Blessing In Disguise

 

 

Posted on November 4, 2020 (5781) By Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetzky | Series: Drasha | Level: Beginner

 

In Pashas Vayera, Sora, the 90-year-old wife of Avraham, receives a most surprising piece  of information from an even more surprising source. She is told by Arab nomads, who had found obliging accommodation in Avraham’s house, that in one year she will have a child. Instinctively, she reacts in disbelief to this predicton. She laughs.

Immediately, Hashem appears to Avraham He is upset. “Why did Sora laugh? Is there something that is beyond the Almighty? At the appointed time I shall return, and behold Sora will have a son (Genesis 18:12-13).

Hashem’s ire must be explained. After all, Sora was not told by Hashem that she will have     a baby. She was informed by what appeared to be Arab wanderers. And though the Talmud explains that the three nomads were indeed angels sent by the Almighty, they did not identify themselves as such. So what does G-d want from Sora?

A man once entered the small study of the revered the Steipler Gaon, Rabbi Yaakov Yisrael Kanievski with a plea. “I’d like a blessing from the Rav. My daughter has been looking to get married for several years. All her friends are married and she would like to get married too, but nothing is working. Can    the Rosh Yeshiva bless her to find her bashert? (appropriate one),” he asked.

The Steipler turned to the man and asked, “Is this your first daughter?” “No,” replied the distraught parent, “Why do you ask?”

“When she was born did you celebrate with a kiddush?” ( a celebratory party in a religious setting)

The man was perplexed. “No. But, that was 27 years ago,” he stammerred, “and she was my third girl. I may have made a l’chayim while the minyan was leaving  shul, but I never made  a proper kiddush. But what does a missed kiddush 27 years ago have to do with my daughter’s shidduch (match) today?”

“When one makes a kiddush at a festive occasions,” explained Rav Kanievski, ” each l’chayim he receives is accompanied by myriad blessings. Some are from friends, others from relatives, and those blessings given by total strangers.

Among those blessings are definitely the perfunctory wishes for an easy time in getting married. By not making a kiddush for your daughter, how many blessings did you deprive her of? I suggest you make your daughter the kiddush that she never had.”

The man followed the advice, and sure enough within weeks after the kiddush the girl had met her mate.

At the bris (circumcision) of his first son (after ten girls), my uncle, Rabbi Dovid Speigel, the Ostrove-Kalushin Rebbe of Cedarhurst, Long Island, quoted the Ramban (Nachmanides) in this week’s portion.

The reason that Hashem was upset at Sora was that even if an Arab nomad gives the blessing, one must be duly vigilant to respond, “Amen.” One never knows the true vehicle of blessing and salvation. Hashem has many conduits and messengers. Some of those messengers’ divinity is inversely proportional to their appearance.

All we have to do is wait, listen, and pray that our prospective exalter is the carrier of the true blessing. And then, we have to believe.

Quite often, we have ample opportunities to be blessed. Whether it is from the aunt who offers her graces at a family gathering or the simple beggar standing outside a doorway on a freezing winter day, blessings always come our way. Sometimes they come from the co- worker who cheers you on at the end of a long day or the mail carrier who greets you with the perfunctory “have a nice day” as he brings today’s tidings. Each blessing is an opportunity that knocks. And each acknowledgment and look to heaven may open the door to great salvation. The only thing left for us to do is let those blessings in.

Good Shabbos.

Dedicated to our Beloved Mother Shirley Eskowitz – Sarah bas Reb Moshe by Marilyn & Jules Beck

Good Shabbos!

A Father's Love • Torah.org

 

Posted on November 4, 2020 (5781) By Rabbi Pinchas Avruch | Series: Kol HaKollel | Level: Beginner

One of the later – and, therefore, more difficult – tests given to Avraham Avinu (our forefather Abraham) was banishing his older son, Yishmael (Ishmael). “Sarah saw [Yishmael] the son of Hagar the Egyptian whom she had born to Avraham, mocking [i.e. involved in the three cardinal sins]. So [Sarah] said to Avraham, ‘Drive out this slave  woman with her son, for the son of that slave woman shall not inherit with my son, with Yitzchak (Isaac).’ The matter [of Yishmael’s straying to a wayward path] greatly distressed Avraham, regarding his son.” (Beraishis/Genesis 21:9-11) Interestingly, the Torah does not contemplate the potential for Yishmael’s improvement by remaining in the company of Avraham and Yitzchak.

The Chofetz Chaim (Rabbi Yisrael Meir HaKohen Kagan of Radin; 1838-1933; author of basic works in Jewish law, philosophy and ethics and renowned for his saintly qualities) comments that G-d’s instruction to Avraham to heed Sarah, as she was the greater    prophet, indicates Divine concurrence with her concern. Rabbi Kagan emphasizes that Sarah’s safeguarding her son is a lesson for the generations: when one child threatens the spiritual well-being of another we must give priority to the threatened child. Obviously, we must provide all we can for the troublesome child, but we cannot let that concern for his success jeopardize the health of his innocent compatriot.

 

The Chofetz Chaim continues that despite the great challenge Avraham faced in expelling his own flesh and blood, the Torah indicates that he performed with alacrity. “So Avraham awoke early the next morning…” (21:14) As personally distasteful as he found the  command, he knew that G-d’s way is always perfect and righteous, so he zealously responded by waking early the next day to prepare the provisions for their trip.

A father teaching his child to walk stands the child up, lets go, moves a few feet away, and announces, “Come to Daddy!” An alien would question the cruelty of the barbaric parent, positioning his charge in a situation doomed to failure. But the child tries, and struggles, and falls, and gets back up to try again. Ah, the exquisite joy shared by parent and child when those first steps are taken! We often find ourselves wondering why we have been commanded to perform certain mitzvos (Divine commands) or why we are forced to confront certain trials, our limited human understanding attempting to make sense of the Divine plan. As we strive to grow in our “G-d consciousness”, we take comfort and find security knowing that these mitzvos ARE the key to our growth, and these challenges are uniquely designed to strengthen our spirit as we overcome them. And if we tune our soul into G-d’s frequency, we can hear Him saying, “Come to Daddy!”

Have a Good Shabbos!