B"H
Monday, Mar-Cheshvan 8 5784 / October 23, 2023
This week's Parsha, Lech Lecha, tells about many of the tests which Abraham and Sarah endured, beginning with G-d's commandment to Abraham at the age of seventy-five, and Sarah who was sixty-five to leave their birth place and immigrate to an unknown land.
At the age of seventy-five, Abraham became the first wandering Jew. Abraham and Sarah left their home and went to an unknown destination--the land of Canaan. When they finally arrived, G-d brought a famine upon the land and again they had to move. This time, they journeyed to Egypt where they experienced more trials and tribulations.
The entire Parsha is about the trials and tribulations which Abraham and Sarah endured. G-d put them through ten trials, and they withstood them all.
"Torah" comes from the word "hora'ah" - meaning "a guide and lesson." For even the stories of creation and of our patriarchs and matriarchs are not just about historical events which took place thousands of years ago. They are read year after year to guide us in each generation and at all times.
Torah commentaries ask, why does the Torah use the words "Lech Lecha" which literally means, "gofor you," when only the word "Lech" ("go") would have sufficed?
Rashi explains that G-d is telling Abraham that although this commandment may seem difficult at this time, it is in fact, "for your benefit and for your pleasure." For, whatever G-d does and whatever He wants us to do is in truth for our benefit and if we accept it as such, it is also for our pleasure, whether we see it at the time or not.
A wise person said, “Generally, the things in which a person finds pleasure are not necessarily for the person's benefit. However, the pleasure one derives through performing G-d's commandments are indeed for our benefit.”
Rabbi Moshe Leib of Sassov had a unique way of dealing with difficult situations, so that they do not get in his way of serving G-d with happiness.
He would say: "What is in the past is already in the past and there is nothing I can do about it anyway, so why worry about it. As for the future, it didn't happen yet, so why worry. I put my trust in G-d that things will be good. The only worry I can see having concerns for is the present. But the present is so short, it lasts only a moment, and anybody can handle a little trouble for one moment…"
A wise person remarked about difficult situations he went through, “In the end things will be good. If they are not good yet, that’s a sign that it’s not the end yet…
HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY
WITH SPECIAL PRAYERS FOR OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN ISRAEL