Dear Friends;

I hope you’ll enjoy the following Parasha summary followed by a Dvar Torah;

” Parsha in a Nutshell ”

G-d reveals Himself to Avraham three days after his circumcision at age 99; but Avraham rushes off to prepare a meal for three guests who appear in the desert heat. One of the three guests — who are angels disguised as men — announces that, in exactly one year, the barren Sarah will give birth to a son. Sarah laughs.

Avraham pleads with G-d to spare the wicked city of Sodom, but did not succeed. Two of the angels arrive in the doomed city to overturn the place, and to save Lot and his family. Lot’s wife turns into a pillar of salt when she disobeyed the command not to look back at the burning city as they flee.

While taking shelter in a cave, Lot’s two daughters get their father drunk, lie with him, and become pregnant. The two sons born from this incident father the nations of Moab and Amon.

Avraham moves to Gerar, where the Philistine king Avimelech takes Sarah — who is, once again, presented as Avraham’s sister — to his palace. In a dream, G-d warns Avimelech that he will die unless he returns the woman to her husband.

G-d remembers His promise to Sarah and gives her and Avraham a son, who is named Isaac (meaning “will laugh”). Isaac is circumcised at the age of eight days; Abraham is 100 years old, and Sarah 90, at their son’s birth.

Hagar and Ishmael are banished from Avraham’s home and wander in the desert; G-d hears the cry of the dying lad and saves his life by showing his mother a well.

G-d tests Avraham’s devotion by commanding him to sacrifice Isaac on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

The Parsha concludes with Avraham receiving the news of the birth of a daughter, Rebecca, to his nephew Bethuel.

” Dvar Torah ”

In this week’s parsha, we read about the famous story of “Akeidat Yitzchak”, the binding of Isaac. We all know the story by now: Hashem wanted to test Avraham’s faith, the tenth and the final time. So one day, G-d tells Avraham to take his only son, the one he loves, Isaac and bring him to the top of a mountain and sacrifice him to G-d Almighty. Immediately, without any hesitation, the next morning, he takes him up the mountain, binds him down, lifts the knife up and was ready to slaughter his son. At that point, an angel of G-d tells him to stop and not to harm his son, for now Hashem knows that he truly believes in him.

Wow, what a story! Every time I read the story of Akeida , it gives me the chills. What a great person Avraham was. Who can kill his own son, specially the one and only son from his true love which Hashem gave to him after 100 years?! How can someone go against his own principles and logic? Avraham was preaching others his entire life about how wrong it is to bring human sacrifice for idols and gods, and now he had to do it himself! Not even once he questioned G-d for this commandment! He only did it because he believed in G-d wholeheartedly. The act of Akeida was so great that we still benefit from it to this very day. In our prayers on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, when we ask Hashem for forgiveness, we ask Him to remember what Avraham did and we use his zechut (merit) as a defense mechanism for our sins. Because what our forefather Avraham did, I don’t think anyone else would have had the heart to do it!

Yes, when we read about the Akeida, we all think of Avraham’s greatness, but what about Isaac? Nearly all of the commentators praise Avraham for his act of bravery, but we hardly see any praises for Isaac. According to the majority of our Chachamim, Isaac was 37 years old at the time. He wasn’t a child anymore and he was fully aware of what was going on. He lay down on the alter and allowed his father to bind him down and raise the knife to kill him. He was a full grown up man who went through the Akeida also accepting G-d’s decision. Although killing your son can be more difficult than killing yourself, but killing yourself at a young age when you still have your whole life ahead of you is not a simple act either! So, are there any commentaries about Isaac and the Akeida?!

After searching for a while, I came across an explanation given by Rabbi Frand quoting Chatam Sofer, another great scholar. He says that Isaac also went through a test and in a sense, his test was even greater than his father’s. You see, Avraham heard it directly from G-d Himself, to sacrifice Isaac. But who told Isaac that he was to be a sacrifice? Isaac heard it from his father, Avraham! Isaac must have considered it awfully strange that G-d, who values life, wants a human sacrifice. Such ritual was against all the values and believes that his father had taught him in the past. At this point, Isaac had all the rights to question his father’s decision. Keep in mind that Avraham was quite old at the time, 137 to be exact, and could have easily made a mistake in his judgement. Just before the Akeida, Isaac could have asked his father:  ” Are you sure father that you heard G-d telling you to sacrifice me? Maybe you just had a bad dream? Don’t you want to ask him one more time just to make sure?”  But he never questioned his father. He had full trust in his father Avraham. The respect that he had for his father didn’t allow him to doubt his decision! And this was the greatness of Isaac that stands out and makes him one of our forefathers. Avraham obeyed G-d’s word; but Isaac obeyed his father’s! Giving the same respect to your father as you give to the G-d Almighty deserves all the praises in the world!

Yes my friends, from the episode of Akeida, we learn that respecting parents and listening to them is as important as respecting G-d himself. Respecting parents and respecting Hashem go hand in hand. You cannot do one and not the other. That’s why, on the two tablets of Ten Commandments, honoring parents is placed on the same side as believing in G-d. Remember that Isaac was ready to give up his life in order not to be disrespectful to his father’s decision. If Isaac was willing to do such a sacrifice, the least we can do is just to listen to them.

As the parents get older, they tend to be more demanding and test our patience. Although this test is not as difficult as the Akeida, but nevertheless, it’s still a test. Could there be a point that we are allowed to lose our patience with our parents? The answer is obviously not! Whatever they do or whatever they say, we can never be disrespectful towards them. We should love and respect them till the end. This is what Hashem expects from us, and this is what our hearts should desire!!

Shabbat Shalom & Regards;

Martin