One question in the chat caught me by surprise recently. Some 4,000 women had registered for an open class on Parashat Bereishit, organized by the “Mitchadshot” community. At the beginning of the Zoom session, I mentioned that the class was dedicated to the recovery of the students who had been injured in an explosion just hours earlier, during a trip in northern Israel.
Then someone wrote in the chat: “This is my first-ever Torah class. What does it mean to dedicate a class to someone? I’ve never heard of such an idea.”
I explained that every good deed we do in this world generates spiritual merits. Torah study and prayer have a special spiritual power. And when we do something good, we can dedicate the merit of that act to a particular purpose. For example, to the recovery of someone who was injured just hours earlier.
The Jewish people are bound together by a sense of mutual responsibility. We all affect one another through our good deeds and mitzvot - or, God forbid, through our wrongdoing. We are all part of one human fabric, and every action has an impact.
Then, just as the Zoom class was ending, almost as though it were a direct continuation of our discussion, I received a message written by Chani Leiter, the mother of Neria, who was seriously wounded in a terrorist attack several weeks ago:
Mutual responsibility, Jewish concern extends beyond the personal
“From the intensive care unit at Shaare Zedek Medical Center, we are receiving messages and videos of so many prayers, Torah study, acts of kindness, and good deeds being performed all around the world on behalf of our Neria. If only I could describe how much strength this gives us.
“We are seeing how the mutual responsibility and concern of the Jewish people extend far beyond our own personal ordeal. This is the hidden Jewish soul, now revealing itself.
“We named our son Neria - the light of God - because we wanted him to spread God's light in the world. God's ways are mysterious, but we can see with our own eyes how Neria is doing exactly that right now. All of this surrounds us with love and gives us strength.”
Wow.
A question from one woman and an answer from one mother remind us of something fundamental: No one is ever alone, and no good deed benefits only the person who performs it.
May Neria Dov ben Chana, and all those who were injured, have a complete and speedy recovery.
If Not Now, When?
When Sandy and Rosalie Goldstein were in their forties, they were both considering making Aliyah from the United States. Somehow, after a conversation with an official, they mistakenly received the impression that they were too old. They understood that Sandy would not be able to find work in Israel as an accountant at his age, and so they put the dream aside and continued building their lives in New Jersey.
Decades passed. But it is always possible to grow, to renew ourselves, to do better. And today, you can find the Goldsteins in Netanya, surrounded by grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Some members of the family had already made aliyah before them, and they themselves are just one small part of the worldwide wave of aliyah.
You look at their ID cards, and you cannot help but be inspired. Sandy has just celebrated his 105th birthday, and Rosalie will turn 101 in January. This month, they will celebrate their 79th (!) wedding anniversary.
They could have stayed in their comfort zone. They had already built careers in the United States, raised a family, worked on behalf of Soviet Jews behind the Iron Curtain, and over the years had also grown stronger in their observance of Torah and mitzvot.
They both love to quote the ancient words of Hillel the Elder: “If not now, when?”
They remind us: whatever change or improvement we have been dreaming about, whatever new beginning we have been postponing - now is the time.
5 Things About the Parashah
1. This week’s Torah portion, Lech Lecha, is the third portion in the Torah. In a sense, we are starting from the beginning for the third time. The universal, global “experiments” of the Garden of Eden, Noah’s Ark, and the Tower of Babel have all failed. The world needs nations, countries, and distinct identities. The world needs Avraham.
2. Avraham and Sarah make their first appearance on the stage of history - and, in fact, have never left it. If there were a ranking of the most influential people in human history, they would take first place. Billions of people around the world consider themselves their spiritual heirs.
3. Avraham and Sarah are the first olim, the first immigrants to the Land of Israel. “Go forth from your land, from your birthplace, and from your father’s house,” God tells Avraham - and he sets out for the Land of Israel. Millions have followed in his footsteps over the generations.
4. The first commandment Avraham fulfills is also the only commandment in this Torah portion: brit milah, circumcision. Close to 100 percent of his Jewish descendants continue to observe it to this day.
5. It’s worth remembering: In his own time, nobody called him our forefather Avraham. They probably called him Avraham the eccentric, the lunatic. The entire world worshipped idols, while he introduced us to the revolutionary ideas of monotheism, charity and kindness, faith and optimism. Today, everyone knows he was right.
Want to read more by Sivan Rahav Meir? Google The Daily Thought or visit sivanrahavmeir.com