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Parshat Va'yera
2006
Here I Am
This week we read Vayera, perhaps one of the most plot-driven parshiyot in the entire Torah. So many critical moments occur in this early sequence. We learn the value of welcoming the stranger when Abraham and Sarah open their tent to three traveling angels. Sarah laughs when she finds out she will bear a son at an incredible old age. God destroys Sodom and Gomorrah, despite Abraham’s protests. Lastly, and perhaps most critically poignant, Abraham takes his son Isaac to be sacrificed at the altar. Even though this story – the Akeidah – receives due attention on Rosh Hashanah, leaving us to ponder the other events that occur in the parsha several weeks later, we thought that we would revisit this pivotal occasion with a slightly different twist.
God calls to Abraham, who responds “Hineini,” I am here. God instructs him to bring Isaac, his only son, to Mount Moriah to be sacrificed. At this moment, Abraham faces a critical decision that has potential for impact beyond only killing his own son, as if that weren’t a tragic enough act. Although the death of Isaac would mean the death of the Jewish people, Abraham stands firm in his position to obey God’s commandment to him. As Rabbi Isaac of Vorki, a Chassidic rabbi of 19th-century Poland, pointed out, Abraham did not yield to the temptations of rational or emotional arguments.
Isaac of Vorki is telling us that our obligation is not to supply the world with Jews (God will worry about that), but rather to be Jews. If we focus on being Jews – our devotion to God and our tradition, whatever that means to us as individuals and communities – we will be what sustains us as a people and ensures our survival. Despite numerous attempts throughout history to eradicate the Jewish people, we have prevailed precisely because we have held strong to our tradition. As Jewish educators, we are placed daily in the position of being role models to students, exemplifying meaningful Jewish lives, as vastly different as they may be from one another. We have the power to help students lay the foundations for their own future adult Jewish lives, whether it’s by modeling learning, tzedek, or Shabbat. It doesn’t matter if we get 10 or 100 or even 1000 people through our doors – if what we’re providing when they get there isn’t an inspiring Jewish moment that reflects who we are as individuals and as a community, then continuity will never be achieved.
In the face of the drastic decisions we sometimes face in our work – whether programmatic or budgetary – it is sometimes necessary to defy rationale and logic and stand up for our integrity as educators. We must be ready to stand up and say “I am here; ready to be a Jew in this world and a role model for my community.” The students are paying attention to us. They will ensure their own survival if we provide the model to inspire them.
Co-authored by Kim Silverstein, Assistant Director for Student Affairs & Sara Engesser, Ziegler Jewish Campus Service Corps Fellow of USC Hillel.
Learn More
Additional commentaries and text studies on Parshat Va'yera at MyJewishLearning.com.
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