Shhhh.... Not too loud.... Read this d'var Torah quietly, please!
In our sedra, Yitzchak - like his father Avraham - begins to be tested (aren't we all?). His twin sons are in conflict, he faces anti-Semitism from the people of Gerar, his wife Rivka is abducted, there is a famine, and more.
In the midst of all this turmoil, HaShem appears to Yitzchak and reassures him that He will be with him and bless him, "because Avraham obeyed My voice (asher shama Avraham b'koli)."
This is strange. Why should Yitzchak be protected if it was Avraham who obeyed HaShem? And why do chazal understand "shama" as "obey" and not "listen"? And why is the term "b'koli" used by the Torah and not "l'koli"?
There are two ways to hear a person. You can hear their words, or you can hear them. Many times, we hear the syllables that come out of a person's mouth, but we don't catch what they are really saying. They mouth words of anger, but are really expressing insecurity; they talk in short, disjointed sentences, but are saying they are confused, in need of direction. The bet in "b'koli" means "b'gadol" - the big picture behind the words.
Imagine two people lost in a forest. Far away, another person is yelling out directions in Chinese as to how to find the way out. The person who speaks Chinese listens to the specific directions; but the other person just follows the sound of the voice until he is safe.
Yitzchak, in many ways, is a lost soul looking for a way out. So, G-d advises him: Listen to Me as Avraham did; have faith in Me and I will guide you. And so, Yitzchak consistently follows his father's voice. He tells Avimelech that Rivka is his sister, as Avraham did; he re-digs the wells his father dug and re-names them with the same names his father gave them. He confirms his wife Rivka's choice of heir, just as Avraham bowed to Sarah's greater insight into people.
Sometimes, to obey involves nothing more elaborate than following the voice that is calling to us.
People often ask me, "Why is prayer a monologue? Why do we talk, but G-d only listens and doesn't respond?"
We live in a world where there is a whole lot of talk, an unending flow of words coming at us from every direction. Once in a while, it's good to have someone at the other ends who just listens.
Let's work on the art of talking less and listening more: to family, to friends and to G-d.
In our sedra, Yitzchak - like his father Avraham - begins to be tested (aren't we all?). His twin sons are in conflict, he faces anti-Semitism from the people of Gerar, his wife Rivka is abducted, there is a famine, and more.
In the midst of all this turmoil, HaShem appears to Yitzchak and reassures him that He will be with him and bless him, "because Avraham obeyed My voice (asher shama Avraham b'koli)."
This is strange. Why should Yitzchak be protected if it was Avraham who obeyed HaShem? And why do chazal understand "shama" as "obey" and not "listen"? And why is the term "b'koli" used by the Torah and not "l'koli"?
There are two ways to hear a person. You can hear their words, or you can hear them. Many times, we hear the syllables that come out of a person's mouth, but we don't catch what they are really saying. They mouth words of anger, but are really expressing insecurity; they talk in short, disjointed sentences, but are saying they are confused, in need of direction. The bet in "b'koli" means "b'gadol" - the big picture behind the words.
Imagine two people lost in a forest. Far away, another person is yelling out directions in Chinese as to how to find the way out. The person who speaks Chinese listens to the specific directions; but the other person just follows the sound of the voice until he is safe.
Yitzchak, in many ways, is a lost soul looking for a way out. So, G-d advises him: Listen to Me as Avraham did; have faith in Me and I will guide you. And so, Yitzchak consistently follows his father's voice. He tells Avimelech that Rivka is his sister, as Avraham did; he re-digs the wells his father dug and re-names them with the same names his father gave them. He confirms his wife Rivka's choice of heir, just as Avraham bowed to Sarah's greater insight into people.
Sometimes, to obey involves nothing more elaborate than following the voice that is calling to us.
People often ask me, "Why is prayer a monologue? Why do we talk, but G-d only listens and doesn't respond?"
We live in a world where there is a whole lot of talk, an unending flow of words coming at us from every direction. Once in a while, it's good to have someone at the other ends who just listens.
Let's work on the art of talking less and listening more: to family, to friends and to G-d.