Parshat Chayei Sarah

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October 26, 2013 22 Cheshvan, 5774

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks on Parshat Chayei Sarah

Our parsha contains the most serene description of old age and dying anywhere in the Torah: "Then Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man and full of years; and he was gathered to his people" (Gen. 25: 8). There is an earlier verse, no less moving: "Abraham was old, well advanced in years, and G-d had blessed Abraham with everything" (Gen. 24: 1). Nor was this serenity the gift of Abraham alone. Rashi was puzzled by the description of Sarah "Sarah lived to be 127 years old: [These were] the years of Sarah's life" (23: 1). The last phrase seems completely superfluous. Why not just tell us that Sarah lived to the age of 127? What is added by saying that "these were the years of Sarah's life"? Rashi is forced to the conclusion that the first half of the verse talks about the quantity of her life, how long she lived, while the second tells us about the quality of her life. "They the years she lived - were all equal in goodness." Yet how is any of this conceivable? Abraham and Sarah were commanded by G-d to leave everything that was familiar: their land, their home, their family, and travel to an unknown land. No sooner had they arrived than they were forced to leave because of famine. Twice, Abraham's life was at risk when, driven into exile, he worried that he would be killed so that the local ruler could take Sarah into his harem. Sarah herself had to say that she was Abraham's sister, and had to suffer the indignity of being taken into a stranger's household. Then there was the long wait for a child, made even more painful by the repeated Divine promise that they would have as many children as the stars of the sky or the dust of the earth. Then came the drama of the birth of Ishmael to Sarah's servant Hagar. This aggravated the relation between the two women, and eventually Abraham had to send Hagar and Ishmael away. One way or another, this was a source of pain to all four people involved. Then there was the agony of the binding of Isaac. Abraham was faced with the prospect of losing the person most precious to him, the child he had waited for so long. One way or another, neither Abraham nor Sarah had an easy life. Theirs were lives of trial, in which their faith was tested at many points. How can Rashi say that all of Sarah's years were equal in goodness? How can the Torah say that Abraham had been blessed with everything? The answer is given by the parsha itself, and it is very unexpected. Seven times Abraham had been promised the land. Here is just one of those occasions: The Lord said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, "Raise your eyes, and, from the place where you are now [standing], look to the north, to the south, to the east, and to the west. All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. Go, walk

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Shaabbat Announcements Parshat Chayei Sarah 5774

through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you" (Gen. 13: 14-17). Yet by the time Sarah dies, Abraham has no land at all, and he is forced to prostrate himself before the local Hittites and beg for permission to acquire even a single field with a cave in which to bury his wife. Even then he has to pay what is clearly a massively inflated price: four hundred silver shekels. This does not sound like the fulfillment of the promise of "all the land, north, south, east and west."

neither are you free to desist from it" (Avot 2: 16). Gd himself said of Abraham, "For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him" (Gen. 18: 19). The meaning of this is clear. If you ensure that your children will continue to live for what you have lived for, then you can have faith that they will continue your journey until eventually they reach the Then, in relation to children, Abraham is promised four destination. Abraham did not need to see all the land times: "I will make you into a great nation" (12: 2). "I in Jewish hands, nor did he need to see the Jewish will make your offspring like the dust of the earth" (13: people become numerous. He had taken the first step. 16). G-d "took [Abram] outside and said, 'Look at the He had begun the task, and he knew that his sky and count the stars. See if you can count them.' [G- descendants would continue it. He was able to die d] then said to him, 'That is how [numerous] your serenely because he had faith in G-d and faith that descendants will be.'" (15: 5). "No longer shall you be others would complete what he had begun. The same called Abram. Your name shall become Abraham, for I was surely true of Sarah. To place your life in G-d's have set you up as the father of many nations" (17: 5). hands, to have faith that whatever happens to you Yet he had to wait so long for even a single son by Sarah happens for a reason, to know that you are part of a that when G-d insisted that she would indeed have a larger narrative, and to believe that others will son, both Abraham (17: 17) and Sarah (18: 12) continue what you began, is to achieve a satisfaction laughed. (The sages differentiated between these two in life that cannot be destroyed by circumstance. episodes, saying that Abraham laughed with joy, Sarah Abraham and Sarah had that faith, and they were able with disbelief. In general, in Genesis, the verb tz-ch-k, to to die with a sense of fulfillment. laugh, is fraught with ambiguity). One way or another, whether we think of children or the land - the two key Divine promises to Abraham and Sarah - the reality fell far short of what they might have felt entitled to expect. That, however, is precisely the meaning and message of Chayei Sarah. In it Abraham does two things: he buys the first plot in the land of Canaan, and he arranges for the marriage of Isaac. One field and a cave was, for Abraham, enough for the text to say that "G-d had blessed Abraham with everything." One child, Isaac, by then married and with children (Abraham was 100 when Isaac was born; Isaac was sixty when the twins, Jacob and Esau, were born; and Abraham was 175 when he died) was enough for Abraham to die in peace. Lao-Tzu, the Chinese sage, said that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. To that Judaism adds, "It is not for you to complete the work but Great Neck Synagogue Shabbat Activities Program 26 Old Mill Road, Great Neck , NY 11023 516-487-6100 Dale Polakoff, Rabbi Ian Lichter, Assistant Rabbi Dr. Ephraim Wolf ,zl, Rabbi Emeritus Zeev Kron, Cantor Eleazer Schulman, zl, Cantor Emeritus Rabbi Sholom Jensen, Youth Director Zehava & Dr. Michael Atlas, Youth Directors Mark Twersky, Executive Director Rabbi Avraham Bronstein, Program Director Dr. Scott Danoff, President Harold Domnitch, Chairman of the Board Dena Block, Yoetzet Halacha 516-320-9818 To be happy does not mean that you have everything you want or everything you were promised. It means, simply, to have done what you were called on to do, to have made a beginning, and then to have passed on the baton to the next generation. "The righteous, even in death, are regarded as though they were still alive" (Berakhot 18a) because the righteous leave a living trace in those who come after them. That was enough for Abraham and Sarah, and it must be enough for us.

AL&LILLEIDERMAN PleasejoinusthisShabbataswepaytribute toAlandLilLeidermanandthankthemforthe manyyearsofservicetheyhavegivento GreatNeckSynagogue.Aftermorethan54 years,thiswillbethelastShabbatthatthe LeidermansareresidentsofGreatNeck, astheywillbemovingtoNewJerseytobe closertotheirchildren.Theircontributionto oursynagogueandcommunityhasbeen extraordinaryandwelookforwardtopublicly acknowledgingallthattheyhavedoneand wishingthemwellonthisnewpartof theirjourney.

GNSOCTOBERCHESEDCOLLECTION
OurOctobercollectionisforbabyclothesandbabyitems. AlldonationswillbenefitOnegShabbos. Babyclothesshouldbeneworgentlyworn.Babyitems shouldbecleanandingoodcondition. Snowsuitsandblanketsarealsoneeded. PleasedropoffdonationsatthehomeofMichelleandPhilip Berman11MargaretCourt. Allitemscanbeleftonthefrontporch.

GreatNeckSynagogueMensClub ComeenjoyaFreeBreakfast andhearourDynamicSpeaker

HerbKeinon
Diplomaticandpoliticalcorrespondent atTheJerusalemPost Topic: Isitasbadasitseems?Anonsensationalistlookat Israel'scurrentstateofaffairs,fromIrantoGaza, ObamatoAbbas,withemphasisonthepeacetalks. Sunday,October27,2013at10:00am Allwelcome DoyouliketoBAKE OR DoyouprefertoEATCAKE? Eitherway,youcandoamitzvah. PIESFORPREVENTION isofferingdeliciouspiesforyourThanksgiving meal.Youcanvolunteertobaketheminyourko sherhomeforustosell,oryoucanbuythemfrom usforyourThanksgivingmeal. ALLSALESWILLSUPPORTSHARSHERETSUNIQUE PROGRAMHELPINGYOUNGJEWISHWOMENAND THEIRFAMILIESDEALINGWITHOVARIANCANCER. IfyouwouldliketoVOLUNTEERtobeabaker, callTOVAHat5163147135or emailherattwerber@gmail.com Informationforbuyingpiescomingsoon! CosponsoredbySisterhood andWomensTefilaofGNS

ANNOUNCEMENTS
WOMENS TEFILA This Shabbat Womens Tefila will meet for Shabbat Mincha services. The Bat Mitzvah of Esther Baum will be celebrated. Emma & Bart Baum will sponsor the collation in her honor. BI-ANNUAL OHEL SHABBATON The Ohel Shabbaton will be taking place this Shabbat on Oct.25-26th. If you are interested in hosting OHEL members for that Shabbos, please contact Rabbi Lichter at ilichter @gns.org. The program will include dinner Friday night at the shul for OHEL and their hosts, an Oneg following dinner open to the entire community and a Saturday night activity. DOS YIDDISH VORT Spend an afternoon with the renowned Trickster, Hershel of Ostopol at Dos Yiddish Vort on Wednesday, October 30 at 1:30 pm. All Wellcome. For Info: Roz Wagner 487-9795. MENS CLUB UPCOMING EVENTS SUN., OCT 27, 10:00 am: The diplomatic correspondent for The Jerusalem Post, Herb Keinon, will be talking on the political and diplomatic situation in Israel. SUN., NOV 10, 10:00am: We are thrilled that Reverend Kenneth Meshoe, an elected member of the South African parliament and a staunch supporter of Israel will be speaking at our breakfast that morning. SUN., NOV 17, 2:00PM : A trip to NYC, together with Dos Yiddish Vort , to the Yiddish Theater to see " Lies My Father Told Me ", a musical in English with Yiddish. Cost is $65 per person, which includes the bus, theater tickets and a light dinner. SISTERHOOD NEWS Wed. night, Oct. 30th, Aksana Jensen will be presenting a spa facial demonstration! KRISTALLNACHT This year will mark the 75th anniversary of Kristallnacht on November 9-10. A program in commemoration of this anniversary will involve the showing of a movie (Not Just Broken Glass) and a brief talk by Henry Katz, who lived through it, will take place Sunday evening, November 10. Details to follow. GNS ANNUAL DINNER Our 62nd Annual Dinner will take place on Saturday evening, Dec.14, 2013. Our Guests of Honor will be: Dina & Natan Hamerman Judith & Jerrald Weinstein and Boneh Habayit: Zachary Mittleman Please volunteer to help make this a memorable evening. GNS ANNUAL DINNER RAFFLES WANTED Please generously donate raffle prizes for the upcoming GNS Annual Dinner on Dec. 14th. Some ideas to consider : jewelry, electronics, sports or theatre tickets, restaurant or store gift certificates, experiences, tutoring, camp discounts, clothing, internships, art work, air miles for a trip to Israel or other destination, and hotel accommodations. Please contact Raffle Co-Chairs David and Diane Rein at drein@verizon.net with your donation. Thank you very much!

Within Our Family

Mazal Tov to Emma & Bart Baum on the Bat Mitzvah of their daughter Esther. Mazal Tov to Anida & Edwin Rosman on the upcoming marriage of their son Michael to Lauren Wagner, daughter of Phyllis & Jonathan Wagner of Manhattan. Mazal Tov also to grandparents Roz & David Wagner. Mazal Tov to Karen & Ethan Ben-Sorek on the Bat Mitzvah of their daughter Michaela. Mazal Tov also to grandparents Rahel & Esor Ben-Sork. Mazal Tov to Nadine & Coby Noy on the birth of a son. Mazal Tov also to grandparents Ester & Eliezer Noy and Eliane & Allan Tobin of Toronto. Mazal Tov to Susan & Michael Castle on the birth of a granddaughter born to their children Alexis & Seth Ross. Mazal Tov also to greatgrandmother Betty Castle.

In The Community
PRIME MINISTERS AT NS TOWERS CINEMA Starting this weekend the new movie The Prime Ministers will be showing at North Shore Towers Cinema. SHAARE ZEDEK CHILDRENS BOWLING/CASINO EVENT Please join us at Sat. night Oct. 26th at Bowlmor Times Square from 8:30pm-Midnight. For full details, and to Register go to www.acsz.org/ bowl. This years goal is to purchase a 14 Crib Nursery and an Overnight NICU Parent Room. Great Neck Chair Couples: Talia & Sol Goldwyn, Ilana & Aaron Wallenstein, Asher & Lauren Abehsera and Aliza & Dov Sassoon. For more info contact Sharon 917 287 7334 NYC MARATHON FOR SHEBA BURN CENTER AND BLUE CARD Arnie Breitbart will be running the NYC Marathon on Nov. 3 to benefit both the Burn Center at Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer, and The Blue Card, an organization providing support to destitute Holocaust survivors. Check donations can be made out to American Friends of Sheba Medical Center and/or The Blue Card, and mailed to Arnie Breitbart, 10 Imperial Court, GN NY 11023. NSHA OPEN HOUSE The NSHA Early Childhood Program will hold an Open House on Nov. 6 at 7pm at the Cherry Lane Campus. For more info contact Elana Helfgott at 516-487-8687 x156. SAVE THE DATES The Iranian Jewish federation will be holding its 12th Annual Gala Thur., Nov. 7 at Alice Tully Hall. Call 516-466-8947 for more information. SAVE THE DATE Thur., Nov. 7, 7 PM at the GN Library, Main Branch, Community Room. Andrew G. Bostom, noted author and lecturer, will speak on "Islam and The Jews". Sponsored by the Jewish Political Education Foundation.
Saturday, 22 Cheshvan Mary F. Flax for Max Pasvolsky Lisa Kaufman for Erica Josephs Sunday, 23 Cheshvan Deborah Hollander for Ida Warren Cohen Joseph Sokol for Ida Warren Cohen Monday, 24 Cheshvan Moosa Ebrahimian for Rahel Ebrahimian Mahin Mardkha for Rahel Ebrahimian Tuesday, 25 Cheshvan Andrew Allen for Harriet Allen Murray Honig for Sylvia Honig Wednesday, 26 Cheshvan Yve Fouladi for Michael Fruhling Nina Gourdji for Ezra Nuriel Osnass Shein for Hode Pinsovitz Thursday, 27 Cheshvan Stanley N. Lupkin for Sylvia Lupkin Paul Marcus for Sylvia Marcus Leon Miller for Symma Miller Ellen Modlin for Marilyn Hose Paul Weinberg for Jerry Weinberg Millie Werber for Jacob Werber David Werber for Jacob Werber Martin Werber for Jacob Werber Friday, 28 Cheshvan Elana Flax for Janie Matzkin Shulamid Gavronsky for Bertha Kopelowitz Cheryl Sneag for Janie Matzkin

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