Story of Real Emuna (Trust in Hashem)
by Yitzy Adlin
Once Avraham has given the Angels food, they ask him where his wife, Sarah, is, to which he responds, “in the tent”. The Angel then tells him that next year I will return to you and your wife Sarah will have a son. Sarah heard from behind the door and laughed thinking, is it possible for an old couple like us to have children?
Hashem then goes to Avraham asking him למה זה צחקה שרה why did Sarah laugh? היפלא מה דבר? Is anything beyond Hashem?
The sefer אור יחזקאל writes that Hashem was disappointed that Sarah didn’t believe the blessing of the Angels that she would have a son and it was considered a lack of emuna(Trust).
We need to understand this; she had no idea that they were Angels. She thought they were Arabs who were giving her a blessing that was an impossibility. If a collector goes over to a ninety-year old lady asking for a handout then blesses her that she should have children, would anyone pay any attention to that? No, so what’s the disappointment in Sarah?
This teaches us how far emuna must reach, since everything is in Hashem’s hands and there is no stopping Hashem from doing whatever He wants. Therefore, it is incumbent upon us to believe that anything is possible. When one is blessed with a bracha that may seem impossible, the response must be amen, for Hashem can do anything. The midrash compares this to someone who brought two pieces of gold to a jeweler and asked him to make two rings. After a while, one of them broke and he went back and asked the jeweler if he could fix it. The jeweler responded, “do you think I can make the rings from scratch but I can’t fix them? Of course, I can fix them!” This is what Hashem was saying to Sarah; I made you from scratch; I created you; don’t you think I can fix you?
The ספורנו says the reason Sarah laughed was because she thought that what she was being told was just a bracha and not a promise from Hashem. She believed that the only way to turn an old lady back into a young one, which is like reviving the dead, was through a direct promise from Hashem or from תפלה משגת חן מאתו. In teaching us that prayer has the power to make what seems impossible a reality, the ספורנו uses an interesting term. What is תפילה ?משגת חן מאתו
Rab Zilberstein explains that it means that the prayer is coming from someone who finds favor in Hashem’s eyes. How does one do that? By overcoming one’s nature, when one doesn’t always have to do things his way and gives in to the other person, when a person puts aside his way and does what is better for the other person, then he will find favor in Hashem’s eyes. Hashem, likewise, will put aside His will for the will of that person. This is the key to have one’s prayers accepted by Hashem.
Surely, if one puts aside his will for the will of Hashem and accepts what Hashem gives him with love, his prayers will be answered.
I saw a story on the Daily Emuna about a childless couple for whom all the doctors had given up hope. They went to Rav Shlomo Bochner of Boneh Olam as their last opportunity. There was one top doctor who agreed to try to whom they went for treatment. A few weeks later, Chana sat in the waiting room with a Tehilim drenched with her tears. She was waiting for the results of what appeared to be her last possible chance of having a child. Unfortunately, Rav Shlomo had to inform her that the treatment had failed and she would never have a child.
Less than a year later, Rav Shlomo received a call from the husband, Elchanan, who told him the following: “The night you told us the news, I felt as if a black cloud had enveloped me. I couldn’t think straight. I was driving around late at night through the quiet streets, absorbed in thought. When I arrived home, I stumbled out of the car in a fog. I opened the front door and was shocked by the scene that greeted me. The table in the dining room was decked with the finest tablecloth and set with our finest dinnerware. My wife stood there smiling and said, ‘We now ended one chapter in our life. We were dealt a blow today. I don’t want to be angry with Hashem. I want to make a Seudat Hoda’ah, a meal to thank Hashem for giving you to me and me to you. We have each other, and we are not angry. Let us enter the next chapter of our lives without bitterness. Let’s celebrate what we have.’ My wife served a magnificent meal that night. By the time I went to sleep, my wife’s serenity had affected a considerable change in me. It seemed like I had only slept a few minutes when I heard the phone ringing at five am the next morning. It was someone from the hospital, asking me to return immediately. They had studied my chart, and claimed there was something they could do. Now, Baruch Hashem, we just had a baby boy, and the Berit Milah is next week.”
Once Avraham has given the Angels food, they ask him where his wife, Sarah, is, to which he responds, “in the tent”. The Angel then tells him that next year I will return to you and your wife Sarah will have a son. Sarah heard from behind the door and laughed thinking, is it possible for an old couple like us to have children?
Hashem then goes to Avraham asking him למה זה צחקה שרה why did Sarah laugh? היפלא מה דבר? Is anything beyond Hashem?
The sefer אור יחזקאל writes that Hashem was disappointed that Sarah didn’t believe the blessing of the Angels that she would have a son and it was considered a lack of emuna(Trust).
We need to understand this; she had no idea that they were Angels. She thought they were Arabs who were giving her a blessing that was an impossibility. If a collector goes over to a ninety-year old lady asking for a handout then blesses her that she should have children, would anyone pay any attention to that? No, so what’s the disappointment in Sarah?
This teaches us how far emuna must reach, since everything is in Hashem’s hands and there is no stopping Hashem from doing whatever He wants. Therefore, it is incumbent upon us to believe that anything is possible. When one is blessed with a bracha that may seem impossible, the response must be amen, for Hashem can do anything. The midrash compares this to someone who brought two pieces of gold to a jeweler and asked him to make two rings. After a while, one of them broke and he went back and asked the jeweler if he could fix it. The jeweler responded, “do you think I can make the rings from scratch but I can’t fix them? Of course, I can fix them!” This is what Hashem was saying to Sarah; I made you from scratch; I created you; don’t you think I can fix you?
The ספורנו says the reason Sarah laughed was because she thought that what she was being told was just a bracha and not a promise from Hashem. She believed that the only way to turn an old lady back into a young one, which is like reviving the dead, was through a direct promise from Hashem or from תפלה משגת חן מאתו. In teaching us that prayer has the power to make what seems impossible a reality, the ספורנו uses an interesting term. What is תפילה ?משגת חן מאתו
Rab Zilberstein explains that it means that the prayer is coming from someone who finds favor in Hashem’s eyes. How does one do that? By overcoming one’s nature, when one doesn’t always have to do things his way and gives in to the other person, when a person puts aside his way and does what is better for the other person, then he will find favor in Hashem’s eyes. Hashem, likewise, will put aside His will for the will of that person. This is the key to have one’s prayers accepted by Hashem.
Surely, if one puts aside his will for the will of Hashem and accepts what Hashem gives him with love, his prayers will be answered.
I saw a story on the Daily Emuna about a childless couple for whom all the doctors had given up hope. They went to Rav Shlomo Bochner of Boneh Olam as their last opportunity. There was one top doctor who agreed to try to whom they went for treatment. A few weeks later, Chana sat in the waiting room with a Tehilim drenched with her tears. She was waiting for the results of what appeared to be her last possible chance of having a child. Unfortunately, Rav Shlomo had to inform her that the treatment had failed and she would never have a child.
Less than a year later, Rav Shlomo received a call from the husband, Elchanan, who told him the following: “The night you told us the news, I felt as if a black cloud had enveloped me. I couldn’t think straight. I was driving around late at night through the quiet streets, absorbed in thought. When I arrived home, I stumbled out of the car in a fog. I opened the front door and was shocked by the scene that greeted me. The table in the dining room was decked with the finest tablecloth and set with our finest dinnerware. My wife stood there smiling and said, ‘We now ended one chapter in our life. We were dealt a blow today. I don’t want to be angry with Hashem. I want to make a Seudat Hoda’ah, a meal to thank Hashem for giving you to me and me to you. We have each other, and we are not angry. Let us enter the next chapter of our lives without bitterness. Let’s celebrate what we have.’ My wife served a magnificent meal that night. By the time I went to sleep, my wife’s serenity had affected a considerable change in me. It seemed like I had only slept a few minutes when I heard the phone ringing at five am the next morning. It was someone from the hospital, asking me to return immediately. They had studied my chart, and claimed there was something they could do. Now, Baruch Hashem, we just had a baby boy, and the Berit Milah is next week.”
facts of life: take this serious
When the angels came to Avraham’s tent, they asked him, “Where is Sarah?” The Gemara in Bava Metzia says the angels knew where Sarah was and were asking Avraham so that when he replied she was in the tent, acting modestly as befit her, it would increase his love and admiration for her. The question has been posed: since angels can only have one task, and one was sent to heal Avraham, one to announce the birth of Yitzchak and one to turn over Sodom, which angel was sent to increase Avraham’s affection towards Sarah? The answer is eye-opening. When the angels appeared, they were disguised as people. Although they didn’t need to, they ate and drank because that is normal behavior for people. It must be that eating and drinking was not a separate function, but an extension of their mission to behave as human beings. Since they spoke in a manner designed to increase Avraham’s appreciation of Sarah, we learn that such sensitive and positive speech is normal and appropriate behavior. To not do so would be inhuman.
simcha corner
Moishe was in trouble. He forgot his wedding anniversary. His wife Miriam was really mad. She told him “Tomorrow morning, I expect to find a gift in the driveway that goes from 0 to 200 in 6 seconds, AND IT BETTER BE THERE.”
The next morning, Moishe got up early and left for work. When Miriam woke up, she looked out the window, and sure enough, there was a medium-sized gift-wrapped box in the middle of the driveway.
Confused, Miriam put on her robe, ran out to the driveway, and brought the box back into the house. She opened it and found a brand-new bathroom scale.
Funeral services for Moishe have been scheduled for Friday.
Bait Aaron Basic Shabbat Stories
That will ignite your Neshama
The Importance of a Good Environment
The story is told of a student who left Europe’s Salabodka Yeshiva in order to pursue a career. A while after his departure, the young man began to slacken in his Mitzvah observance, until he had departed completely from the Torah way. Shocked at hearing that he was no longer observant, his former colleagues expressed their surprise/ disappointment to their spiritual leader, the Alter of Salabodka, of blessed memory.
The Alter said sadly, “I am not surprised at all. That student’s success was entirely dependent on his being in a favorable environment. He did not yet possess enough inner strength to pursue his material goals and maintain the lifestyle of a yeshiva student. Once he left the positive environment of the Yeshiva and went out on his own – too soon – he lost the one asset that kept him strong.”
Comment: A number of lessons can be learned here. One, a person has to know his weaknesses and do his best to be in situations where the weaknesses are neutralized.
Two, we see one that it’s not a contradiction to be a Ben Torah who works. And three, never underestimate the value of a good environment.
Just take Lot, in Parshat Lech Lecha, and his spiritual degeneration once he left the side of Avraham Avinu. A good, wholesome environment can truly save a person’s soul, while a poor one can decimate even the holiest soul.
That’s why King David opened the Tehillim (1:1) with a warning to steer clear of “bad company,” from lazy people to mockers, from isolated evildoers to those who seek to drag others down with them into a miserable condition and future.
something to think about
CAN WE DO MORE?
Rav Tzaddok HaKohen brings us a fascinating idea and its proof this week. This is it: Avraham Avinu was a man of chesed, right? Correct – Chazal tell us this on plenty of occasions, and it is hinted to in the Torah text too. But there is only one place where his chesed is mentioned explicitely. That’s the start of this week’s sedra, where he gives food to the three passerby people. There’s only one problem. These were not people, they were angels, and so did not need any food. What emerges is that the only time the Torah chooses to explicitly mention Avraham’s chesed is when he thought he was doing chesed but he wasn’t really [coz angels need no food, etc]! Why not mention the many other 100% acts of chesed Avraham did, and why (instead) mention this one with the angels?
Rav Tzaddok answers that it is to teach us a fundamental principle, which needs much delving into and proper understanding, and it is a shame to write it so briefly like I’m doing now. He basically says that our free will is housed in our ‘ratzon;’ what we want. He is of the opinion that we do not realy have free will over our actions; our free will is over what we WANT to do. We might genuinely want to do a mitzvah, but HaShem may prevent it from being carried out, and we still get reward for the thought – as long as we actually wanted to carry it out. Here, with Avraham avinu the Torah specifically picks a case where he thought and wanted to do a mitzvah of chesed, but it was not really an act of chesed, to teach us this lesson.
THE MORAL: WANT AND DO AS MANY MITZVOS AS POSSIBLE!
Parsha Summary
1st Aliyah: The three angels appear to Avraham and foretell the birth of Yitzchak. Upon hearing the news, Sarah laughs to herself.
2nd Aliya: The angels depart to destroy Sodom, and Hashem [G-d] tells Avraham about His plans for destroying Sodom. Pasuk 18:18-19 proclaims G-d’s confidence in Avraham to teach the world the concept of justice. Avraham negotiates, unsuccessfully, on behalf of Sodom.
3rd Aliya: The story of the destruction of Sodom is told. Lot’s generosity to the “two visitors” is rewarded and he, his wife, and only two of their children are saved from Sodom.
4th Aliya: Lot’s wife looks back upon the destruction of Sedom and dies, and Lot and his two daughters escape into the mountains. Lot’s daughters conspire to rebuild humankind, and taking advantage of Lot’s drunkenness, they become pregnant from Lot resulting in the birth of Ammon and Moav. Avraham encounters Abimelech after which Sarah gives birth to Yitzchak in the year 2048.
5th Aliya: Yishmael and Hagar are forced out of Avraham’s home, and an angel reassures Hagar of Yishmael’s destiny.
6th Aliya: Abimelech and his general Phichol resolve their conflict with Avraham over water rights, and they “sign” a covenant of peace.
7th Aliya: In the year 2085, when Avraham was 137 and Yitzchak was 37, Avraham is commanded to sacrifice Yitzchak. This amazing story heralds the end of Avraham and Sarah’s era, and the beginning of Yitzchak and Rivkah’s era.
