Vayera

In the Torah portion Vayera we learn about sacrifice.  To too many people religion and sacrifice are synonymous.  If a person denies himself, then that person is religious, or if a person seeks pleasure or seeks to enjoy himself in this world, then he is irreligious.  In fact, in the east people who go around without clothes and beg are considered holy men, religious people, because they deny themselves the pleasures of this world, and, therefore, they are considered to be holy people.  Somehow, deep in the human psyche we have a conception of G-d as a very cruel G-d, that if a person punishes himself and hurts himself it is pleasing in the eyes of G-d, that G-d wants us to deny ourselves.  If we deny ourselves we are pleasing G-d.  When we afflict ourselves, in fact, in certain religions they take whips and chains and whip themselves until they bleed, it is supposed to prove they are willing to sacrifice for G-d.

This, of course, in Judaism is nonsense.  We do not believe G-d requires this type of sacrifice.  A person who just denies himself for no reason, this is not considered a positive act, but is even considered a sin.  According to the Talmud we learn that we may even be held accountable in future life for all those pleasures which we could have enjoyed but did not enjoy.  In Judaism we are not to afflict and harm ourselves.  I remember the time I went to the hospital, and that person said, "I am sure my husband will get well because I promised G-d if he did I will never wear jewelry again."  I looked at her astounded.  How could she make such a statement?  First of all, how can she know G-d’s mind, and, second of all, what type of G-d is this that is only pleased by people who afflict themselves? This is not the Jewish conception of G-d.  If that person would have said, "I promise to give the value of my jewelry to charity", that would have been a Jewish act.  We, too, believe in sacrifice, but not just sacrifice which is, in effect, the adoration of the human will, and which is, in effect, just another way of saying, "I have pleasure and pain“.  People know instinctively that there is pleasure in pleasure, but many times they do not know instinctively that there is pleasure in pain, that if many times people think that they can achieve great pleasure by exercising great will power.  Will power becomes then almost a god.  We do not believe a person should exercise will power just for the sake of will power.  What we call upon a person to do is sacrifice for moral reasons, sacrifice for your family so they get a good Jewish education, sacrificing for your family so that funds can be raised to cure the sick, especially a member of your family who is sick, sacrificing for a moral purpose is what Judaism demands, but not just sacrificing as an exercise of will. I had a friend who once said, "Today I will break one toothpick, tomorrow two toothpicks, etc., and at the end of the month I will be able to break a telephone pole." This is just nonsense.  A person cannot do that.  The exercise of will power is not the end all and be all of religion.  Will power must be exercised for a moral end and not just as an end in itself, otherwise the exercise of will power is immoral.  The Nazis who sacrificed everything for Hitler were not moral people.  They were evil people.
In this Torah portion we learn what it means to sacrifice.  We learn first of all how G-d came to visit Abraham.  Visiting the sick is what we are supposed to do.  We learn how we are supposed to take care of the stranger.  We learn how Abraham went out of his way to help people he did not even know.  We learn, too, how we are always supposed to try to see the best in people.  Abraham stepped forward and even argued with G-d to save the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. When we see a redeeming virtue in people we should help them.  We should try to offer them assistance so they can come back to the right path.  Unfortunately, in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah there was no redeeming virtue.  We should sacrifice to help people, to see the best people.  We should, many times, sacrifice our feelings to help people even though they may flay out against us because we know there is still some good in them.  We know they are only saying these things because they are in great pain.  This is the type of sacrifice that Judaism demands.

That’s why, of course, at the end of this Torah portion we learn about the type of sacrifice which G-d does not want.  He does notwant us to sacrifice our children.  We learn about the Akedah.  G-d, Himself, intervenes and tells Abraham not to sacrifice his son.

Many times people feel that if they afflict themselves they will gain some sort of an edge.  They will be able to overcome life's problems this way, that G-d will surely help them if they hurt themselves, This, of course, is not a Jewish view.  We say that G-d helps us if we help ourselves and others, especially if we are concerned about others, then G-d will help us, but not if we afflict ourselves. That is not the basis of any type of religious feeling in Judaism.  That is a perversion of Judaism.

We also learn that Rabbi Fenania Mendoza said that the ram that Abraham sacrificed in place of his son was completely sacrifice, that nothing was lost or wasted in that sacrifice.  Of course, the question can be asked, why did Abraham have to sacrifice anything at all after G-d commanded him not to sacrifice his son?  We read that it says "Va'ara Lachar“, that there was another ayil.  It is usually translated as an ayil in back of him, but it can be translated that there was another power within a person.  If a person is caught in the entanglements of life, the complexities of life, then we will not gain an edge by afflicting ourselves.  How do we gain an edge in life?  Rabbi Mendoza said it means that none of the parts of the sacrifice went to waste.  The ashes stood for the inner altar, for the basis of the inner altar.  Each of us has an inner life, and each of us should realize we can do things.  We have the power to overcome things. The sinews form the ten strings of David’s heart.  We should always attack the problems of life with joy.  We say that the skin of the animal which was never sacrificed was used as the bed for Elijah, the Prophet.  Elijah stands for courage.  We have to attack our problems with a can-do attitude, with joy, and with courage.  We learn that the left horn stood for the shofar that was blown on Mount Sinai, and the right horn stands for the shofar we will blow at the time of the Mashiach.  In other words, G-d intervenes in history.  G-d will help us if we live by the laws of the Torah, live morally and decently.  This is what the ayil stands for.  By attacking our problems with courage and joy and hope G-d will help us if we are willing to help ourselves and others.  That is the only type of sacrifice we allow in Judaism:  the sacrifice which comes from helping others; of seeing to it that you can raise your family; seeing to it that you have a can-do attitude, a positive attitude in life.  We should never let our problems overcome us.  We should instead attack them with a can-do attitude, with joy, with courage, with hope.  If we will do this we will be able to live good and decent and effective lives.

I am reminded of the story about a boy who came to school who was in the first grade.  The teacher was telling the class they should not swallow things because it is very dangerous to swallow things. The little boy said, "You know, at home my daddy swallowed a pen." The teacher said, "Well, what did he do?"  The little boy answered, "Well, I guess he used a pencil." When we are confronted by problems, don't let the problems overcome us.  We should overcome the problems. We should not look for self-affliction to solve our problems but instead to a can-do attitude, to joy, to courage, and hope.  May we always attack our problems this way, and may we always overcome them.