Golda Meir, Israel’s fourth Prime Minister, once said that her job is to be the Prime Minister to a country filled with Prime Ministers. After spending 13 years in the Hebrew Academy, I often see the validity of this statement. We have a lot of opinions and questions.
This week’s Torah portion is Vayeira. The climax of the parsha is the Akeida, the narrative where G-d commanded Avraham to sacrifice his son Yitzchak. Avraham was told that the Jewish people would come out of Yitzchak, and yet G-d commanded him to kill him. Avraham complied, not asking anything of G-d. If there is ever a time to ask questions, it would be then. How could Avraham not “remind” G-d of His promise that Avraham would father great nations?
This absolute loyalty is what made Avraham great. He questioned human actions, but never G-d’s. He truly understood the concept of “Gam Zu Letova,” that everything would be for the better. By living his life with this motto, Avraham was able to accept the hardships of life and pass all the tests they threw at him. Avraham, the father of the Jewish people, is our father for precisely that.
He represents our resilience and continuance. No matter what we have gone through, whether it be the horrors of the Holocaust, the Inquisition, the Pogroms, or any other hardship, we have been able to come out even stronger than before.
By: Gabe Apoj (12th Grade)
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