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Thought for the Day: Nachas Ruach l'Bori

The Michtav mei'Eliyahu notes that the "mida k'neged mida" can be read both ways.  That is, punishments and rewards are delivered from our Creator that match the crime or victory.  The last few days have been pretty interesting, including a near miss accident that I am taking as reward; though I suppose one could question that and consider it more a warning shot across the bow.  However, a text from my eldest two nights ago and subsequent conversation has solidified my confidence in my p'shat.

My daughter is a math teacher, and I got this text from her:
There are 10 types of people; those who understand binary numbers and those that don’t.
If you get it, great; if not... go back to 8th grade math enrichment.  In any case, getting a corny math joke from my daughter warmed my soul.  I called her the next day and mentioned that I need to talk to R' Fuerst because I am going to be visiting her sister in Calif for the first few days of Chanuka and her mother will be staying with a friend.  She said, "Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 139:19."

[...]

Yes... I was stunned into silence (for much longer than three lines, btw).  She took advantage of my silence to retrieve the sefer and read the syef to me.  I asked a couple questions about how she was interpreting the halacha and she replied that she had already researched it.  Ah.

Bli neder, I'll discuss the sh'eila and a few details I still need to discuss with R' Fuerst, but now I just want to bask in the nachas ruach of hearing that I had, in fact, made a positive impression on my daughter.  The math joke was great, this was over the top.  Her five year old son had written her a very cute letter that morning, and I told her I got the same nachas out of hearing her quoting the kitzur (and the math joke) that she had gotten out from that letter.

But that's not entirely true.  The nachas from her son is seeing some unexpected peiros after several years of dedication to both rearing her children and providing and appropriate environment for their growth.  My nachas comes from receiving unexpected peiros after decades of work by my wife and I in not only providing that for our children, but also have had to m'chanech ourselves.  The feeling was indescribable.

One more step: we are providing that nachas ruach to our Creator, our King, our Father when we grow in our avodas HaShem... demonstrating that we are learning from Him and want to be more like Him.  We spend plenty of time beating ourselves for the mistakes we make and frustration and our seeming inability to move forward.  It is worth spending some few moments realizing that we, with all our mistakes and struggles, are a source of tremendous pride and nachas ruach for our Divine Father.
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