Vayeira
True Reality appears when all else disappears.
Sometimes angels may appear human, just as humans, at times, may appear angelic. After a delectable feast, the three angels tell Sarah that, in one year’s time, she will give birth to a child. Sarah, 90 years of age, laughs. Mazal tov! It’s a boy and his name is Isaac. Try as he might, Abraham cannot find one redeeming factor in the city of Sodom. The Creator thus deletes Sodom from creation. Abraham sends Ishmael east, out of his father’s house. The binding of Isaac changes the perception of humanities relationship with G-d forever. Is it greater to live for G-d or die for G-d?
The Frontier of Self
When we speak of the Akeidah, we also speak of those who trod the path this great deed blazed. Of the countless thousands who died for the creed of Abraham.
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Hide and Seek
A kind and caring word will achieve what the most profound arguments and the most glaring truths will not.
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The Binding of Isaac: Event and Edifice
It is significant that Abraham bound his son on the site of the future altar, destined to embody the human commitment in the relationship between man and G-d.
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“You collect books to sell them to the world,’ replied the sage, ‘so all the world knows about them. My books are for myself.”
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The Years of his Youth
Not only did Abraham rush to fulfill the divine will with speed and alacrity, he also brought all the energy, passion and commitment of his youth to the deed.
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Genuine Hypocrisy
Abraham understood that no human acknowledgment of G-d can ever be “hypocritical.”
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Abraham’s Tent
Our own sukkot resemble the resting place that Abraham offered his guests. Yet there is also a primary difference between our sukkah and Abraham’s tent.
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Vayeirah : G-d’s Mysterious Ways
Our relationship with G-d is a two-way street: The more we immerse ourselves in our calling and the more dedicated we become to our mission, the more access we gain to the deeper mysteries of life.
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Vayeira: Winds Of Change
As Hurricane Sandy rages, what messages do its furious winds bring us? Will we absorb their lessons and create a spiritual storm of our own, bringing fresh winds of spirit and growth in our own lives?
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Vaeira: Haiti
Rabbi Simon Jacobson reflects on the humanitarian response to the Haiti disaster, and how it reflects a shift in global spiritual engagement.
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