15 Cheshvan 5775 / 8 November 2014
Parashat Vayera
Torah: Genesis 18:1 – 22:24
Haftarah: 2 Kings 4:1-37
Dedications and calendar follow below. For
complete listings and lots more info on our community, see our web site at: http://www.bethmeier.org/
Please
feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source
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SACRIFICE – WHAT SACRIFICE?
"And it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham and said to him, 'Abraham', and he said, 'Here I am.' And He said, 'Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains that I will tell you of.'" Genesis 22:1-2
This is the lead-in to the Akeidah, the binding and near-sacrifice of Isaac. There are many, I among them, who believe that Abraham failed God's test by acquiescing to this command. Our children are our legacy. They are a part of us and so much more. We live on through them. Why would we sacrifice them? The very idea goes against everything Judaism stands for – indeed, molokh worship (human sacrifice) is specifically forbidden, subject to the death penalty, and was one of the reasons given for the commandment to destroy the Canaanites.
But there is another way to fulfill a mitzvah, to offer up parts of ourselves, to live on in a meaningful way and yet to suffer not at all - organ donation. Indeed, virtually all rabbis agree that organ donation at death is a positive mitzvah - an obligation of pikuach nefesh - saving a life. This idea represents everything that Judaism does stand for.
Next weekend, November 14-16, is National Donor Sabbath, a project of the US Department of Health and Human Services. More information is available at the web site:
http://www.organdonor.gov/
Last year, about 30,000 organ donations were performed in the US. This is impressive, until one realizes that there are over 120,000 Americans on the waiting lists for various organs. Every day, 80 transplants are performed in the US, while 18 people die waiting for organs they needed to survive. You can alleviate the pain and suffering of others, literally give them life, merely by completing an organ donation card available from your motor vehicle department or at the web site above.
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SACRIFICE – WHAT SACRIFICE?
"And it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham and said to him, 'Abraham', and he said, 'Here I am.' And He said, 'Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains that I will tell you of.'" Genesis 22:1-2
This is the lead-in to the Akeidah, the binding and near-sacrifice of Isaac. There are many, I among them, who believe that Abraham failed God's test by acquiescing to this command. Our children are our legacy. They are a part of us and so much more. We live on through them. Why would we sacrifice them? The very idea goes against everything Judaism stands for – indeed, molokh worship (human sacrifice) is specifically forbidden, subject to the death penalty, and was one of the reasons given for the commandment to destroy the Canaanites.
But there is another way to fulfill a mitzvah, to offer up parts of ourselves, to live on in a meaningful way and yet to suffer not at all - organ donation. Indeed, virtually all rabbis agree that organ donation at death is a positive mitzvah - an obligation of pikuach nefesh - saving a life. This idea represents everything that Judaism does stand for.
Next weekend, November 14-16, is National Donor Sabbath, a project of the US Department of Health and Human Services. More information is available at the web site:
http://www.organdonor.gov/
Last year, about 30,000 organ donations were performed in the US. This is impressive, until one realizes that there are over 120,000 Americans on the waiting lists for various organs. Every day, 80 transplants are performed in the US, while 18 people die waiting for organs they needed to survive. You can alleviate the pain and suffering of others, literally give them life, merely by completing an organ donation card available from your motor vehicle department or at the web site above.
Does
it work? My childhood friend and neighbor, Toni Linder, is alive today because
the family of 18-year-old Kevin Fox, who died as the result of a traffic
accident, overcame their grief and permitted doctors to harvest his organs, one
of which she received. As I was preparing this d’var torah, Toni wrote to me to
tell me that a friend of hers, also on the transplant list, had just been
notified that a heart had become available – another life being saved!
Sacrifice? Giving up that which is no longer needed to those in the greatest of needs - this is a final exam anyone can pass.
Sacrifice? Giving up that which is no longer needed to those in the greatest of needs - this is a final exam anyone can pass.
L’chayim! To Life!
Shabbat Shalom.
Shabbat Shalom.
Rabbi Richard A. Flom - ZSRS '00
Congregation Beth Meier
Studio City, CA
Visit
me on Facebook
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Candlelighting: 4:37 pm
Friday: Shabbat Evening Service – 8:00 pm. Oneg Shabbat follows.
Saturday: Shabbat Morning Service – 10:00 am. Kiddush lunch follows.
Sunday: Religious
School – 9:30 am. Adult Hebrew class – 10:00 am.
Tuesday: Lunch and Learn
- Noon.
The Los Angeles Clippers are having Jewish Community Night on Wednesday, December 17. Contact the Beth Meier office for specially-priced ticket info and purchase – this program is only available through participating synagogues – not on the Clippers website.
This d’var torah is offered in honor of Toni Linder, the
living, Kevin Fox, who lives on, and the Fox family who made it happen.
This d’var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Boaz
ben Dina, Michah ben Dina, Miriam Minya bat Alisa Batya, Sarah Mindel bat
Toby, Bonnie Baird, Jeff Bluen, Elsbet Brosky, John Todd Brosky, Howard
Ehrlich, Maya Fersht, Dr. Samuel Fersht, Jerry Forman, Leo Hoenig, Neal
Hoffman, Pamela Huddleston, Rose Jordan, Lina Kniter, Jeannie Kottler, Shirley
Kronzek, and Annie Rivera.
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Torah in honor of a simchah, in memory of a loved one or for a refuah shleimah
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