Dear Parents and NCSYers,
What do Ben Stiller, Rabbi Green, and Avraham Avinu have in common? Click here to watch a video and find out.
Yaakov Wolff all star writer is at again, writing another outstanding dvar torah for the Israeli news site "The Times of Israel." You can access it by clicking here.
This week, we are graced with a holy torah message from Rabbi Fried. Will the congregation please rise...
In this week's parsha, parshas vayeira, we are told in Perek 18 Posuk 19 "And they (Avraham's descendants, AKA the Jewish people) will keep the ways of Hashem, to do that which is right and just." Most commentators explain this Posuk by saying that in order to do what is right and just, you must keep the ways of Hashem. This is a true explanation, that what is right and just in the world is only that which the Torah (AKA Hashem) tells us is right and just. Only He decides what is considered ethical.
However, the Yalkut Gershoni gives another interpretation of this posuk, which is a very important lesson to us. In American society, we have an expression: "The ends justify the means." This means that as long as the end is good, how you got to that end does not make a difference. I could have done the most terrible things to get there, but it is all fine and dandy as long as the outcome is positive. The Torah, however, disagrees with that ideology. The entire process is what really matters, and not just the end. This is what the Posuk means when it says "and they will keep the ways of Hashem." You must do the mitzvos (and everything else) in a way that is right and just. It still is important to do mitzvos, but the main thing is that the whole process is done in a proper way.
Have a sensational Shabbos!
P.S. If anyone would like to write a dvar torah for the weekly e-mail, please contact ydeutscher@gmail.com. There will be an awesome prize in camp next summer for any NCSYer who writes one! |