Torah

An older couple sat together on the train, quietly chatting as they rode through the countryside. Their peace was suddenly disturbed by a fully-grown boy sitting across from them. “Dad, look!” The boy exclaimed to his father. “Giant green trees are going past us!” The boy must have been almost 20 years old and had a huge smile glued to his face. His father smiled along, almost encouraging his outburst. The couple looked at the boy’s childish behavior with a pitiful glance, before going back to their conversation. Suddenly, the boy erupted with excitement again and shouted, “Dad, look at the clouds running along with us in the sky!”

Breakups are never easy

This week’s parshah tells the story of Avraham and his nephew Lot. For many years, the two had lived together in harmony, until a bitter fight broke out between their respective shepherds. As the fighting escalated, the once-close relatives decided that the land was not big enough for both of them, and ultimately they decided to part ways.

Would you be disappointed if you didn’t have to do a mitzvah?

Avraham was.

There is a story told of a man who was captured behind enemy lines during war. To his horror, he was sentenced to death by firing squad. However, the captain gave the man another option. He told him, “You can go to the firing squad tomorrow morning at 6 a.m., or you can choose to walk through this door.” Feeling hopeful, the man asked: “What’s on the other side of that door?” The captain answered: “No one knows. All I can tell you is that there is some unknown power behind that door.” The man thought it over, and the next morning, when it came time to choose his fate, he selected the firing squad. After the shots rang out, the captain’s secretary asked him: “You’ve offered so many people the other option, and every time they choose the firing squad. What’s beyond that door?” With a look of dismay on his face, the captain answered: “Freedom! But people would rather face a known death than journey into the unknown.”

A young boy once went to the circus and was astonished when he saw a giant elephant tethered to the ground by a thin rope. Curious, he walked over to the elephant trainer and asked: “How are you holding down such a huge elephant with such a tiny rope? The rope doesn’t look very strong. This elephant could break down a brick wall, why doesn’t he break free of this tiny rope?”

What’s the first thing you would do after surviving an apocalyptic event?

While you ponder that, consider that Noach’s first act was to offer korbanos (sacrifices) to Hashem. How did Noach know to do this? Rashi (8:20) explains that Noach inferred this from the fact that Hashem had commanded him to take seven of certain animals, instead of the minimum two needed to keep the species alive. “If Hashem wants me to have a surplus of animals,” Noach concluded, “it must be so that I can use the extra ones productively for avodas Hashem.”