Taking a Leap with Faith

A thought for Lech Lecha

By Yisroel Zavdi

 

Once upon a time there was a person that was certain about how the world will be in the coming months. Actually, once upon a time there were seven and a half billion people that thought they knew how things would be in the coming months…you know the rest of the story.

 

For many, change is the most frightening aspect of life. The unknown is always so ominous and risky. People often spend far more energy to maintain the status quo then they spend to improve it. 

 

Yet change showed up at our doorstep and we all needed to face our fears and uncertainty in isolation and seclusion. Some became overly cautious, others took the path of denial and some took both paths, depending on the day and the crowd.
 

Regardless of your approach, these past few months gave us an opportunity to examine how we react when change knocks on our door and when we are forced to surrender the illusion of control.

 

Deja vu

 

For so long, our grandfather Avraham has been teaching and describing how there is a single being - Hashem who is running the world. He was so convinced of this truth that when challenged, he jumped into a burning furnace to prove his point. At 75 years old it seemed Avraham had it made! He built an empire of teaching and morality and his message reached people from the entire world.

 

Turns out, this was all a preparation for what unfolds in this week's Parsha and in the determined heart of the first Jew:

 

וַיֹּאמֶר ה’ אֶל־אַבְרָם לֶךְ־לְךָ מֵאַרְצְךָ וּמִמּוֹלַדְתְּךָ וּמִבֵּית אָבִיךָ אֶל־הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר אַרְאֶךָּ׃

Hashem said to Abram, “Go forth from your native land and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you.

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At once, Avrohom was told to let go of his past, all of it! His great achievements, his deep understandings, everything he thought he knew about the world needed to be discarded. 

 

Avrohom was facing one of the greatest tests of his life. For years he spoke of Hashem being in charge, today - this moment, he will have to actually embrace it.

 

How did he do it? 

 

How do we feel certain in a time of uncertainty? How do we face the world with fearlessness and conviction when we realize how little we know or control?

 

Trust Hashem! He is in charge!

 

We may have heard this 1000 times yet on a certain level, many times we find ourselves coming up empty.

 

“If Hashem is in charge, what role do I play? What’s the point of doing anything? And if what I do makes a difference; what does Him being in charge even mean?”

 

It becomes this power struggle of who really matters, us or G-d? The resistance that’s felt when we need to trust Hashem is perhaps rooted more in our fear of disempowerment than in our disbelief. 

 

Resubmit the Question

 

The problem is rooted in the false choice of us or Hashem; that somehow choosing Hashem means we get diminished.

 

So long as trusting Hashem is a disempowering endeavor, the trust will deplete us of the very vitality and energy needed to lead a life Hashem intends us to lead.

 

We must remember that Hashem created us and gave us the very skills, ambition and strength we chrish. He charged us with going out and making the ultimate impact on the world. Trusting Him is not a weak submission; it’s a vessel to allow His strength and power to work through us.

 

Playing a vital role in Hashem’s world, a role that’s rooted in the very purpose of creation, is more empowering than any purpose we can ascribe to ourselves based on our own machinations.

 

The moment we understand that, is the moment we will be simultaneously aligned with the world, empowered in our mission and deeply at peace knowing we are in Hashem's hands.

 

The Price of Recovery

 

There was once an addict that was on his last straw and in deep desperation cries out to G-d, “I would do anything for sobriety, PLEASE tell me what I need to do!”

 

The guy hears G-d’s voice from heaven, "Well, what do you have?”

 

“All I have is a $20 bill in my pocket”

 

“That’s amazing” the voice responds, “as it so happens the price or sobriety is $20”

With great joy the man pulls the $20 out of his pockets and throws it towards the sky. The man gets ready to continue on his way and he lets out a sigh. 

 

“What's the matter?'' asks the voice. “Well” the man says “that was all the gas money I have, now my car will get stuck”. 

 

“Really” says the voice “you have a car? Well it so happens that the cost of sobriety today is $20 and a car”.

 

The man was not ready to let go of his car but he knew that he really needed the sobriety. so he calls out to G-d “If so, please take the car!”

 

Again as the man prepares to go on his way he lets out a sigh.

 

“What's the matter? asks the voice. “Well” the man explains “without a car I won't be able to keep my job”

 

“Really” says the voice “you have a job? It's a funny thing because the cost of sobriety today is $20 a car and a job.  If you want sobriety you're going to have to let go of your job”

 

The man agrees and gives up his job and as he is ready to go, he asks G-d, “If I don't have a job how will I be able to support my family?” 

 

“You also have a family?” G-d asks “as it turns out the full price for sobriety is $20 a car a job and a family; if it's sobriety you want you must give up your family as well”. The man lifts his eyes towards heaven and says “G-d you can take it all; please give me sobriety!” 

 

The man continues on his way and a couple of moments later he hears the voice “Would you do me a favor?” G-d asks,  “I have this family, this job a car and $20; would you please take care of them? I need you to take care of them the way I would want them to be taken care of; with dedication, nurture and purpose”.

 

Thank you Hashem

 

Every once in a while we get reminded that everything we have in our life is a gift to be nurtured and cared for. We live in God's world and he empowers us to take care of it in a most purposeful and powerful way.

 

This Shabbat, as we read about the great leap Avraham took, let's open our hearts to the natural faith in the heart of every Jew. Regardless of what happens around us, Hashem is right there, leading us to the promised land and giving us all we need to get there. 

 

May we merit to see that land with the coming of Moshiach now!