These are the Parshiyos of strength, protection, prayer, and promises.
Hashem promises Avrohom – I will protect you. And we Klal Yisroel fall under that very same promise of protection. Magen Avrohom – even though we sometimes rush through the words, in shemonah esrei - the promise rings eternal.
Avrohom Avinu, the father of our faith – the great progenitor of chessed, is standing by our side as we battle our enemies. This promise of protection could not be more needed than today, during the trying times we are going through.
When Avrohom was sitting at the entrance to his tent, in the heat of the day. Chazal say that it was abnormally hot that day – Hashem opened up Gehenom for a short time to heat up the world.
We’ve all seen what Gehenom looks like in the ruthless attacks of our enemy. The entrance to the tent, our seforim say, is a reference to the tent of tefillah. Avrohom Avinu stands at the entrance, making sure that every tefillah, every cry from the heart is heard upon high. He is our guarantor.
The midah of chessed that Avrohom Avinu represents, serves to protect our nation forever. The success in battle that Avrohom achieved in the war with the kings, is a forerunner to our military success bez”H.
The akeidah, Avrohom’s willingness to sacrifice his only son, in a metaphysical way, serves to protect our own children.
The prayers of Avrohom Avinu in which he pours out his heart to Hashem, to save the residents of Sodom, we hope will protect us as well, said in tandem with the millions of words of prayer uttered on behalf of the safety of our soldiers and our people.
Our right to Eretz Yisroel, as the midrash says, comes to us from the Bris Milah that was initiated and inaugurated by Avrohom Avinu, three thousand years ago, but stands to this day as a merit to our nation.
Bringing our world closer to Hashem was what Avrohom and Sarah dedicated their entire lives to. We are following in their footsteps by participating in a myriad of unprecedented tefillos, chessed and kiruv levavos. In the merit of every foundation that Avrohom and Sorah created and every step that we take today to reaffirm our unity and our oneness as a people, may we be protected and rewarded with victory. Amein kein yehi ratzon.
Good Shabbos!
Written by R’ Avrohom Hillel Reich based on a lesson and story by Harav Ben Tziyon Sneh Shlita
