Parshas Lech Lecha 5786
- Torah Tavlin
- 6 days ago
- 2 min read
ואתה ישראל עבדי יעקב אשר בחרתיך זרע אברהם אהבי ... (ישעי' מא-ח)
Following the Mabul, the world began anew and once again the people slipped back into idolatry. With Avraham Avinu’s bombshell discovery, it became clear that there is but one monotheistic ruler of the world - Hashem. Yeshaya HaNavi extols the virtues of Avraham and points out that the world was forever changed due to his perseverance in discovering the truth and his insistence that Hashem is the Creator of everything. It is interesting to note that throughout the Torah and the writings of Chazal, Avraham Avinu is always intrinsically tied with the attribute of אהבה - love. Why is this so, and what is the lesson to be extracted?
R’ Yisroel Meir Hakohen zt”l (Chofetz Chaim) explains this with a parable. Imagine! A man is shipwrecked at sea and finds himself floundering in the water desperately searching for something, anything to grab onto. Suddenly, an entire tree trunk floats by and the man reaches out to grab it, but instead of taking hold of a single branch, he reaches a bit further and grabs onto the main trunk. Avraham Avinu could have easily joined the rest of the world who served a “different” god, but he wanted to find the main source of blessing in the world, and so he made an extra effort to search and seek out, until he discovered Hashem. Because of his extra effort, a great love developed between him and Hashem which was transmitted down throughout the generations.
Sometimes, just a little extra effort spells the difference between regular and exceptional, ordinary and extraordinary!