We continue with the trait of God called She’erut Nachlato, that God views the Jewish people as relatives, and it hurts God when we're in pain. The Gemara In Masechet Hagiga says When a man is in pain, what does God say? My head hurts. My arm hurts. And that's talking about sinners . So it’s surely so when a Sadik is suffering. Rav Chaim Volozhin, in his Sefer Nefesh HaChaim ( Shaar ב perek יא ) says, “What does it mean, ‘My head hurts and My arm hurts?’ He says, that connects to the tefilin that we wear on our head and arm..” The Gemara in Berachot 6A says just like we wear Tefilin, God, kal v’yachol wears Tefilin . It’s all about connection, the connection between God and the Jewish people. Our tefilin says Hashem Echad , and God’s tefilin says Mi K’Amcha Yisrael, Who is like the Jewish people , Goy Echad who is great like the Jewish people…that are connected to God like relatives. So God's Tefilin are full of praise for the Jewish people. Just like our tefilin praises Him, His Tefilin praises us. Tefilin signifies that connection. Therefore, when a man is in pain, it's as if, kal v’yachol, God's not connected. It means God's head and arm hurts. He doesn't feel the connection to the Jewish people when we're in suffering. And that's why the Benei Yisaschar says in Ma’Amar ה , of Hodesh Av, an unbelievable thought. Why is it that many people have the custom not to wear tefilin on Tisha B’Av? Because that’s the day, that, as if to say, God's not wearing His tefilin either, because if we're in such suffering, obviously there's a disconnection. And therefore, we don't wear the tefilin. This concept, of looking at everyone as our relatives, is talking about a stranger. You have to treat a stranger like a relative. But it's more than that. The Gemara in Sanhedrin 76B says that someone who loves his neighbors, and Mekarev Et K’rovav/brings his relatives close to him, and he lends a poor man at a time of difficulty, on him, it says, ‘You'll call out and God will respond to you.’ This is based on a pasuk in Yeshaya which is talking about what God wants on a fast day. He wants us to give to the poor. He wants to bring the poor into our homes. He wants us to cover the naked. And the words that say what God wants when He is talking about all this kindliness, is Don’t ignore your flesh and blood On that, the Gemara says that you have to put extra emphasis on the relative . Sometimes we're nice to the strangers, but we don't have that same connection to our own relatives. As the saying goes, charity begins in the home. It's not enough to give that stranger money. But the Gemara says, Mekarev Et K’rovav bring your relative close. (Sanhedrin 76B explaining Yeshaya 58, which we actually read on Yom Kippur) A person may wonder- How come my prayers aren't being answered? Well, maybe because you're not being Mekarev Et K’rovav bringing your relatives close. There's a story of a rabbi who had a wife and bunch of young children. He was learning in a Kollel (and he eventually became a Rosh Yeshiva). Every day he would get there at a quarter to 10 when the Kollel started at nine o'clock. And the rabbi in charge of the Kollel said, “ Where are you?” He answered, “ Every day I leave my house, and I'm on my way to get here on time. Then I pass by a house with a widow with six children and I just can't leave. So I go h elp her get the kids ready to go off to school. And I get here to a quarter to 10.” “Oh wow! I'm sorry.” And then the young Kollel rabbi says, “ I want to correct this a little bit. It's actually my wife and her six children, but I can only help a widow? I can't help my own wife? That's the concept Mekarev Et Krovav Have a wonderful day.