Vayerah
Moses Montefiore was asked to give an accounting of all his wealth. When he gave the figure it was much lower than what was expected. When questioned about it, he stated it was the amount he had given to charity. His other possessions could be taken from him but his charity was his permanently. We only have what we give away. The paradox of possession.
Attachment to material possessions weakens the soul. The Torah teaches that we are mere custodians of our possessions to actualize their spiritual potential. We are not supposed to see acquiring stuff as the end goal of life, only the means through which we can achieve our goals. Possessions are temporary, kindness is permanent.
My sister would always bring Kugel to an elderly neighbor before shabbos. Several years later, the neighbor became senile and could not remember her name or her husband. However whenever I mentioned my sister her eyes would light up and she would say enthusiastically " Tell her thank you for all the kugels, they were great, she is a great girl!!"
This week a lot of peoples stuff got ruined. My parents’ house was flooded and thank God they were ok. In the basement was my brothers beautiful set of Shas which was completely destroyed. Except of course for the seforim he lent out to other people. That is all he has left of his collection, what he gave away.
In this week’s parshah Abraham faces his most difficult test. He is asked to place his beloved son Issac on an alter. This test was the reason he is the Father of the Jewish people. He was able to abrogate his love for his son and his physical attachment to him in order to do God’s will. Because he was going to give away his only son, he deserved to be the father of all the Jewish people and have millions of children
I hope everyone and their families are O.K. and can use the storm as a means of getting perspective on what is permanent and eternal and what can be washed away.
Attachment to material possessions weakens the soul. The Torah teaches that we are mere custodians of our possessions to actualize their spiritual potential. We are not supposed to see acquiring stuff as the end goal of life, only the means through which we can achieve our goals. Possessions are temporary, kindness is permanent.
My sister would always bring Kugel to an elderly neighbor before shabbos. Several years later, the neighbor became senile and could not remember her name or her husband. However whenever I mentioned my sister her eyes would light up and she would say enthusiastically " Tell her thank you for all the kugels, they were great, she is a great girl!!"
This week a lot of peoples stuff got ruined. My parents’ house was flooded and thank God they were ok. In the basement was my brothers beautiful set of Shas which was completely destroyed. Except of course for the seforim he lent out to other people. That is all he has left of his collection, what he gave away.
In this week’s parshah Abraham faces his most difficult test. He is asked to place his beloved son Issac on an alter. This test was the reason he is the Father of the Jewish people. He was able to abrogate his love for his son and his physical attachment to him in order to do God’s will. Because he was going to give away his only son, he deserved to be the father of all the Jewish people and have millions of children
I hope everyone and their families are O.K. and can use the storm as a means of getting perspective on what is permanent and eternal and what can be washed away.
HTML Comment Box is loading comments...