BETACHON

    Britain's Chief Rabbi, Lord Jonathan Sacks, wrote, "The challenge to a new generation of Jewish leaders is to think differently about the Jewish future, to stop thinking of ourselves as victims, stop thinking of ourselves as the people that dwell alone and start thinking about Judaism as a way of life, as a faith and as an approach to the world. A definition of Judaism; Judaism is the voice of hope in the condescension of humankind". 

     As I think of this, understanding what Judaism stands for, I am reminded of the opening sentence in this week's Sedrah, Vaeira,

    The Torah states ......  וארא אל אברהם אל יצחק

  "He appeared to Avraham, to Yitzchak and to Yaakov as Kel Shakai".  The Baal Haturim , explains that the word וארא, is the Gematriah of יצחק, suggesting that יצחק was the catalyst that brought about the redemption from Egypt. 

 I sense that Yitzchak will be the spiritual force that will, in the future, bring about our Geulah, just like he inspired the Jewish People to be redeemed at גאולת מצרים.  One may ask, "Why will Yitzchak more than any of the other Avot, have such a great influence upon the Jewish people?"

 My answer centers around the entire personality and the Hashkafa that enveloped Yitzchak.

   When we look at the entire episode of the Akedah, we begin to realize that for Yitzchak to be willing to undergo such a drastic act of Mesiras Hanefesh, he had to be a unique person. First and foremost he had a tremendous allegiance to his father Avraham - a loyalty and a trust in his way of life and in his total dependence on Hashem, which became his modus operandi. Even more so, Yitzchak had a strong belief in the future. This was evident when he 

re-opened the wells that his father had dug that had been closed. These wells symbolized the future of עם ישראל.  A future that Yitzchak wanted to preserve. These were the wells of Torah that were to sustain and assure the dynamic future that Yitzchak almost gave his life for. These wells of Yahadus were a commitment to his father's  everlasting memory and to assure our future.

     The Rav said that the Patriachs had only been given a promise, and a long road still lay ahead of them before their descendants would eventually conquer the Land of Israel. The mystifying pattern of Jewish history demands our loyalty even as it defies our comprehension.There often seems to be a chasm between the promise and the fulfillment, but the Jew waits patiently, with an unshakeable faith, a faith that is a part of Yitzchak in everyone of us, knowing that the Geulah will inevitably be realized.   

    This is our faith, this is our strong Betachon,

 אף על פי שיתמהמה עם כל זה אחכה לו בכל יום שיבא.

                                     שבת שלום