What father can possibly condemn his own children

The hour for the sounding of the shofar in the synagogue of the “Seer of Lublin” had long passed one Rosh HaShanah morning, yet the great Chassidic sage remained secluded in his study. Finally, one of the Seer’s disciples knocked on his master’s door to ask what was amiss.

The Seer’s face was pale with terror and his eyes red with weeping. “I see a terrible decree ordained in the Heavenly court for the people of Israel this year,” he told his disciple. “I’ve been praying and pleading all morning to nullify the decree, but to no avail.”

The Seer noticed a young lad next to his disciple. “What are you learning these days?” he inquired of the young boy.

“We have just concluded a Talmudic section dealing with the laws of witnesses,” replied the young student.

“So, tell me an original insight that you’ve come up with in the course of your learning,” prompted the Seer.

And the Talmudic discussion began.

The boy said that he had been puzzled by the law that a person cannot serve as a witness in a case involving a relative of his, whether his testimony is for his relative’s benefit or to his detriment. Understandably, a witness cannot be believed when he testifies in support of his relative, the bias would be clear; but why do we not accept his testimony against his relative?

“Well, do you also have an answer to your question?” asked the Seer of Lublin.

“Yes,” said the boy. “I thought of the verse, ‘And the two persons shall stand ... before the judges,’ which the Talmud interprets as a reference to the witnesses. The Torah is saying that only ‘persons’ are qualified to serve as witnesses. Someone who is prepared to testify against his own brother, father or child is not a ‘person.’”

The Seer burst out joyously, “My son! With this argument we shall win our case in the Heavenly court! We shall remind G-d that He is our father, and which father can possibly condemn his own children? Come, let us go hear the sounding of the shofar.”