Ethics from the weekly Torah portion - VAYERA

Ethics from the Weekly Torah Portion

VAYERA

In Genesis 18:13-14, God rebukes Abraham by asking him why his wife Sarah laughed when she heard she was going to finally have a son.

The question is, why didn't God rebuke Sarah directly, why did He do it through Abraham? Sarah was also a prophetess so therefore could have received direct rebuke?

Rabbi Yisrael Salanter, the founder of what is known as the "mussar" movement; explains this with a parable.

A rabbi was once in the home of one of his congregants. He saw that the Jewish cook in the kitchen was very lazy with regards to the laws of Kashrut, Jewish dietary requirements. He went to the congregant and asked him why he wasn't careful in his Mitzvah observance. The man, puzzled, responds by asking the Rabbi how he could have possible arrived at this conclusion? The Rabbi explained that it was because his cook was lazy in observance of the commandments regarding Kashrut. The man responded saying that the Rabbi's claim was absurd; the man never enters the kitchen when the cook is there; how could the cooks problems be as a result of the man.

The Rabbi responded by saying: "It all starts with you. It is a chain reaction. First you are lazy and not so careful in Mitzvah observance. Then your wife copies your example, as you are her role model in such matters. The cook, seeing that your wife is lazy and not careful in her mitzvah observance, wonders why she has to be, and therefore is not careful which could result in you eating non-Kosher food. She doesn't check eggs for blood spots (Jews are forbidden from eating blood by Jewish law), and doesn't check the vegatables for bugs (also forbidden for consumption, even by mistake). This all stems from your example.

This can be compared to a blueprint. On a blueprint for a building; a few millimetres off a blueprint seems like no big deal. But when the blueprint is build into a building, this could turn into a shortfall of a few metres!!

This is so too with generations. We are all links in a chain. If one link is broken or weaked, the whole chain is affected from that point onward to a greater extent.

It is no co-incidendence that the anniversary of the death of my grandfather, R' Dov ben Yaakov, Z'l falls during the week of this week's portion of Vayera. Having survived the holocaust, whilst upholding his traditions and heritage to the fullest, left the Nazi inferno and moved to England, whilst managing to reach out to many people and bring them closer to their heritage. In a time when many chains were broken or weakened, he managed to remain a strong link in the chain. His example was copied by his children, and by their children's children. That is how he merits to have many grandchildren who follow in his ways and keep true to their Torah study and Mitzvah observance.

May his memory be blessed.