Weekly Mission: Parshat Vayeira
Weekly Mission: Parshat Vayeira
Rebbetzin Esther Jungries speaks about the many ways in which one can give charity. We commonly associate the word “charity” with money. We assume that, in order to give charity, we must give it through monetary actions. Rebbetzin Jungreis says, however, that charity comes in all forms. Helping someone cross the street, holding the door for someone and picking up your father from the bus stop, are all acts of kindness and charity. Charity is an act that gives people something that they are lacking. One of the most beautiful acts of charity and kindness is the warmest gesture of all, a smile. When one smiles to another, they are gracefully saying, “you exist.”
In this week's parsha (Torah portion), we learn more about our forefather Avraham. Avraham’s entire life was devoted to bringing G-d into the world. He woke up every morning to serve G-d, he wondered about the constellations and searched for the meaning behind everything. Sodom was a place that was filled with corruption, robbery, slander, ego and materialism. Avraham and the city of Sodom were polar opposites. Avraham was about love and kindness. Avraham took off the doors to his tent, threw away his boundaries and said “Holy friends, please come, let us join and relate our stories. Let us unite as one, for you are of G-d and so am I.” But the people of Sodom thrived on treating others with disrespect. Avraham only wanted to bring G-dliness into the world, while Sodom brought darkness and conflict into the world. But even so, when G-d tells Avraham that He is going to destroy Sodom, Avraham picks a heavenly fight with HaShem:
“Will you also stamp out the righteous along with the wicked? What if there should be fifty righteous people in the midst of the city? Would you still stamp it out, rather than spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people within it? (18:23-25)”
The point isn’t whether or not there were fifty righteous people to meet the “quota” for HaShem. The point is that Avraham fought for them in the first place. Despite the clear differences between Avraham and the people of Sodom, Avraham still said, “They are still a part of me and I care if they live or die."
In our holy religion today, there is a black hole of divide. We go through our days talking about how wrong others are. We say, “I can’t believe this Jew, they drive on Shabbat!” or “I heard she ate pork on Yom Kippur!” Our holy nation has become so confused about what we stand for that we attempt to imitate G-d’s role by saying who is right and who is wrong. In Binghamton, I have been blessed to meet many different kinds of Jews. We sit united at dinners, events and parties. We sit united even though I may walk home while they may drive, while I believe one way and they believe another.
The Jewish divide among the Reform, Conservative and Orthodox is sickening. The very fact that Jews can’t walk down the street without being classified by the synagogue they pray in is a sad reality. The wars we should fight are ones against our real enemies, those who seek to destroy us, not with the people that share the same ancient lineage.
One of my friends, a conservative Jew, told me some of his issues with Judaism. He says that some people consider him “not Jewish” because of his actions and lifestyle. Some people say that he is wrong in his method of observance or they ignore him all together. They may pretend that he is a transparent piece of paper, for the sole reason that he believes differently than they do. My conversation with him ended with an impacting, heart-wrenching statement. He said, “All I want is for my fellow Jews to validate me, to acknowledge that I exist.”
When we smile at someone, we say to them, “You exist,” but we can take it to a higher level. We can decide to be like Avraham Avinu. Despite his differences with the city of Sodom, he still validated their existence. He said, “I know how different they are, but they are still real. I know how they lead their lives, and it’s not like mine, but they still have a right to be acknowledged and accepted for who they are.”
From the depths of me, I want all of you to know, that the beginning of any actions one takes as a Jew should whole-heartedly belong to them. Jews do not remain stagnant, for that is worse than declining. Our ultimate purpose is to try to ascend in our service of G-d, but that service changes from person to person. We should all aspire to serve G-d in our own way.
This dvar Torah is dedicated to A.H. I want you to know that I validate you. I am happy that we are friends and I am happy that you are a part of our nation. My wishes for you, for myself, and all of us included, is that we can search within ourselves and decipher where we fit into our religion and how we can develop our own personal, individual relationship with G-d.
It’s important for the reader to know that I am not making a correlation between the city of Sodom and the different movements in Judaism. The point of this essay is the importance of acknowledging people regardless of their spiritual and physical preferences.
This week I will try to: …realize that despite how different each one of us truly is, I will still validate others for how they conduct their lives. I will break down my associations and I will be less judgmental of my fellow Jewish brothers and sisters. I will try to realize that the express ride to redemption only departs from a non-judgmental bus stop.
Quote by Rachael B. Goldberg
“The bottom line is this... we are all working on ourselves in some way or another...or we should be. It's okay for Orthodox people to think and know that their way is the right way of Torah Judaism. If we didn't think that way, then what would be that point? But that doesn't imply that I should neglect, ignore or abuse a fellow Jew who is different than me or conservative or whatever they are. Who cares? We're all Jewish people...we are all G-d's creations...we're all trying to figure ourselves out and only Avraham's "open arms" can really heal the wounds we need to heal in order for us to bring moshiach.”
Edited by: Rachael B. Goldberg
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Rebbetzin Esther Jungries speaks about the many ways in which one can give charity. We commonly associate the word “charity” with money. We assume that, in order to give charity, we must give it through monetary actions. Rebbetzin Jungreis says, however, that charity comes in all forms. Helping someone cross the street, holding the door for someone and picking up your father from the bus stop, are all acts of kindness and charity. Charity is an act that gives people something that they are lacking. One of the most beautiful acts of charity and kindness is the warmest gesture of all, a smile. When one smiles to another, they are gracefully saying, “you exist.”
In this week's parsha (Torah portion), we learn more about our forefather Avraham. Avraham’s entire life was devoted to bringing G-d into the world. He woke up every morning to serve G-d, he wondered about the constellations and searched for the meaning behind everything. Sodom was a place that was filled with corruption, robbery, slander, ego and materialism. Avraham and the city of Sodom were polar opposites. Avraham was about love and kindness. Avraham took off the doors to his tent, threw away his boundaries and said “Holy friends, please come, let us join and relate our stories. Let us unite as one, for you are of G-d and so am I.” But the people of Sodom thrived on treating others with disrespect. Avraham only wanted to bring G-dliness into the world, while Sodom brought darkness and conflict into the world. But even so, when G-d tells Avraham that He is going to destroy Sodom, Avraham picks a heavenly fight with HaShem:
“Will you also stamp out the righteous along with the wicked? What if there should be fifty righteous people in the midst of the city? Would you still stamp it out, rather than spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people within it? (18:23-25)”
The point isn’t whether or not there were fifty righteous people to meet the “quota” for HaShem. The point is that Avraham fought for them in the first place. Despite the clear differences between Avraham and the people of Sodom, Avraham still said, “They are still a part of me and I care if they live or die."
In our holy religion today, there is a black hole of divide. We go through our days talking about how wrong others are. We say, “I can’t believe this Jew, they drive on Shabbat!” or “I heard she ate pork on Yom Kippur!” Our holy nation has become so confused about what we stand for that we attempt to imitate G-d’s role by saying who is right and who is wrong. In Binghamton, I have been blessed to meet many different kinds of Jews. We sit united at dinners, events and parties. We sit united even though I may walk home while they may drive, while I believe one way and they believe another.
The Jewish divide among the Reform, Conservative and Orthodox is sickening. The very fact that Jews can’t walk down the street without being classified by the synagogue they pray in is a sad reality. The wars we should fight are ones against our real enemies, those who seek to destroy us, not with the people that share the same ancient lineage.
One of my friends, a conservative Jew, told me some of his issues with Judaism. He says that some people consider him “not Jewish” because of his actions and lifestyle. Some people say that he is wrong in his method of observance or they ignore him all together. They may pretend that he is a transparent piece of paper, for the sole reason that he believes differently than they do. My conversation with him ended with an impacting, heart-wrenching statement. He said, “All I want is for my fellow Jews to validate me, to acknowledge that I exist.”
When we smile at someone, we say to them, “You exist,” but we can take it to a higher level. We can decide to be like Avraham Avinu. Despite his differences with the city of Sodom, he still validated their existence. He said, “I know how different they are, but they are still real. I know how they lead their lives, and it’s not like mine, but they still have a right to be acknowledged and accepted for who they are.”
From the depths of me, I want all of you to know, that the beginning of any actions one takes as a Jew should whole-heartedly belong to them. Jews do not remain stagnant, for that is worse than declining. Our ultimate purpose is to try to ascend in our service of G-d, but that service changes from person to person. We should all aspire to serve G-d in our own way.
This dvar Torah is dedicated to A.H. I want you to know that I validate you. I am happy that we are friends and I am happy that you are a part of our nation. My wishes for you, for myself, and all of us included, is that we can search within ourselves and decipher where we fit into our religion and how we can develop our own personal, individual relationship with G-d.
It’s important for the reader to know that I am not making a correlation between the city of Sodom and the different movements in Judaism. The point of this essay is the importance of acknowledging people regardless of their spiritual and physical preferences.
This week I will try to: …realize that despite how different each one of us truly is, I will still validate others for how they conduct their lives. I will break down my associations and I will be less judgmental of my fellow Jewish brothers and sisters. I will try to realize that the express ride to redemption only departs from a non-judgmental bus stop.
Quote by Rachael B. Goldberg
“The bottom line is this... we are all working on ourselves in some way or another...or we should be. It's okay for Orthodox people to think and know that their way is the right way of Torah Judaism. If we didn't think that way, then what would be that point? But that doesn't imply that I should neglect, ignore or abuse a fellow Jew who is different than me or conservative or whatever they are. Who cares? We're all Jewish people...we are all G-d's creations...we're all trying to figure ourselves out and only Avraham's "open arms" can really heal the wounds we need to heal in order for us to bring moshiach.”
Edited by: Rachael B. Goldberg
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