Last Week’s Geshmake Question:
Hashem promised that He would never flood the entire world again. He said there will be a rainbow as a reminder that even when the world deserves a flood, it won’t be destroyed, and instead there is a rainbow.
Question: Why was the rainbow—which is so beautiful—specifically chosen, as the sign of Hashem's promise?
Ask your friend or Rav/Rabbi for an answer and it may appear here.
Text your answer in by Sunday to (347) 228-0328 or by email to [email protected]
This Week’s Geshmake Question:
I'm So Proud Of You!
One erev Shabbos, R' Matisyahu Salomon z"tl called Avrumi—someone he was close to—and asked if he could get him a dentist appointment before Shabbos.
Avrumi said if the Mashgiach wants to go a few hours before the zman, then he must be in terrible pain; I will make sure to find a dentist right away.
Actually, I am not in so much pain, the Mashgiach said, but it hurts me to smile, and after davening Friday night, when everyone comes to say good Shabbos, I won’t be able to give them a full smile. I know some people wait all week just for that.
That’s the lesson! When one’s tooth hurts, they will go to the dentist because they are in pain. But R' Matisyahu was only thinking of others; others would be hurt if he didn’t go to the dentist.
This connects to this week’s parsha:
Question:
Why was Avraham tested and told “go and move away from where he was already helping so many people find Hashem”?
Answer:
One of the reasons Avraham was tested was so he could feel himself what it means to travel, to be away from home, and to need help from others. He would then be able to help others because he personally experienced those tests.
In life, kindness/chesed is thinking about others; sometimes, to really help others, one must first know what it means to need that kindness.
Yanky Gross & E.T. Answers:
Hashem wants to show us that even when we need to get punished it’s really from a beautiful place, from mercy, that everything Hashem does is for the good!
R' Zechariah Wallerstein zt"l once spoke in Florida. After he finished, a man came over to him and said, “I want to share something very personal with you.”
He had tears in his eyes as he shared, “My mother went through the Holocaust and lost her husband and eight children. After the war, she married my father, and I am her only child.”
One thing was always missing when I was growing up. My mother never said ‘I love you’ or ‘I’m proud of you.’ Never. I always wished she would, but she never did.
When my mother wasn’t doing well, I went to visit her in the hospital, which was three days before she passed away. She told me there was something she wanted to say that she had never said before.
I leaned in close, and she whispered, “I am so proud of you!”
The man got very emotional and said, “R' Wallerstein, I have lots of money, my biggest deal was close to one hundred million dollars! It felt amazing, and I thought that day was the most important day of my life.”
But it wasn’t compared to the day my mother said, “I am so proud of you!” That was worth more than anything else in my life, and it was the biggest, most important day of my life.
“You are a speaker, please share this and tell mothers, fathers, grandmothers, and grandfathers.”
That’s the lesson! How powerful our words can be! Share your feelings with your family members. Why wait until someone dies to express how much you love or appreciate them? Just a little “I appreciate you!” It is so important—worth more than millions of dollars.
This connects to this week’s parsha:
Avraham was tested again and again.
Question:
Did Hashem hate Avraham? Why did He keep testing him?
Answer:
Because when one truly loves someone, one wants them to become their best possible selves. Hashem believed in Avraham, not hated him. Every test Avraham went through made him become Avraham Avinu.
In life, every test makes you become who you are.
Hashem doesn’t hide His love for us. Throughout the Torah and Chazal, Hashem tells us—and expresses to us—how much He loves us, chose us, and that we are His children no matter what, and that He is our loving Father.
You may go through challenges in life, realize it’s from Hashem who loves us, and believes in us. Think about it like this; “Every challenge is an expression from Hashem that he trusts we can overcome the challenge.”
Teeth pain…
Why is the whole story of how Avraham Avinu was put to prison for ten years and was willing to be thrown into a fire rather than bowing down to Avodah Zarah not written openly in the Torah?
Leiby B. Answers:
Even Hashem’s reminder that we have to behave comes in the most beautiful form!
Matisyahu Milstein Answers:
Hashem gives Musser through love!
