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.