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 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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“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 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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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 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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The Rebbe’s Budget
Rabbi Israel of Ruzhin had a smart answer for a skeptical business man.
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The Natural Jew
The example of Abraham’s circumcision demonstrates, a mitzvah extends far beyond its momentary act of fulfilling the divine will.
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Three Lovers of Israel
Three great Chassidic leaders were famous for their ahavat yisrael (“love of a fellow Jew”): Rabbi Zusha of Anipoli, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, and Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov.
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