FAITH LIFT

   I find that today’s society focuses on improving appearances and many speak of “Face Lifts” to enhance the way they look. It is important to focus on one’s self image and I feel that in our day and age we all are in need of a “Faith Lift.”

This reminds me of the story of the little child who was suddenly awakened out of a deep sleep. The child began to cry and was very distressed and the mother asked, “What is the matter?” The child replied,”Oh, I lost my place in my dream”.

I wonder, “Have we, as the עם הנבחר, lost our place in our dream of perfecting a people who are to live in the “Image of G-D,” and a people who were destined to be the אור לגויים.?”

Then our dream started to blossom with Avraham appearing on the Jewish historical scene, as he is instructed by Hashem;

לך לך מארצך וממולדתך ומבית אביך, 

G-D instructs Avraham to leave his birth place and his parents home and to travel to a land that Hashem will designate and there he will become a great nation. One wonders, “Was it necessary for Avraham to leave his home to accomplish the will of G-D?” It seems that Hashem’s plan was to extricate Avraham from his environment and all the places where his life influences are constantly having a direct affect on his way of life and especially on his spiritual outlook. This change was necessary to fulfill the will of G-D, but even more so to mold and perfect a Nation of morality, ethics, beneficence and obedience to Hashem. Avraham recognized, that for him to succeed as the messenger of G-D, he must remove himself, completely, from all previous influences.

The Torah emphasized this idea with a reasonable and a necessary explanation, and for which it is an important lesson for our modern day. As the sentence states,

למען אשר יצוה את בניו ואת ביתו אחריו ושמרו דרך הי

“For he commands his children and his household after him , that they should keep the way of Hashem to perform righteousness and justice.”

This is the mission that is planned for Avraham and for his progenitors after him .

  Where do we start? Avraham provides us with the answer that will secure the future for the Jewish People and his life as our Patriarch. Abraham’s life begins at his home, with his gracious acts of hospitality, that will inspire us that Judaism is first and foremost a religion of the home , and from the home it spreads its wings of influence into the world.

  For Avraham to succeed in this endeavor he beseeches the Almighty to bless him with a son to carry on his mission to spread the word of G-D to the world.

We need to remember that Avraham taught us that a person is not only what he believes in, but more so in how he lives and teaches others. This is the essence of Judaism. We are not only to be people of ideals but we must be people of action, for only then will we see the growth of Judaism in the most productive way.

The beauty of Avraham’s life is that he answered the call of Hashem unquestionably, and similarly we are to respond to the call of G-D.

The best way to follow this ideal is the story told by Gershon Sholem. When the Baal Shem Tov had a difficult task before him, he would go to a certain place in the woods, light a fire and meditate in prayer and what he had set out to perform was done.

When a generation later the Maggid of Mesretz was faced with the same task he would go to the  same place in the woods and say we can no longer light the fire, but we can still speak the prayers and what he wanted done, became a reality.

Again, a generation later, Rabbi Moshe Leb of Sassoon, had to perform this task. He went into the woods and said, “We can no longer light the fire, nor do we know how to recite the meditation belonging to the prayer, but we do know the place in the woods to which it all belongs and that must be sufficient and it was.”

But when another generation had passed and Rabbi Israel of Rishon, was called again to perform the task, he sat down in his golden chair in his home and said, “We cannot light the fire, we cannot speak the prayer, we do not know even the place, but we can tell the story of how it was done , and the story teller adds, the story which he told had the same effect as the actions of the other three.”

This is our Torah, telling the stories of inspiration, but to do so we need to provide our society with the proper and capable story tellers and teachers that will inspire and bring our generation to act in the most Judaic way that will lead us on the path of living an invigorated Torah way of life. 

עץ חיים היא למחזיקים בה

It is our tree of life to sustain us for everlasting time as we go forward, holding onto the “Coat Tales” of our Patriarch Avraham.

          

Challenges of life

Challenges are what make life interesting. Overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.

                                                                                 There is no challenge more challenging, than the challenge to improve oneself.

When we least expect it, life sends us a challenge to test our courage and willingness to change.

All these thoughts come to mind as we read of the greatest test and challenge presented to Avraham by Hashem, when he was instructed to take Yitzchak and bring him as a offering at the Akedah.

This entire episode, as recorded this week’s Sedrah of Vayerah, is very perplexing and brings with it enormous questions as to its propriety and the quality of conforming to G-Dly accepted standards of behavior and morality.

With this quandary, comes to mind the following thought, “Life is full ofchallenges, but these challenges are only given to one whom G-D knows his faith is strong enough to get him through them.”

Avraham prepares himself to meet the challenge for the Akedah, and inspires Yitzchak to a greater sense of faith, and both continue to walk hand in hand towards Har Hamoriah , proving to the world their faith and trust in the Almighty.

Everyone, eventually, faces challenges in life and it is a matter how we learn how to overcome them and use them to our advantage.

Let us remember well, that the biggest challenge of life is to be yourself in a world that is trying to make you like everyone else.

 This is the greatest problem that faced Avraham. He realized that his directive in life is to fulfill the word of G-D that will lead him to reach his potential of spiritual greatness, and thereby becoming our Patriarch from whom we are destined to learn the ways of Hashem, bringing fulfillment as the עם הנבחר.

As we speak of challenges and tests, we realize that Hashem who is יודע הכל does not require a test in order to clarify what the intention of Avraham was through this entire episode, but rather it was to make Avrahamsearch within himself and to conclude that he had the capacity and the wherewithal to be the leader and the father of the Jewish People. Hashem saw the immense attribute of humility and modesty that Avrahampossessed and only through some extreme measures would he come to know that he possessed great Emunah and Betachon,enabling him to achieve the goals of being an אב המון גויים and the ultimate Patriarch of עם ישראל.

Rav Soloveitchik tz”l, reflected on the Medrash that describes the world bewailing the death of Avraham, “ Woe to the world that has lost its leader and woe to the ship that lost its navigator”.

One wonders, “What was gained by adding the idea that Avraham was the navigator of the world, to the fact that he was leader of the world?”

The Rav explained,  “While Avraham was truly the leader of the Tzibur, of the populace, he never lost sight of the individual. Abraham was the leader and the navigator of his society and always worried about the individual.”  We saw this many times, as he worried about Lot and went to rescue him after he was captured. Even though Lot rejected Hashem, Avraham went to battle for him. 

Avraham was a man who lived up to his responsibility as a true man of Chesed. He faced a severe challenge and faced it with great alacrity and showed the world what responsibility means to all of humanity.

The lesson is a poignant one. Avraham recognized that G-D was a source of strength at a time of great stress, and a source of comfort when he was in pain. He recognized that Hashem was an important part of his life and that he needed G-D at all times, and that Hashem would be there for him always. With this in mind, we acceptAvraham as our emulator, learning how to accept challenges in life, in a very positive way. 

Too often we try to avoid challenges by asking the question,”Why Me?”, instead of asking, “How?” “How can I deal with this crisis; How to assuage the anguish that comes with many of our challenges?” With the How, we then take on the responsibility of finding solutions to these tests and challenges of life, like Avraham did at the Akedah.

The Baal Shem Tov said it well, “Wherever a person’s mind is, that is where they are entirely.” Our pure minds will lead us to the true דרך הי, which will lead us to our modern day הר המוריה, ushering a time of peace to all our challenges, reliving the life of Blessing that graced the life of Abraham.

Avraham is our most glorified Patriarch and will always be known to all as our מגןאברהם, for he is our Father who brought the presence of Hashem into our lives, and for that we will always glorify his being.

                          SHABBAT SHALOM

       http://rabbimehlmansthoughts.blogspot.com

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