running with us!”    The father just smiles. The elderly couple can’t help themselves. One of them leans over and whispers: “Maybe you should take your son to see a doctor…?”   The father smiles gently and says,    “Actually—we just came from the doctor.”      “You see, my son has been blind since birth. And this—this is the first day of his life that he’s ever been able to see.”