(שמע בני מוסר אביך ואל תטוש תורת אמך (משלי א ח
Listen, my child, to your father’s instructions and do not forsake your mother’s teachings.
The parsha of akeidas Yitzchak is something we the Jewish nation recite daily in our morning prayers. We ask Hashem to give us the reward He promised to all of Avrohom’s children for 1000 or 2000 generations. As it is written in the Torah שמות כ ה ועשה חסד לאלפים לאהבי ולשמרי מצותי and דברים ז ט וידעת כי ה’ אלהיך הוא האלהים האל הנאמן שמר הברית והחסד לאהביו ולשמרי מצותו לאלף דור
We know that our grandfather Avrohom was presented with a very big nisayon (test) of
קח נא את בנך את יחידך אשר אהבת את יצחק בראשית כב ב
Take your son, your only son, whom you love, and give him to Hashem.
During the prayer of akeidas Yitzchak, I tried several times to put myself in the shoes of Avrohom Avinu. He was placed in a situation where on the one hand he loved Hashem very much and he wanted to do what our beloved Father, Hashem, wanted from him, but on the other hand, he loved his son so deeply.
However, my motherly emotions took over, I was unable to comprehend the act of sacrifice in order to pass this test. It seems it takes unnatural human emotional strength to carry it out.
However, we continue the prayer and we say:
רבונו של עולם, כמו שכבש אברהם אבינו את רחמיו לעשות רצונך בלבב שלם, כן יכבשו רחמיך את כעסך מעלינו
God of the universe, just as Avrohom our forefather suppressed his mercy regarding his only son in order to do your will wholeheartedly, so you too, suppress your anger from us, and may your mercy be with us and remove your anger
This is what the Torah comes to teach us! When following Hashem’s commandments, we must put our feelings aside in order to do Hashem’s commandments.
As Torah Jews, we are filled with Torah knowledge. The Torah is our road map and our guide. We know what the Torah tells us to do, and we know right from wrong. When our emotions take over, they cloud the truth. Our minds are usually on the right path while our heart is busy with the debate between our yetzer tov and yetzer hora. When we suppress our desires and emotions such as worry, fear, jealousy, the path of the yetzer hora, we can listen to our intuition/gut feelings, which is usually is the path of the yetzer tov.
After Avrohom our grandfather was about to finish the process of the akiedas Yitzchok, Hashem said:
ויאמר אל תשלח ידך אל הנער ואל תעש לו מאומה כי עתה ידעתי כי ירא אלהים אתה ולא חשכת את בנך את יחידך ממני בראשית כב יב
Do not stretch out your hand against this young boy nor do to him anything, for now I know that you fear Hashem since you have not withheld your son, your only one, from me.
Then Hashem blessed Avrohom:
כי ברך אברכך והרבה ארבה את זרעך ככוכבי השמים וכחול אשר על שפת הים וירש זרעך את שער איביו בראשית כב יז
I shall surely bless you greatly, I shall increase your offspring like the stars in the heavens and like the sand which is on the shore of the seas
אשר שמעת בקולי Because you have listened to my voice. (This is the aliyah to the Torah that Tatty buys every year on Rosh Hashanah!).
When I think about the upcoming yeshiva trip, my motherly instincts and emotions take over. I am happy for you when you go on the twice yearly big class trips as well as the smaller trips year round. You learn a lot, you take tests and you work very hard, you are a true talmid chochim. You truly deserve a big trip. I have all kinds of emotions. I know it will not be easy to miss such a big trip.
Now, we get a tiny glimpse into the test that Avrohom went through. Yes, this is why the Torah calls it a nisoyon and this is why when passing it, we receive reward for this for ALL generations. To stand out and be different from others is hard. Not going out of Israel, just because Hashem commanded us not to leave, can be a big nisyon.
Together we will go through this test! Together we will put our feeling where our forefather Avrohom placed it, and we stay with Hashem in His chosen land. This is the only way to be a true oved Hashem and a yiras Hashem!
In our wonderful prayers three times daily, we say:
אשרי יושבי ביתך עוד יהללוך סלה תהלים פד ה
אשרי העם שככה לו אשרי העם שה’ אלהיו תהלים קמד טו
Praiseworthy are those who dwell in your house continuously, they will praise you forever. Praiseworthy are the people that such is their lot. Praiseworthy are the nation who Hashem is their God.
I think the meaning is: אשרי יושבי ביתך עוד יהללוך סלה Good is for the person who sits in Israel in Hashem’s home and praises Hashem continuously, without stopping and without leaving His Home/country. Whoever does this is praiseworthy and Hashem is their God. As you discussed in depth on this subject in your Sefer Taryag (Torah’s Yosef Yehoshiya) that the Torah says whoever leaves Israel is a though he does not have a God and it is as if he is worshiping idols.
כתובות קי ב שכל הדר בארץ ישראל דומה כמי שיש לו אלוה וכל הדר בחוצה לארץ דומה כמי שאין לו אלוה
כל הדר בחוץ לארץ כאילו עובד עבודת כוכבים
By staying in Israel continuously without leaving, you are praiseworthy and Hashem is your God.
Tatty and I know what is it like to stay in the embrace of Hashem in His country, which Hashem calls ארץ זבת חלב ודבש דברים ו ג the land of flowing milk and honey. You know that since we made aliyah with you when you were just a one-years-old, we never left Israel. What a zchus!
We miss our parents and family very much. We missed many simchas, family and friends get-togethers, Chanukah parties, Purim celebrations, and a lot more. However, we see it as a great merit to be able to do Hashem’s will and commandment to never go out of His palace, Israel.
When it comes to our children, the feelings and actions are harder. I feel that Hashem is testing me as well! This will be our test together and individually.
Just like Avrohom our grandfather, we can do the will of Hashem. We know that the reward is great. We, who are Avrohom’s grandchildren, are still asking Hashem daily for and receiving His blessings and rewards because of his action during the akiedas Yitzchak.
Think about your generations. When you pass your current test with love, then you too, you will leave great blessings and reward for 1,000 and 2,000 generations, YOUR generations.
Hashem commanded Avrohom:
לך לך מארצך וממולדתך ומבית אביך אל הארץ אשר אראך בראשית יב א
Go from your land, from your birthplace and from your father’s house, to the land which I will show you. The Medrish says לך לך להנאתך ולטובתך go for your own good!
Hashem instructed Avrohom to leave his home, his friends and family, and his business, and to go to a land where strangers live. A place that he does not know, but the place that Hashem chose and gave to him and his kids forever. Hashem said to Avrohom that in the new place, he will be blessed.
ואעשך לגוי גדול ואברכך ואגדלה שמך והיה ברכה ואברכה מברכיך ומקללך אאר ונברכו בך כל משפחת האדמה בראשית יב ב
And I will make you into a nation that is great, and I will bless you and make you great, your name, and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and those who curse you I will curse, and they will be blessed through you, all the families of the earth.
We know that we do mitzvahs and follow Hashem’s commandments because Hashem told us to! We don’t do mitzvahs for the rewards and gifts that we will receive. However, Hashem with His great chessed let Avrohom know the great reward he will receive if he chose to obey this commandment.
Now, you too have the opportunity to go in the way of our grandfather Avrohom and obey Hashem. You are now faced with a commandment of Hashem to stay in Israel and not to leave the land. Now, you have the opportunity to stand with Avrohom. To leave your Yeshiva family and teachers who are like parents, in order to do what Hashem is asking of you.
Thankfully, you don’t have to leave מבית אביך the home of your parents, as we stand with you here in Israel הארץ אשר אראך the place that Hashem himself chose for us!
You are now in a situation where Hashem will say to you כי עתה ידעתי כי ירא אלהים
Now I know that you are doing everything that I command you to do because you are a yiras shomayim, you have fear of Hashem.
Hashem promised that when we follow Him, He will reward 1000 and 2000 of our generations, if, they too, follow in these ways, as stated in the two pesikim above.
You don’t have to leave your comfortable environment, country, or house, you just have to stay in Israel, where Hashem is asking you to stay. You too, will receive the same blessings that Avrohom Avinu received and you will be very blessed.
We say every day, twice a day,
שמע ישראל ה אלוהינו ה אחד Shema Yisroel hear the Jewish Nation, Hashem Eloikanu Hashem is our God, Hashem Echod Hashem is the only one. Then we go on to say
ואהבת את ה’ אלוקיך בכל לבבך ובכל נפשך ובכל מאודך
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your body and soul, and with all your strength.
There is the famous question, how can we tell someone to love, or to be happy. Love and simcha are emotions, either we feel it, or we don’t.
In his sefer Pesher Hatorah, Tatty explains that Hashem created us with the natural feeling of deep love for Hashem and for our parents, as well as simchas hachayim and simchas yom tov. However, we have blockages in our heart that cause us not to be able to feel. Our job is to figure out what our block is and correct that in order to feel the ahavas Hashem with all our heart and soul and with simcha.
How do we love Hashem ובכל נפשך with our nefesh, body and soul? By not going to places that Hashem commanded us not to go. When the entire body stays in Israel with happiness and out of love for Hashem we fulfill the mitzvhas mentioned in krias shema.
ובכל מאודך to do his will with our brain, our physical and emotional strength, time, money, energy, and talents that Hashem gave us to fulfill His commandments. When we put His will before our will, and we do so with happiness, we truly fulfil the commandments of ואהבת את ה’ אלוקיך בכל לבבך ובכל נפשך ובכל מאודך!!
והיו הדברים האלה אשר אנכי מצוך היום where do we need to keep these words that Hashem commanded us? על לבבך
And these things that I command you this day shall be upon your heart.
When our hearts are filled with the love of Hashem along with the knowledge that He is our Father and our King, then we can do His mitzvahs with love and happiness.
In addition, because we have it in our hearts, we can then give it over to our children.
ושננתם לבניך ודברת בם בשבתך בביתך ובלכתך בדרך ובשכבך ובקומך
And You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk, when you lie down, and when you get up.
When the Torah is our guiding light and our love for Hashem stands above all else in this world, then nothing can take us away from Hashem. When we lead by example, we can easily give it over to our children, and it has the ability to be absorbed by our children and our future generations.
There are lots of Jews who never leave the land that Hashem has commanded us to live in. Now, you too, have the opportunity to stand with these great people. To stand up to peer pressure and to the yetzer hora not to leave Hashem’s chosen country.
We don’t need to stand in the gehenim where our grandparents, aunts and uncles suffered the worst torture, starvation, and living nightmares. We don’t need to visit the place where 6 million Jews were brutally burned alive, shot in cold blood in front of loved ones, and viciously murdered. We don’t need a reminder of what happens when we leave Israel. We know that the gentiles always want to annihilate us, they want to destroy and finish us.
We got the message from the holocaust, Yes, Hashem, we heard, we obey and we are staying with You in the land that You said is ארץ זבת חלב ודבש the land flowing with milk and honey. We see it and we believe it, we do not need another reminder.
We also witnessed on October 7, 2023 what happens when we do not follow Hashem’s will. Those who went to the festival on a yom tov to dance with the idol buddha instead of following Hashem, the Torah and their parents, suffered greatly at the hands of gentiles. However, those who chose to stay home and do Hashem’s commandments were saved.
Now, with Hashem’s help, you too, will be strong and be filled with love for Hashem and be proud to follow Avrohom Avinu in the Chosen Land.
Our dear child, you are a rebbisha grandchild. You have a lot of yichus all the way up to Avrohom Avinu as clearly written in the Sefer Hayochsin we published for your bar mitzvah, this means that you have and lots of zcus avos! This includes all the merits and rewards from the hard tests they have passed, if you follow in their ways. סנהדרין כז ב כשאוחזין מעשה אבותיהם בידיהם. Once we pass a test, the merit and strong DNA is handed to our generations so that their tests in this particular area is easier for them.
Now is your chance to use all the strength passed down from those great generations to you, so that you can now do what is right in the eyes of Hashem.
Our great ancestors are looking down at you to see if you have the strength to use the DNA that you have gotten from them to overcome this test and chose life דברים ל יט ובחרת בחיים למען תחיה אתה וזרעך
Together we are holding onto the gold chain of messora, proudly with love. We stand with you, and we are here for you. Together we stand with Hashem, together we are strong against the yetzer hora, and together we will go towards Moshiach. Together we will greet our great ancestors, and together will continue to see Hashem’s blessings, which is only דברים יא כא על האדמה אשר נשבע ה’ לאבתיכם in this country on His chosen land.
We love you
We believe in you
We know that you can do everything you put your mind to
With deep love from our heart and soul
Tatty and Mommy
