LIft Your Eyes and Behold!
If I was given a gift which had tremendous capability my first responsibility would be to acknowledge receipt of that gift. Even though the giver was someone who I did not know, evidently he knows me and cares about me. He apparently recognized great potential in me by virtue of his gift to me. It would be only proper and fitting for me to do my best to discover who he is.
Every member of Mankind was given the gift of insight and intelligence. This gift affords our soul and body to communicate with others and to penetrate the wisdom that surrounds us. This gift is the very tool that allows us to discern the giver of our gift.
My second responsibility would be to understand why this was given to me. What is the expectation the giver has of me? To dismiss this question and just use the gift for my own pleasure without considering my responsibilities would be repugnant. The very gift that I would be using directs me to fulfill these responsibilities.
At the end this week’s Parsha, Noach, we are introduced to Avrahum avinu (our father Abraham), the father of our people. He lived in a society where everyone believed in gods. The people of his generation recognized that there were higher powers that controlled the world. Every form of energy had its respective god. There was a god of the rain, a god of the wind, a god of the mountains, a god of the water and so on. The notion that there was only One G.D who controlled and managed all these powers was not even considered.
When Avrahum was still a child, his inquisitive mind did not rest. He understood that the world is so vast and he recognized its incredible synchronicity that he pursued the notion that all the apparent diverging powers must be the manifestation of a one single power. At the age of 40 years he finally concluded that there is only One G.D Who created the entire universe and all its diverging forces are but his orchestra which He arranged and presented to Man to be her guardian. Avrahum and his beloved wife Sarah dedicated their life to teaching the world who HaShem is and what gifts He gave us. He and Sarah began a movement that has never stopped. Five hundred years after he began his search his children became a nation who continue to live and die by this teaching.
This teaching is not an abstract philosophical issue. This teaching is the lifeblood of our people. It is the generator of our relationship with HaShem as well as the generator of our relationship with others. Upon this notion we build our families and communities. It is the energizer of our people as we connect to HaShem and allow HaShem to bless us. The more we open ourselves to recognize the Giver of our precious gift and the expectations He has for us, the more He enters our lives and blesses us. This is what Yeshayahu (Isaiah) writes in his book (40:26) “Lift your eyes heavenward and see Who created all of these (the stars in their galaxies)” Yeshayahu implores us to gaze at the wonders of the universe and appreciate the genius of HaShem’s design.
The more one gets to know his benefactor the greater his relationship will be. The more one recognizes his kindness and strength, his genius and humility the greater his admiration will be for his benefactor and his love for his benefactor will increase all the more. It is no wonder that HaShem wants us to love Him – He wants us to appreciate the gift that He gave us.
How fortunate we are to descend from Avrahum and Sarah and still hold firmly to their teachings!
Have a wonderful Shabbos.
Paysach Diskind