THE AKEDAH

   The most profound and most perplexing chapter in our Torah is the one that speaks of the Akedah. Hashem was testing Avraham's faith and loyalty to הקב״ה by directing him to take his son Yitzchak and offer him as a sacrifice.

  When I study this episode in our Chumash class on Shabbat morning, many are prone to think of this directive as being barbaric, and many are ambivalent regarding Hashem's will to put Avraham to such a drastic test of his loyalty. 

   The Rav, Rav  Soloveitchik זצ׳ל, directs our attention to the words Hashem uses to Avraham, "והעלהו שם, take your son, יצחק and go to Eretz Hamoriah and elevate him there". The Rav emphasizes the word והעלהו, to elevate him,to indicate that G-D did not use the word והקרבתו, and you shall offer him, because G-D did not intend for Avraham to sacrifice him. He wanted him to perform this act as a means of elevating his son to a higher state of קדושה. Avraham misconceived what Hashem wanted of him. It was only later, when the Malach said to him,אל תשלח ידך אל הנער, that Avraham realized what Hashem really wanted all along and never did G-D have in mind to sacrifice his son. 

   The Rav asked, "Who was this Angel." The answer the  Rav  gave was, "This Angel represents Torah, which is our director on earth. It is only through the Torah and our Holy Tradition that man,woman and the Jewish family can elevate themselves to a higher and much greater state of holiness.

   I find this analysis so meaningful in reference to the Akedah. 

   This is a true lesson in Yahadus - a lesson of what we are to achieve in our journey through life. We are instructed to live a life of Torah , thereby "elevating" ourselves to a higher state of Kedusha, which can only be achieved when we observe the Mitzvot, 

  בין אדם למקום ובין אדם לחברו 

   Today, more than ever, this lesson must be brought home to all of us, especially at this crucial time in our homeland, our State of Israel. 

    Hashem is not searching for Sacrifices. He is asking us to elevate ourselves to a life of  חסד, of kindness and, above all, a life of אחדות. 

   This is our call today. "Are we up to this call as Avraham was in showing his strong loyalty and  commitment to a vibrant and dynamic Judaic way of life?"

  Our answer must be in the affirmative.  It must be a strong yes, a yes that says, "We are the children of Avraham and Sarah  and their legacy is our accepted way of life."

    הי יברך את עמו בשלום 

                                 שבת שלום 

BACK TO THE FUTURE

     The best way to predict the future is to create it. Everyone is speaking about the film produced in 1985 , entitled 'Back to the Future'. This sci-fi movie took us into the future  which was October 21, 2015. We see that some of the predictions, actually took place, aside from the Cubs winning the World Series, which was snatched by the Mets  who were not a prediction of the future, but indeed created the future.

   This idea comes home to us as we see Avraham creating a new future for himself and the Jewish People. 

    When thinking of how Avraham heeds the words of G-D and follows His directives unquestionably, there is one idea that is fascinating regarding the behavior of Avraham, as suggested by the Rav.

   The Rav develops the idea that Avraham built altars to Hashem, without bringing any sacrifices on them. The question that immediately comes to mind; "Why and for what reason does one build a מזבח  and not offer any sacrifices?"

   The Rav makes a truly cogent point in the personality of Avraham, and even more so teaches us a very important lesson in life. 

    It seems that the building of these מזבחות by Avraham were not for animal sacrifices, but rather to symbolize his submission to G-D, and his surrender to the will of Hashem. We then realize that the highest sacrifice is not when you offer an animal , but rather when man, symbolically offers himself in a very  spiritual way to G-D. With this attitude, man's submission and surrender to the will of G-D and his dedication to abide, without question, to Hashem's  directives, even if they may seem to be contrary to his own aspirations are truly commendable and desirable. 

  Though, at times  life seems to pose many unanswerable questions and contradictions, we continue to submit ourselves to the will of G-D. 

  That is what our Patriach Avraham continues to teach us by his constant adherence to the will of Hashem, placing  his own pride, his own comfort,  his own desires, his own logic, his own reasons, to the will of Hashem. 

   That is how we must emulate Avraham. We must, equally, build our altars of submission, to our Torah and to our tradition. In doing so, we show our true allegiance and trust in הקב״ה.

  At this most crucial time, let us pray that peace and tranquility reign in our glorious state of Israel. 

                                                            שבת שלום 

BROKEN HEARTS

     With a heavy heart and a feeling of despair, I pen this blog knowing that our brothers and sisters in Israel are suffering daily at the hands of terrorists and  murderers  of innocent Jewish lives. Even more disturbing is the fact that the world and our.  so called friends and allys have turned a deaf ear to the plight of the Israelis.

   A very interesting Medrash recalls a conversation between Hashem and the Malachim; "Should 

G-D create man or not?"

      It seems that there were those who said, "אל יברא, do not create man." Each one explained their respective reasons for telling Hashem whether to create the human being or not. 

 Love said  ' Let him be created, because he will dispense acts of love'. 

Truth said 'Let him not be created, because he is compounded of falsehood '. 

Righteousness said 'Let him be created , because he will perform righteous deeds'. 

Peace said 'Let him not be created because he is full of strife'. 

 The Medrash goes on to say that after hearing all the different opinions, Hashem took truth and cast him to the ground, and went on to create the human race. 

    My understanding of this Medrash is quite simple but yet very insightful. Hashem created man to emulate his ways , to live  בצלם  אלוקים, and one of the most important aspects of living in the Image of G-D is to be creative and any intrusion which disrupts that creative ability must be cast to the ground and not to be entertained in our way of life.   

   In this sense we must begin to realize that when that creative ability is denied by violence, murder and terrorism,destroying the Image of G-D , then the אל יברא , must come into force and such an action must be uprooted and removed from our society and especially from our Jewish State. Such hatred and wanton destruction cannot and must not be tolerated in a Democratic country. The lives of Jews are not cheap, as many have thought in the past and ,sorrowfully, many are of the opinion even today.

   As we read the Parsha of Noach this Shabbat there are diverse  opinions if he was really righteous or not. That is up for discussion, but truth be told, it was  Hashems' decision, in the time of Noach, to  destroy  the world after seeing the total disintegration of mankind and how they were destroying a beautiful world that Hashem had created.  This act, ultimately, proved that the Angels that said, אל יברא were seemingly correct. 

 To our dismay, we are seeing once again that self same, 'Chamas', rise up again in our Jewish State with the blatant and heinous acts against innocent men, women and children. This cannot be tolerated and we must refuse to go into the ark of indifference and believe that all is well and that hatred will dissipate. When leaders of Palestine encourage their youth to act with murder In their hearts and in their hands then peace will not reign in Israel.

  We will only see a semblance of peace , when the Palestinian leadership will step forward and condemn the terror and stop preaching from their mosques 'kill the  Jews'. Then and only then will the Ark of Peace be realized.

 Know well my friends, Hashem is waiting for our response before He acts to correct this abominable situation.

   These are times when we must side with the Angel and say yes to Hashem יברא , continue to be there for us and eventually, You will be proud of the fact that You have created Mankind in Your Image. 

  הי יברך את עמו בשלום.

                                                      שבת שלום