There is no doubt that one of the positive outcomes of this heart wrenching unimaginable war is the unity that the Jewish people are experiencing for the first time in a long history of divide especially between the non-religious and religious. At the core of the Jewish people stands a powerful truth (which is mentioned in a many places in Chazal including the words of the Yerushalmi in Nedarim Perek 9) we are one soul that is fragmented into many souls, and therefore when we are in the “proper zone” we unite and become the most powerful army in the world.
This unity is being expressed from both sides of the table. The heartwarming amazing help that so many holy religious Jews which includes everything under the sun that a soldier can dream of is somehow delivered with love and devotion.
The love is being mirrored from the other side too. The following story echoes this sentiment. A Yid shows up with tons of food to one of the army units. He isn’t wearing a head covering – kipa –and so the head of the unit explains to him that in order for the soldiers to eat the food he needs to ask the Rabbi in charge. So the Rabbi comes over and meets the Yid. The Yid, or as the Rabbi describes the Yid, a real neshama, explains to the Rabbi that this is the second time in his life time that he is speaking to a Rabbi. Once is now, and the other time was when he decided to cook up meals for the 300 soldiers, and didn’t want to have a soldier not eat his food because it’s not kosher, so he called up a Rabbi and asked him to make sure his whole kitchen is koshered, and the food is properly supervised. The army Rabbi was very touched, and he gave this holy Yid a big hug and said “Mi kamcha Yisrael.”
In our parsha, parshas Lech Lecha, Avraham Avinu is traveling to the land of Israel with his family and “the souls that he made in Charan.” Who were these souls? The Zohar explains these are the converts that Avraham and Sara brought to the belief in Hashem. The Zohar goes on to explain the incredible reward that one who brings other people under the wings of Hashem will receive.
There is a very powerful message in the introduction to the Sefer Nefesh Hachayim written by Rav Chaim Voloziner. The introduction is from his children, who relate that their father use to often say that the most important thing a person can do in this world is chessed. And from what I recall, Rav Aharon Kotler, zt”l adds that the greatest chessed one can do with someone is to teach them the word of Hashem. In truth, this is actually an explicit statement of Chazal, who say that “misleading someone spiritually is worse than killing him.” And if that is true on the negative side, then certainly on the positive side, giving to someone spiritually is the greatest gift one can give. This really was Avraham Avinu’s legacy.
As we see in next week’s parsha, Avraham opens up a hotel to bring people closer to Hashem. And how does he get them in the door? With delicious food – tongue sandwiches with mustard. From whom did Avraham receive the inspiration for the importance of chessed? Shem ben Noach. The midrash explains that Avraham asked Shem ”In what merit did you leave the ark?” Shem answered “In the merit of the chessed that we did with the animals.” When Avraham heard this, he said “If chessed is so great, then that will be my mission statement.”
What exactly did Avraham Avinu learn from Shem? Why was it so transformational? This will be discussed in the future be’ezras Hashem.
May we be zoche to unite fully through our prayers and acts of chessed, and merit to see the redemption bimhera bayamienu.
by Rabbi Daniel Coren
