פרשת חיי שרה

In this week’s Parsha, Avraham’s astounding life is about to come to an end as the verse testifies about him, “And Avraham was elderly and he had come along in years”. There is a fascinating Midrash on this verse which says that as Avraham was getting older, he became disturbed because at that time, people showed no signs of aging. So when people saw a son and a father walking down the street, they didn’t know who was older and who was younger. Avraham then requested from Hashem that He make some sort of indicator to let people know that they were aging. Hashem responded by saying that Avraham had asked for something very wise, and because he was the first person to request it, he would be the first person to receive it, hence the verse, “And Avraham was elderly, etc.” Similarly, Yitzchak was concerned with the fact that up until his time, nobody on earth suffered. This bothered him because a person would come to the next world, and would have to take full responsibility for their action, whereas if he had suffered a little in this world, he would be slightly exonerated in the world to come. Hashem responded by saying that since Yitzchak had asked for such a wonderful thing, he would be the first to receive it, hence the verse, “And Yitchak’s eyes were feeble.” And finally, Yaakov suggested that there be sickness in the world, in order that people should have some indication as to when they are going to die, and can distribute their estate accordingly. Hashem responded again, by starting with Yaakov, hence the verse, “And Yosef was informed that his father was sick”, and he went to see him.

R’ Dessler explains this fantastic Midrash by saying that each and every person tries to serve God in the way that they can do best, and when Hashem sees how hard they are trying, but they may be lacking certain “abilities”, He fills in those abilities so that the person may fulfill his desire to serve his Creator. Avraham excelled in the attribute of kindness. Kindness stems from a fundamental desire to give goodness to Hashem’s creatures on this earth, just as He Himself does. However, Avraham recognized that there was a problem. He couldn’t properly honor the inhabitants of this earth if he couldn’t recognize who was deserving of that honor. So Hashem recognized Avraham’s desire to serve Him, and invented old age in order to facilitate Avraham’s holy desire. Yitzchak excelled in the trait of self-sacrifice. But Yitzchak realized that without the tool of punishment in this earth, many people would find it difficult to repent on their own. Hashem therefore recognized this legitimate request, and invented hardships in order to send people little wake up calls or friendly reminders so that they would turn to His service before it is too late. And finally Yaakov excelled in truth and perfection, and didn’t want to see the heirs of a late father squabbling over their inheritance when the dirt from their deceased father is still fresh. He therefore asked Hashem for illness so that people could have a little warning signal, and again, his honorable request was granted.

R’ Dessler would extrapolate from this extraordinary Midrash to what extent a person who truly seeks the right path will be helped in reaching that path. We find that Hashem will even go so far as to give a person a new set of tools, tools which he was not born with, and couldn’t have even imagined, if he sincerely wants to find the truth. Indeed, it is told of R’ Chaim Kanievsky that he finishes the entire Torah every twelve months. Bavli, Yerushalmi, Tanach, Sifra and Sifri, etc. Obviously, he is very happy when there is a leap year, because he has one month of vacation from his rigorous schedule. So every leap year R’ Chaim writes a book. He has books on very obscure topics. For example, one of his books is all of the laws of a lefty. In any case, while he was composing his book on the law of the Kosher grasshoppers, in which he delineates which one of these delectable species may be eaten and which ones may not be, there was a certain particular detail about one of the species which had completely baffled him and he could not figure out. At that point, the exact species in question hopped through his open window, and sat on his desk as he diagrammed it. When he had finished, it hopped away. When asked once if this story were true, R’ Chaim responded with surprise toward the question. He exclaimed, “Haven’t you ever had Heavenly aid during your studies”? (If anyone doubts the integrity of this story, they can ask R’ Chaim themselves during his visiting hours in Bnei Brak).

However, it goes without saying that this will only happen if a person is truly sincere in his desire to grow, and if he is using all of the tools that he was given already. Without these two conditions, it is unreasonable to expect Heavenly aid beyond his abilities. If a person is merely “floating along”, and not exerting any special effort or displaying any sincere desire to grow, he will not receive this unique aid. This can be seen from the Tanchuma in Parshas Re’eh. The verse says, “One must honor Hashem with what he has been given”. The Midrash explains this verse by saying that it is incumbent upon a person to take all the gifts he has been given, and to use them to honor God. A wasted gift is not something that will go overlooked.

The Yalkut in Mishle tells a story of a certain man who had such an exquisite voice, that the entire Jewish people would gather together once a year to hear his voice. One year, this man did not make the trip up to Jerusalem. The wicked people of the generation testified about him that he had passed away that year. The Midrash goes on to say that the reason he deserved such a harsh punishment, was because he deprived the world of his tremendous voice that God blessed him with. We see from this Midrash how serious it is to not fully utilize the gifts we have been endowed with in the service of Hashem.

I would just like to conclude with a story brought down in the work of R’ Tzvi Katsonover. He writes that he once met a simple Jew, a tailor by trade who requested to have his work table turned into his coffin, and the thread which he used to sow be made into his shrouds. When questioned about this seemingly strange request, he responded, “I am a simple Jew, not particularly leaned, and have not really excelled in any Mitzvah performance. But when I get up to Heaven, the one thing I can say about myself is that I did business honestly, and that I used what God gave me to do the best that I could”. R’ Tzvi felt that there was a lot we can all learn from this touching story of a simple Jew.

May we all merit to fully use the gifts that we were given, and to always foster a great yearning to do the will of our creator!