(no subject)
My dvar this evening, in case you were interested.
It is almost Thanksgiving. A time where we gather together with our families and friends, enjoy great food, relax, and feel a deep sense of comfort. A time where we recognize how bountiful our lives are. How many gifts we are privileged to have.
If you could give any gift to G-d, what would it be? I asked this question a few weeks ago to the third grade religious school class that I teach, and they told me, “I would play a song on my piano for G-d”, and “I would win a baseball game for G-d”, and “I would give G-d a smile”.
In our Torah portion this week, G-d asks Abraham for a gift. But it is something much more tangible than all of these things, and something that it would hurt Abraham much more to give. G-d asks Abraham to bring his child up to the top of a mountain for a sacrifice.
Abraham loves his G-d. But he also loves his son. He wants to be present to his son, and he wants to give the gift of love to his son. He uses the same phrase, “I am here” when his son speaks to him as he does when G-d speaks to him.
G-d knows all this. And G-d is not a cruel being who, when he tells his angels to shout to Abraham that he should not kill his son was merely changing his mind. I would like to believe, that G-d never wanted Abraham to kill his son. Many people view this story as a test of Abraham’s faith - a test to see if he values G-d above all else. I like to read it as a different kind of test - a test to see if Abraham is righteous enough to question even G-d when he thinks that G-d is wrong, and a test that will in the end help him determine a positive way to relate to and to give gifts to G-d. I think G-d wanted Abraham to say “No! I love my son, and if I understand what it is to be righteous and if I understand You, I will not sacrifice my son for you! You would not want this!”
G-d wants Abraham to learn how best to relate to G-d. G-d wants Abraham to develop his relationship with G-d. And G-d knows that human sacrifice is not uncommon in Abraham’s time among the peoples that surround him, so G-d offers Abraham a way that others connect to their gods, and wants him to reject it, and to find his own way to connect to his own G-d, a way that involves giving gifts that G-d might actually want.
It is only when Abraham listens to the voice of the angel crying to him not to kill his son that he recognizes that G-d does not really want this of him, and it is only then that G-d praises and blesses Abraham, “For you have heard My voice.”
And so Abraham learns another way to give gifts to G-d. He can give the gift of his son to G-d by teaching his son, and by loving his son - by giving gifts to others, he is also giving gifts to G-d. Loving his son and loving his G-d are not ideas that have to compete with each other, they go hand in hand.
This week, many of us are going home for Thanskgiving. Many families have a tradition of going around the table and saying what they are thankful for. This week, I suggest that we not only say what we are thankful for, but we give thanks. That it is a gift that we give in replacement for physical sacrifice. Maybe I shouldn’t or can’t or don’t want to give G-d my friends, my family, the love and happiness that I feel, my sense of security, the promise of the future, all of the things that make life so beautiful to me, but I can give G-d thanks for these things.
If I could give G-d any gift, I think it would be thanks. So thanks, G-d!
Happy Thanksgiving, and Shabbat Shalom.
It is almost Thanksgiving. A time where we gather together with our families and friends, enjoy great food, relax, and feel a deep sense of comfort. A time where we recognize how bountiful our lives are. How many gifts we are privileged to have.
If you could give any gift to G-d, what would it be? I asked this question a few weeks ago to the third grade religious school class that I teach, and they told me, “I would play a song on my piano for G-d”, and “I would win a baseball game for G-d”, and “I would give G-d a smile”.
In our Torah portion this week, G-d asks Abraham for a gift. But it is something much more tangible than all of these things, and something that it would hurt Abraham much more to give. G-d asks Abraham to bring his child up to the top of a mountain for a sacrifice.
Abraham loves his G-d. But he also loves his son. He wants to be present to his son, and he wants to give the gift of love to his son. He uses the same phrase, “I am here” when his son speaks to him as he does when G-d speaks to him.
G-d knows all this. And G-d is not a cruel being who, when he tells his angels to shout to Abraham that he should not kill his son was merely changing his mind. I would like to believe, that G-d never wanted Abraham to kill his son. Many people view this story as a test of Abraham’s faith - a test to see if he values G-d above all else. I like to read it as a different kind of test - a test to see if Abraham is righteous enough to question even G-d when he thinks that G-d is wrong, and a test that will in the end help him determine a positive way to relate to and to give gifts to G-d. I think G-d wanted Abraham to say “No! I love my son, and if I understand what it is to be righteous and if I understand You, I will not sacrifice my son for you! You would not want this!”
G-d wants Abraham to learn how best to relate to G-d. G-d wants Abraham to develop his relationship with G-d. And G-d knows that human sacrifice is not uncommon in Abraham’s time among the peoples that surround him, so G-d offers Abraham a way that others connect to their gods, and wants him to reject it, and to find his own way to connect to his own G-d, a way that involves giving gifts that G-d might actually want.
It is only when Abraham listens to the voice of the angel crying to him not to kill his son that he recognizes that G-d does not really want this of him, and it is only then that G-d praises and blesses Abraham, “For you have heard My voice.”
And so Abraham learns another way to give gifts to G-d. He can give the gift of his son to G-d by teaching his son, and by loving his son - by giving gifts to others, he is also giving gifts to G-d. Loving his son and loving his G-d are not ideas that have to compete with each other, they go hand in hand.
This week, many of us are going home for Thanskgiving. Many families have a tradition of going around the table and saying what they are thankful for. This week, I suggest that we not only say what we are thankful for, but we give thanks. That it is a gift that we give in replacement for physical sacrifice. Maybe I shouldn’t or can’t or don’t want to give G-d my friends, my family, the love and happiness that I feel, my sense of security, the promise of the future, all of the things that make life so beautiful to me, but I can give G-d thanks for these things.
If I could give G-d any gift, I think it would be thanks. So thanks, G-d!
Happy Thanksgiving, and Shabbat Shalom.