This week saw the UK’s Chief Rabbi speaking at The Abu Dhabi Forum for Peace – something very hard to imagine happening before The Abraham Accords. Appropriately, the sedra this week is VaYeira (Genesis 18:1 to 22:24) and my brother penned the following for a weekly email newsletter sent to volunteers at a local Jewish care home.
In last week’s sedra, and continuing this week, we read about arguably the most influential human being of all time: Avraham ovinu – Abraham our father. Not only the original founding father/ancestor of the Jewish people but also initiator of the very idea of belief in G-d which has spread to the 4 corners of the earth.
In Ethics Of The Fathers we are told that Abraham was tested with ten trials by Hashem. Now although there is some dispute about what the 10 trials were, all commentators agree that the 10th and the most difficult trial was the startling command to sacrifice his son Isaac, as recounted at the end of this week’s sedra, VaYeira.
The Talmud says that every Jew is obligated to say, “when will my deeds reach those of my fathers Abraham Isaac and Jacob?” – a pretty tall order one has to say! If we think for even a few minutes about the enormity of that tenth test, is it really realistic for us to achieve such an incredible level of dedication? I’d like to suggest a couple of explanations…
Number one: The Talmud does not say we are obligated to be as great as Abraham – rather we should aspire to such greatness – and if, understandably, we conclude that it is not in our capabilities maybe we should at least sigh about it. In a similar vein the Chafetz Chaim zt”l said that if, after reading through his eponymous book on guarding one’s speech, a person breathes a deep sigh because of feeling unable to keep to the demanding laws therein, even so it would have been a worthwhile venture on the reader’s part.
Secondly, we all know that it worked out well in the end because Hashem retracted his command at the 11th hour – almost like a Batman and Robin episode where they somehow managed to escape at the very last moment. But such is the nature of life – real life! The Talmud says, “one should never give up hope even if a sword is dangling over his neck”. And we have all heard of people being saved incredibly from illness, danger, death, war etc when their fate appeared to be sealed. Although Abraham was not hoping for a last-minute reprieve- we are told that he did Hashem’s command with love and alacrity – nonetheless we can learn from the episode that what seems final and inevitable ain’t necessarily so.
Thirdly, as a general idea we can try and “make Hashem’s will our will” which is of course a challenge to us at every twist and turn. No one since Abraham has or will ever be commanded by G-d to kill their own child and offer it as a sacrifice. But there are innumerable ways in which we are commanded to make ‘sacrifices’ for our Judaism, be it not eating things we would like to, not doing things we’d like to on Shabbas or Yom Tov, or on the positive side, spending time and money on mitzvos(charity, mezuzahs, tefillin, kosher food etc etc) that we might prefer to expend on our personal pleasures/expenses.
A man once complained to his Rebbe that he just doesn’t enjoy davenning and learning and finds it a great effort and burden to have to do those things. The Rebbe replied: I envy you! I have a burning love for Hashem and all his mitzvahs and I get spiritually uplifted from doing them, so I can’t claim to be serving Hashem doing his will as much as someone like you who has to fight his desire to not do these things – and yet you overcome that and still do Hashem’s mitzvahs!
Max Witriol
Joseph Witriol's Writings 