This week's newsletter focuses on the promises made to Abraham by God.
Please note the new feature of a verse from Psalms for contemplation for the week.
michael
A word of Torah:
Abraham is often depicted as a person of faith. Yet at the end of his life, God’s two promises to him of inheriting a land and having numerous children remain unfulfilled. Why then does the text say that God blessed Abraham ba-kol/with everything (Gen. 24:1)?
Abraham finally realizes a mistaken notion that affected his life. He waits for God to fulfill the promises of numerous children and of the land of Canaan. He thinks that to be a person of faith means to wait patiently for God to fulfill the promise. Actually, it is up to him to fulfill the promise of his life. Each of us has hopes and dreams. Each of us is blessed with the ability to fulfill or at least to strive to fulfill that potential.
At the end of his life, Abraham understands that it is up to him, and so he buys a piece of property in the Promised Land—a first step to the promised inheritance. Similarly, he realizes if Isaac doesn’t marry, there will be no descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky. He sends his servant back to the “old country” to find an appropriate wife to ensure the promise can still come to pass.
Within religions, one path believes that God will provide despite all evidence to the contrary. To be a person of faith is to hold on to that belief. Another path suggests that faith is the potential of human beings to do the right thing. Faith is a vision of a world of caring and compassion. A person of faith welcomes the traveler and speaks truth to power as Abraham did in last week’s Torah portion. This person of faith has a humble belief in themselves and is able to learn from their inevitable mistakes. They understand that you shouldn’t smash your father’s idols only to make your own.
They envision a future filled with a promised land, and a world of justice and compassion, even when it seems far off or worse---impossible. They believe in their ability to bring it about. Abraham buys one piece of land and arranges Isaac’s marriage in order to create the possibility of the fulfillment of God’s promises. Abraham offers hope rather than despair, for he lives a life of change rather than holding on to the past. He teaches that what is required is not a faith despite the obstacles in life, but rather a faith in life, in the possibilities of our vision.
Od lo avda tikvateinu—we have not lost the Hope—the vision of a land where everyone can sit beneath their olive tree and none shall make them afraid.
I have decided to use this space to offer a verse from the book of Psalms as an intention for the week.
Kaveh el adonai hazak ve-yametz libekha ve-kaveh el adonai
Hope in God, strengthen your heart with courage, hope in the Eternal One
Kavanah: Just as the verse begins and ends with hope, surround your heart with hope and connect to what is required for these difficult times.
Song
Or hadesh al tzion ta'ir
ve-nizkeh khulanu bimheirah le'oro
May a new light shine upon Zion.
May everyone be worthy of its light
