Articles with the tag: chayei sara

Circumcision; Uncover the Mystery

Two stories: 3 candidates for new samurai, German knife (Personal: Agnostic)
Abraham’s self-performed circumcision launched him as a Jew. Why?
Greeks, Bolsheviks decreed against bris. Why?
Mitzvos performed by uncircumcised person just doesn’t cut it. Why?

Torah: Body and soul. Mystical Judaism is not divorced from body of Torah.
Body without soul is corpse; soul without body is a ghost.

Mitzvohs (like everything else) need to be defined: 1) Physical (tells us little), 2) what you do (work, hobbies), 3) inner passions/desires.
Ex: succah – 1) hut,  2)Party hut, 3) Hashem sheltering the Jewish people, Makifin D’binah.
Circumcision: 1) a cut on a sensitive part of the flesh, 2) Bris (gematria 612 + the word itself), bris is equal to…

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G-d’s Challenge to Man (23:6)

This week’s Biblical reading focuses on two episodes, both narrated at length and in intricate detail: A) Abraham buys a field with a cave as a burial place for Sarah, and B) he directs his servant to find a wife for his son Isaac. Why these two events? The simple answer is because they happened. That, however, cannot be all. We misunderstand Torah if we regard it merely as a Jewish history book. ‘Torah’ defines its own genre, and in the process often breaks every known rule of literature, grammar, sentence structure, and syntax if it aids in its primary role of ‘teaching’ us how to live a meaningful life in the service of G-d. As such, only those occurrences…

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A Father’s Gift (25:5)

This weeks Torah portion records the end of one era and the start of another. The mantle of leadership was about to pass from Abraham to his son Isaac. And so the first of the three Patriarchs, sensing that his time had come began to settle his affairs.

According to the Torah,  “Hashem had blessed Abraham with everything.” The aging father, withholding nothing, “gave all which was his to Isaac.”  Regarding his other children from his concubine, the Bible records that he, “gave them gifts and he sent them away from Isaac.” 

This story raises many interesting points. Among them is the obvious question: If Abraham gave all that he possessed to Isaac, what was then left for the others?...

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Search, Converse, Encounter (24:62)

The image of Isaac,  “Out into the field towards evening to meditate,”  is highly appropriate for the introspective, quiet Patriarch. Biblical Isaac often appears withdrawn, inward, even passive. In his marriage, Rivkah is more often the active partner. Thus meditating in a field quite fits Isaac’s character.
The Talmud however, more concerned with halachah than psychology, draws its own inference from the verse. Isaac’s recorded ‘meditation’ refers to a prayer, while ‘towards evening’ means afternoon. Thus Mincha was born .

But as to the exact origin of our daily prayers, the Sages differ.  “Rabbi Yose said, ‘The prayers were instituted by the Patriarchs.’ Rabbi Yehoshua said, ‘The prayers were instituted to replace the daily sacrifices’... in accordance with Rabbi Yose…Abraham…

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True Kindness (24:49)

Sarah, the first Matriarch, had died.  Abraham, the founding father of our people, was getting on in years. Without question, an era was about to pass. So finding a suitable wife for Isaac and the passing of the mantle must have seemed like a good idea to Abraham. So with his usual alacrity, our forefather dispatched his trusted servant Eliezer with specific instructions,  “Find a wife - and quick.”

A distant relative is discovered, Rivkah, daughter of Besuel.  As part of the ‘negotiations’, the servant asks the parents of the bride-to-be their consent to immediately return with Rivkah to Canaan. Here are Eliezer’s words,  “If you will deal kindly and truly with my master,” At first glance, Eliezer’s words seem…

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A Drop of Water (24:17)

“And Abraham became old.”  Like everything else in the Patriarch’s life, this was seen as an opportunity. In this particular circumstance, it was the moment to set his house in order and prepare the next generation for their task in continuing the grand tradition.

A man of action, Abraham did not procrastinate. Swearing in his trusted Eliezer, he charged him with finding a worthy wife for his son Isaac. Although given camels bearing gifts, Eliezer himself traveled on foot. If the woman’s character were to be accurately determined, he did not wish to appear as a wealthy merchant. Instead, his demeanor was one of a servant, for only under this guise could he truly gauge the kindness of the maiden,...

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