On Thursday evening, October 26, a large group of community women gathered at the Young Israel of Queens Valley for a challah bake led by Mrs. Rena Greenberg, well-known morah and speaker. The challah bake was for a z’chus for the soldiers in Israel and also in memory of Rena’s daughter, Bryna Brachah bas Aryeh Yaakov a”h.
This was the third year of this challah bake at the shul. There were two anonymous donors and the event raised over $4,000 that will go straight to Israel. It was a beautiful evening of achdus, as everyone worked together on the mitzvah of baking challah under the direction of Mrs. Greenberg. At the end of the program, everyone recited the brachah for hafrashas challah, T’hilim, and a special prayer for the chayalim.
Mrs. Greenberg shared a short, powerful d’var Torah after everyone finished kneading her dough. She said that Mordechai wouldn’t bend or bow to Haman. He stood strong against Amaleik. He was not afraid. Amaleik represents doubt. The first encounter for klal Yisrael with Amaleik was when we were coming out of Egypt. Before that attack, the nations were afraid of the Jewish people and believed Hashem was protecting them. Amaleik brought doubt to the nations concerning that protection. We have to know that Hashem is perfect, and we have to stand strong.
Next, she introduced Rabbi Mordechai Ginsparg, Menahel of the Bais Yaakov Academy of Queens, who shared an uplifting shiur.
He said that on Pesach night we recite that in every generation our enemies rise up to annihilate us. It’s nothing new now. We have to remember the end of the paragraph that states that Hashem saves us from their hands. “It was that way, and it is that way, and it will always be that way! We have to know this is a promise from Hashem and that we will be victorious.”
We have to daven that the path to victory be as safe as possible. Hashem should help us! Rabbi Ginsparg then imparted that many mitzvos in the Torah involve speech. T’filah, learning Torah, and not speaking lashon ha’ra or any forbidden speech are all vital mitzvos.
He explained that a covenant was made with our lips. He gave examples of this idea. If you say, for example, I’ll miss my plane. This is not a good thing to say as it can affect what happens. If a child is climbing on a chair, and you say you are going to fall, this is also an example of the wrong thing to say. Rabbi Ginsparg said: Instead, you should say that people fall when they climb like that. The Gemara discusses this idea and teaches how important it is to watch what you say. The words we speak can have an incredible impact. We need to understand the power of our words at all times.
He explained that there is thought, and then a step further is speech, and then a step further is action. All of these have a power in Heaven.
In this week’s parshah, Lech-L’cha, Hashem tells Avraham that his children will inherit the land of Israel. He tells him to walk the length and breadth of the land. Just as walking is easy, that action elevated the words into something stronger. Avraham’s physical action would affect the future.
He shared another example of this: On Rosh HaShanah evening, we take actions to make our words more potent. We don’t just say we want a sweet new year, we take action and eat sweet foods and avoid bitter ones that night. We also avoid getting angry on Rosh HaShanah.
He said that when you say something, it has potency in Shamayim. He pointed out another incredible concept in this week’s parshah: What happens to the Avos and the Imahos affects their children. Beyond this, what happens to the Avos and Imahos affects klal Yisrael. He gave an example of how Yosef was hated by his brothers as Yaakov was hated by his brother. Yaakov was away for a long time and Yosef was away for a long time.
He emphasized that all of us have inside of ourselves the spiritual genes of the Avos and the Imahos. They had such a powerful belief in t’filah and the power of words and that is part of us.
In addition, the fact that Avraham and Yitzchak were willing to go through the Akeidah imparts an inner strength and becomes part of our inner spiritual self.
We see this concept applies also to Yishmael. When Hashem told Hagar that her son would be a bandit and a terrorist, she said nothing. Rabbi Ginsparg noted that if a Jewish mother heard this about her son, she would protest and daven for it not to come true. Sadly, we see to this day that Yishmael is happy for their children to become terrorists. Our spiritual power is deeper and greater than that. We have to be careful with everything we say and understand the power of our actions.
Avraham went through ten tests and he never questioned Hashem. He knew there was a plan. That ability not to question Hashem is inside of us. “We need to draw from our inner strength and be careful with our words and actions. In this z’chus, we should see Mashiach b’karov.
The community is grateful to Mrs. Rena Greenfield and everyone who helped with this very special, meaningful event.
By Susie Garber
