As a mother, and a
civilized human being, there is a specific story in the Torah that I
have always had difficulty with. G-d tells Abraham to take his son
Isaac and bring him up as a sacrifice. We all know that at the last
second, G-d tells Abraham to stop, for now Abraham has passed his
final test from G-d, and instead a ram is sacrificed. We also know
that Isaac was not a young child, he was 37 years old at that time,
and quite capable of figuring out what was going on. He did not
question his father, and he did not question
G-d. He asked that his
father tie him down so he would not struggle and make it harder. We
also understand that G-d never intended Abraham to sacrifice Isaac,
He was only testing him.
This morning, while
driving my kids to school, I was listening to music from one of my
favorite groups, 8th Day. They sing a song about our
father Abraham that really got me thinking.
We are the children of
Abraham and Isaac, and because of this story we have survived 3000
years of wandering. Our ability to put our own logic and
preconceived notions aside and do what G-d asks of us, is inherited
from Abraham. Our ability to drive 200 miles a day to give our
children a G-dly education, comes from Abraham. His actions in this
story infused his children with this ability – forever! As long as
it is required of us, we can do what it takes for our children.
From Isaac we have
inherited the trait of self sacrifice. We have the ability to
sacrifice our own comfort and desires and fears, for G-d. Many of us
have obstacles getting in the way of our spirituality, our dreams,
and many other successes. From Isaac we have inherited the strength
to tie ourselves down, so we don't flinch. Get past ourselves, and
do what needs to be done.
As a daughter of Abraham
and Isaac, I have inherited the strength to do whatever it takes to
hold my head up straight and walk the path G-d has lead me on. Had
Abraham not been asked to sacrifice Isaac, these gifts would not be
part of our inheritance. As G-d made Abraham the father of our
nation, he gave our future nation the tools we would need to survive.
To all of my brothers and
sisters out there, struggling along the way, do not flinch! Deep
within your soul's DNA, you have all of the tools you need to walk
straight and proud!
And YES, Abraham, we are
the children you dreamed about!
No comments:
Post a Comment