The Torah portion of Lech Lecha contains a verse that declares the following: "And he [Avraham] believed in HaShem; and He counted it to him for righteousness." (Breishit - Genesis15:6)
What exactly did Avraham do? What were the events that brought about this very short, but dramatic, declaration? The impossible test with Isaac at Mount Moriah had not yet occurred. He had not yet been told to send off his son Yishmael, born to Hagar, into the wilderness. Avraham had not even been commanded to enact the ritual of circumcision at the age of ninety-nine. Yet, we are told that Avraham he'emeen (believed) in HaShem.
Avraham, at the age of seventy-five, was told to go forth into a land that he did not know. More importantly, he was told to go forth "unto the land that I will show thee." He did not even know where in fact he was to go. That event would transform and fashion the very nature of his soul and the souls of all his descendants. The strength of the people who would descend from Avaham would focus in their willingness to go forth into the unknown future simply because that was their Divine destiny. It was that walking forward under Divine direction that would repeatedly change their history and advance the history of the world.
More importantly, in the previous verse (Breishit 15:5) Avraham is told, "And He brought him forth abroad, and said: 'Look now toward heaven, and count the stars, if you are able to count them,' and He said unto him: 'So shall thy seed be.'"
HaShem is telling Avraham to do a task that He Himself says is an impossible task. What does Avraham do? He goes out to count them one by one. At that point, G-d declares, "'So shall thy seed be."
Avraham's descendants will go into the unknown and attempt the impossible, because that is the essence of their faith. By so doing, they will impact the world.
The word for faith in Hebrew does not really mean belief. It is better translated as faithfulness. Avraham was faithful to G-d and G-d accounted it to him for righteousness. The Jewish people, or at least a determined remnant of them, have since been faithful in their voyage. They do so even though at times the voyage seems to lose direction and the goals seem unattainable.
Those who have lost that anchor of faithfulness in their soul may bring about danger and destruction to the Jewish people, but in the context of Jewish history, they will simply become an unpleasant and nasty memory. Ultimate Jewish history is fashioned and determined by those individuals who are motivated by passion and directed by faithfulness. Shimon Peres is on his way out of the Labour party and, hopefully soon, off the stage of Jewish history. Ariel Sharon is not really that far behind him. They will both soon be unpleasant memories. Jewish history will continue beyond and despite them.
When the Sharon government expelled the communities of Gush Katif, some Jews spent the last day watering their flowers in Ganei Tal. There were others who were sitting with their children in Atzmona and teaching them the Torah that related to their settlements in the land of Gerar. There were even some who were pouring foundations for a new house in Netzarim. When asked about their actions, they all responded that they were doing what they knew best, planting building and teaching. While Sharon and his forces were busy destroying, these people continued in their task of faithfulness.
Several days ago, I was helping to drive some kids who had been expelled from their homes from one hotel to another. I listened as they talked about their former neighbours and their former teachers and their former homes. I asked them what they were doing in the hotel I picked them up from. They told me that they had become part of a children's choir called Pirchei Katif, the Flowers of Katif. I thereupon asked them to sing for me one of the songs they had learnt.
They started to sing in harmony the following words:
"A Psalm of David. HaShem is my shepherd; I shall not want."
Faithfulness in the songs of the children.
What exactly did Avraham do? What were the events that brought about this very short, but dramatic, declaration? The impossible test with Isaac at Mount Moriah had not yet occurred. He had not yet been told to send off his son Yishmael, born to Hagar, into the wilderness. Avraham had not even been commanded to enact the ritual of circumcision at the age of ninety-nine. Yet, we are told that Avraham he'emeen (believed) in HaShem.
Avraham, at the age of seventy-five, was told to go forth into a land that he did not know. More importantly, he was told to go forth "unto the land that I will show thee." He did not even know where in fact he was to go. That event would transform and fashion the very nature of his soul and the souls of all his descendants. The strength of the people who would descend from Avaham would focus in their willingness to go forth into the unknown future simply because that was their Divine destiny. It was that walking forward under Divine direction that would repeatedly change their history and advance the history of the world.
More importantly, in the previous verse (Breishit 15:5) Avraham is told, "And He brought him forth abroad, and said: 'Look now toward heaven, and count the stars, if you are able to count them,' and He said unto him: 'So shall thy seed be.'"
HaShem is telling Avraham to do a task that He Himself says is an impossible task. What does Avraham do? He goes out to count them one by one. At that point, G-d declares, "'So shall thy seed be."
Avraham's descendants will go into the unknown and attempt the impossible, because that is the essence of their faith. By so doing, they will impact the world.
The word for faith in Hebrew does not really mean belief. It is better translated as faithfulness. Avraham was faithful to G-d and G-d accounted it to him for righteousness. The Jewish people, or at least a determined remnant of them, have since been faithful in their voyage. They do so even though at times the voyage seems to lose direction and the goals seem unattainable.
Those who have lost that anchor of faithfulness in their soul may bring about danger and destruction to the Jewish people, but in the context of Jewish history, they will simply become an unpleasant and nasty memory. Ultimate Jewish history is fashioned and determined by those individuals who are motivated by passion and directed by faithfulness. Shimon Peres is on his way out of the Labour party and, hopefully soon, off the stage of Jewish history. Ariel Sharon is not really that far behind him. They will both soon be unpleasant memories. Jewish history will continue beyond and despite them.
When the Sharon government expelled the communities of Gush Katif, some Jews spent the last day watering their flowers in Ganei Tal. There were others who were sitting with their children in Atzmona and teaching them the Torah that related to their settlements in the land of Gerar. There were even some who were pouring foundations for a new house in Netzarim. When asked about their actions, they all responded that they were doing what they knew best, planting building and teaching. While Sharon and his forces were busy destroying, these people continued in their task of faithfulness.
Several days ago, I was helping to drive some kids who had been expelled from their homes from one hotel to another. I listened as they talked about their former neighbours and their former teachers and their former homes. I asked them what they were doing in the hotel I picked them up from. They told me that they had become part of a children's choir called Pirchei Katif, the Flowers of Katif. I thereupon asked them to sing for me one of the songs they had learnt.
They started to sing in harmony the following words:
"A Psalm of David. HaShem is my shepherd; I shall not want."
Faithfulness in the songs of the children.