A Bima-Ready D’var Torah Every Week
8 Cheshvan 5779
Parashat Lech L'chah
We Can't Stay Young Forever
Torah Portion: Genesis 12:1-17:27
Haftarah Portion: Isaiah 40:27-41:16
"It is the task of the enlightened not only to ascend to learning and to see the good but
to be willing to descend again to those prisoners and to share their troubles and their honor."
-Plato[i]
Shalom!
We all have romantic ideas of what things are supposed to be like. We like the ideas of things perhaps more than the reality of them. Children are encouraged to become quarterbacks and boxers, dancers, singers, and ballerinas. What five year-old doesn't want throw touchdowns like Tom Brady, knock out Ivan Drago like Rocky Balboa, dance gracefully like Misty Copeland, fight like Walker Texas Ranger, or sing like Jennifer Lopez? Kids make believe at everything from competing in the Olympics and Super Bowl to getting in shoot-outs as a soldier, cop, robber, or cowboy, to taking wedding vows as a princess bride. It's all so fun, magical, heartwarming, and innocent, right? Why would we ever want to stop them? What we don't tell our kids at five years old is that traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) will cripple many football players and boxers, most dancers will have their careers dramatically ended before their prime due to injury, that in war, there is no pause or re-set button, that as a cop or firefighter, you're going to have to help people through unthinkable trauma that will scar you for the rest of your life, and that marriage is about a lot more than a Disney-esque wedding day; rather, it's about a lifetime of compromise, hard work, brutally honest communication, being there for your spouse on their worst days as well as their best, and sacrifice. There is a reason why we don't tell our children these horrible truths at such a young age. In the words of Yiddish literary giant Mendele Mocher Sforim, "Children without childhood are a frightful sight."[ii]
In this week's parashah of Lech L'chah, God tells Abram, "Go forth from your land, your birthplace, your father's house to the land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and it shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will pronounce doom on those who curse you; through you all the families of the earth shall be blessed" (Genesis 12:1-3). It sounds like a win-win! What's there to lose? Well, as the expression goes, "If you believe that one, I have some swampland in Florida to sell you." Why? Well, for starters, Sarai (Sara) will be barren for most of their marriage, causing angst, depression, and discord. Twice Abram will hand Sarai over to foreign kings because if he tells them that he is her husband, they will murder him. Abram will take a concubine (Hagar) and have a son by her (Ishmael), only to banish them to the wilderness, he will painfully circumcise himself at an advanced age, and finally he will have a son (Isaac) with his wife, only to be told that he must sacrifice him (which he almost does). If God had started out his "pitch" with this, one could bet that Abram's response would have been, "Yeah, I'll pass, thanks."
In court, there is a reason why witnesses must swear to "tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God". There is a reason why realtors must provide potential buyers with information about houses including whether anyone has ever died in the home, and even if it is allegedly haunted. There is a reason why car dealerships have to provide customers with car history reports. As Rabbi Moses ben Jacob of Coucy instructs us, "Point out to your customer, regardless of your creed, the defects in your merchandise."[iii] We expect, we demand the truth in its entirety and nothing less.
It's understandable why one would be so upset with God until later on in the parashah when ADONAI reveals to Abram, "Know well that your descendants will be strangers in land not theirs; they will be enslaved and afflicted for four hundred years. But then I will bring judgment upon the nation they are serving; after that they shall go out with many possessions" (Genesis 15:13-14). Finally, the entire truth, the good and the bad, the whole picture. It's not going to be a vacation after all -- it's going to be real, very real indeed!
We have an obligation to help our children transition from blissful innocence to the knowledge of the full realities of life. To avoid or delay this is both a betrayal and a disservice. As we raise our youth we must be firm but fair, comprehensive but compassionate, overt but gracious, and above all else...honest.
Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Aaron Rozovsky
Director of Rabbinic Services
Please share this message with family and friends and when your congregation gathers for services we invite you to read this Taste of Torah from the bima. As always, please be in touch. We would particularly appreciate hearing about simchahs, (moments of joy) like births, birthdays, engagements, anniversaries, graduations as well as illnesses or other challenges in your family or community.
[i] Plato. Allegory of the Cave.
[ii] Mendele Mocher Sforim. BeSeter Raam. 1913. p.4 (courtesy Baron, Joseph L. A Treasury of Jewish Quotations.Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson, INC. 1985. p.49)
[iii] Moses ben Jacob of Coucy. Semag. 1250. #1245 (courtesy Baron, Joseph L. A Treasury of Jewish Quotations. Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson, INC. 1985. p.185)
© 2018 Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life
to be willing to descend again to those prisoners and to share their troubles and their honor."
-Plato[i]
Shalom!
We all have romantic ideas of what things are supposed to be like. We like the ideas of things perhaps more than the reality of them. Children are encouraged to become quarterbacks and boxers, dancers, singers, and ballerinas. What five year-old doesn't want throw touchdowns like Tom Brady, knock out Ivan Drago like Rocky Balboa, dance gracefully like Misty Copeland, fight like Walker Texas Ranger, or sing like Jennifer Lopez? Kids make believe at everything from competing in the Olympics and Super Bowl to getting in shoot-outs as a soldier, cop, robber, or cowboy, to taking wedding vows as a princess bride. It's all so fun, magical, heartwarming, and innocent, right? Why would we ever want to stop them? What we don't tell our kids at five years old is that traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) will cripple many football players and boxers, most dancers will have their careers dramatically ended before their prime due to injury, that in war, there is no pause or re-set button, that as a cop or firefighter, you're going to have to help people through unthinkable trauma that will scar you for the rest of your life, and that marriage is about a lot more than a Disney-esque wedding day; rather, it's about a lifetime of compromise, hard work, brutally honest communication, being there for your spouse on their worst days as well as their best, and sacrifice. There is a reason why we don't tell our children these horrible truths at such a young age. In the words of Yiddish literary giant Mendele Mocher Sforim, "Children without childhood are a frightful sight."[ii]
In this week's parashah of Lech L'chah, God tells Abram, "Go forth from your land, your birthplace, your father's house to the land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and it shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will pronounce doom on those who curse you; through you all the families of the earth shall be blessed" (Genesis 12:1-3). It sounds like a win-win! What's there to lose? Well, as the expression goes, "If you believe that one, I have some swampland in Florida to sell you." Why? Well, for starters, Sarai (Sara) will be barren for most of their marriage, causing angst, depression, and discord. Twice Abram will hand Sarai over to foreign kings because if he tells them that he is her husband, they will murder him. Abram will take a concubine (Hagar) and have a son by her (Ishmael), only to banish them to the wilderness, he will painfully circumcise himself at an advanced age, and finally he will have a son (Isaac) with his wife, only to be told that he must sacrifice him (which he almost does). If God had started out his "pitch" with this, one could bet that Abram's response would have been, "Yeah, I'll pass, thanks."
In court, there is a reason why witnesses must swear to "tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God". There is a reason why realtors must provide potential buyers with information about houses including whether anyone has ever died in the home, and even if it is allegedly haunted. There is a reason why car dealerships have to provide customers with car history reports. As Rabbi Moses ben Jacob of Coucy instructs us, "Point out to your customer, regardless of your creed, the defects in your merchandise."[iii] We expect, we demand the truth in its entirety and nothing less.
It's understandable why one would be so upset with God until later on in the parashah when ADONAI reveals to Abram, "Know well that your descendants will be strangers in land not theirs; they will be enslaved and afflicted for four hundred years. But then I will bring judgment upon the nation they are serving; after that they shall go out with many possessions" (Genesis 15:13-14). Finally, the entire truth, the good and the bad, the whole picture. It's not going to be a vacation after all -- it's going to be real, very real indeed!
We have an obligation to help our children transition from blissful innocence to the knowledge of the full realities of life. To avoid or delay this is both a betrayal and a disservice. As we raise our youth we must be firm but fair, comprehensive but compassionate, overt but gracious, and above all else...honest.
Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Aaron Rozovsky
Director of Rabbinic Services
Please share this message with family and friends and when your congregation gathers for services we invite you to read this Taste of Torah from the bima. As always, please be in touch. We would particularly appreciate hearing about simchahs, (moments of joy) like births, birthdays, engagements, anniversaries, graduations as well as illnesses or other challenges in your family or community.
[i] Plato. Allegory of the Cave.
[ii] Mendele Mocher Sforim. BeSeter Raam. 1913. p.4 (courtesy Baron, Joseph L. A Treasury of Jewish Quotations.Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson, INC. 1985. p.49)
[iii] Moses ben Jacob of Coucy. Semag. 1250. #1245 (courtesy Baron, Joseph L. A Treasury of Jewish Quotations. Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson, INC. 1985. p.185)
© 2018 Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life
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