Page 33 - HaMizrachiChayei Sarah AUS 2020

Rabbi Berel Wein

Our Role Today

Avraham and Sarah or Yitzchak and Rivka?

eath is not only tragic for biological offspring. Eventually, it is order to further fuzzy, do-good, uni-
those intimately affected. It only through Ya’akov that Avraham versal humanistic ideas, is a self-de-
Dalso always poses problems and Sarah continue and become the structive viewpoint of the purpose of
of succession and reorganization of blessing G-d promised they would Judaism.
the family, company or institution. be. The world struggle that engaged
Avraham and Sarah, the founders of Avraham and Sarah becomes a strug- Without Jews, there is no Judaism.
the Jewish nation, pass from the scene gle within Avraham and Sarah’s family Without Judaism, there is no true
in this week’s parasha. They are suc- itself. moral conscience left in the world.
ceeded by Yitzchak and Rivka and in
fact, the majority of the parasha con- It becomes abundantly clear that Therefore, it seems evident to me that
cerns itself with how Yitzchak marries the Jewish people’s main struggle the primary imperative of Jews today
Rivka and how they establish their will be to consolidate itself and thus is to strengthen and support Jewish
new home together. influence the world by osmosis, so family life, Torah education and the
to speak. The time of Avraham and State of Israel.
In personality, temperament and Sarah has passed and new times
action, Yitzchak and Rivka differ require different responses to the We are in the generations of Yitzchak
markedly from Avraham and Sarah. challenges of being a blessing to all of and Rivka and therefore we have to
Whereas Avraham and Sarah devoted humankind. husband our resources and build our-
themselves to reaching as many out- selves first. As yet, we have not made
siders as they could and were actively There are those in the Jewish world good the population losses of the
engaged in spreading the idea of who are committed to “fixing the Holocaust 75 years ago! If the Jewish
monotheism in the surrounding soci- world” at the expense of Jewish tra- people will be strong and numerous,
ety, Yitzchak and Rivka seem to take ditional life and Torah law. Yet the the age of Avraham and Sarah will
a more conservative approach. They simple truth is that for the Jewish reemerge. The tasks of the consoli-
attempted to consolidate what their people to be effective in influencing dation of Jewish life – as represented
forebears accomplished and to build the general society for good, we must by the lives of Yitzchak and Rivka –
a family nation rather than trying to be a strong and committed people. In should be the hallmark of our gener-
attract more strangers to their cause. Shir HaShirim, King Solomon warns ation as well.
us that “I have watched the vineyards
As we will see in next week’s para- of others but I have neglected guard-
sha, Yitzchak and Rivka’s struggle is ing my own vineyard.”
an internal family one. How best to
raise Eisav and Ya’akov and guarantee The attempted destruction and dele- Rabbi Berel Wein is Senior Rabbi of Beit
the continuity of Avraham and Sar- gitimization of the Jewish people or Knesset HaNassi in Jerusalem and Direc-
ah’s ideas and beliefs through their the State of Israel – G-d forbid – in tor of the Destiny Foundation.