Timeless Torah

Abraham’s brief but stellar career as G-d’s chosen, could not be wrong. When his wife, Sarah, fell into the clutches of Pharaoh’s harem, it resulted in nothing, except as one of the mysterious avenues whereby G-d made Abraham even wealthier. When his nephew Lot was captured along with the other Sodomites, all it did was allow Abraham to battle and defeat four powerful kings and thus add further luster to his already beloved name. Still with all the accolades and blessings being showered upon the first Jew, he bemoans his situation in life. “G-d, what is it that You can give me, seeing that I am going to be childless…and my servant will inherit me?” And the word of G-d came to him, leimor, saying, “This man shall not be your heir, but one who shall be one of your own issue shall inherit you.” The Hebrew word leimor,is usually translated as “saying,” but it literally means “to say.” It is most often used when the speaker wishes his words to be repeated and conveyed to someone else. In our story, Abraham who had already reached the age of one hundred, had resigned himself to being childless. The Divine intent, however, as it was now being revealed to the aged Patriarch was that he would indeed father a son. Only one thing stood in the way. Not Abraham’s advanced years, but his attitude. If G-d’s blessing was to take hold, Abraham could not give in to despair. This lesson is obviously not only for our ancestor but for all of us. Regardless of how bleak the circumstances may seem, a person should never lose hope. As the Talmud states, even if the sword is already at one’s throat, one should not despair of Divine intervention. The passage cited above now takes on new meaning, if we but read it literally, “The word of G-d came to him to say, ‘This man will not be my heir.’ ” In other words, Hashem was telling Abraham that he must retract his statement that he is doomed to childlessness. For unless he believed and said to himself, “I can have a child,” he wouldn’t. Almost everyone has had an experience in which the situation seemed utterly impossible to rectify. But remember, your hopelessness just might be the cause of your self-fulfilling prophecy. Lose your faith and you might lose more than just hope. These forays usually leave one less than satisfied, for at the moment one arrives, the thrill he sought loses its luster and a greater high must now be attained. Thus G-d could not have commanded Abraham to journey after fame or fortune. Even the promise of creating a new nation, which for all its glory is nevertheless an external reward, must be seen as futile. For ultimately, all of those excursions must end in failure. Conversely, there is another sort of expedition. One that takes you to the inner sanctum of your true being. It is a journey toward your soul. While this journey requires no credit cards and no luggage, it does take effort, perseverance, and planning. One cannot take in the sights as they just happen to come along or he runs the risk of being sidetracked from his true goal. It was this sort of spiritual pilgrimage that G-d asked Abraham to undertake. To be a Jew does not mean reaching to new heights, rather, new depths. Other nations have come on the world scene claiming fame because of their conquests, discoveries, etc. History has already proven that every external achievement will eventually be overshadowed. That is why all the mighty empires have disappeared. The Jew, however, continues to exist. This week’s command of reaching into oneself provides us with the secret of his survival. How can we avoid arrogance? One method is to constantly attribute our successes to God. There is a positive feeling that comes with accomplishment — and rightly so. But Rabbi Noah Weinberg says: Whenever you accomplish something, distinguish between “pride” and “pleasure.” Pride means: “I did it. This makes me better than other people.” Pleasure means: “Thank God I was given this opportunity to enjoy and to accomplish. I am not better, just fortunate.” When we realize that we only triumph and flourish when God desires it, we will never become smug. Rather, instead of taking personal credit for our accomplishments, we must be grateful to God for all these gifts, and pray that we will continue to merit His blessings.