Translation by Yehoshua Siskin
Revital, mother of eight, wanted to share the following thought:
"In this week's Torah portion, Yaakov refuses Esau's suggestion to move forward together with him and this is his reason: 'And I will move at my own slow pace, according to the pace of the work that is before me and according to the pace of the children.' Yaakov does not race forward in life with his brother Esau because he has a family to raise and he has a different world view and a different rhythm. When there are small children involved, we move slowly. When we are responsible for young and tender souls, we must take our time.
In the ancient world in general, there were many tasks that required patience and a gentle frame of mind. Working the earth required sowing seed and then waiting for nature to take its course. Many additional tasks required patience and the successful person was in many cases the patient one, not the hasty one.
In the digital world, there is an increasing number of tasks that require speed and efficiency. The successful person is the one who is quick and efficient and can reduce the time it takes to get things done. We have gotten used to this and have difficulty going along with those whose rhythm is slower than ours – that of small children, for example. In a world in which it is hard to wait 20 seconds to download a computer file, it's not easy to wait 5 minutes for a toddler to remove his shoes and socks all by himself. In so many different ways every day, children tell us without words: 'Father, mother, a little slower.' It's worthwhile then to remind ourselves of these words: 'And I will move at my own slow pace.' When Rashi explains 'at my own slow pace' he writes: 'calm, with gentleness.' These are the magic words we need to repeat to ourselves every now and then".
