Words From Rabbi White

IS IT STILL A WONDERFUL WORLD, MR. LOUIS ARMSTRONG?

Dear friends,

Well, it is a wonderful world, but people are making it crazy. In the Tachanun prayer that we say on Mondays and Thursdays, we say that we have become “a mockery among the nations, we have been considered like sheep meant for slaughter.” Before October 7, I thought those words referred to ancient history, but were not relevant for our times.  Yet, just in the past couple of weeks, we have read of riots in Amsterdam; that in Toronto a memorial service had been planned for Sinwar; central Israel has been under rocket attack; the Pope is suggesting that Israel is committing genocide; masked neo-Nazis marched through Columbus, Ohio; [the governor said that “we don’t tolerate hate in Ohio” but apparently he does;] Irwin Cotler, one of the greatest champions of civil rights throughout the world, had been targeted by Iran. And every day we read, HaShem yishmor, of Israeli soldiers and citizens killed or injured.

So, we constantly pray for peace, as we realize that those ancient words in the siddur have not lost their contemporary meaning.

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This week’s parasha begins with Abraham negotiating for a burial plot for Sarah. Ephron the Hittite offered him a plot for free. Yet, as I pointed out last year, contrary to the stereotype of a middle eastern bargainer, Abraham was actually bargaining the price up, not down! He offered to pay a considerable sum. Indeed, it has been estimated that at today’s valuation, it would probably be more than 8 million dollars U.S. (==11 million Can)!!

As I wrote last year, Abraham had wanted to pay a high price, so that no one would question his connection to the Land. However, a question remained: why had Ephron been willing to offer it for free? Perhaps the answer is that, as we saw in parashat lekh lekha, Abraham had proven himself to be a great general. He had led a contingent of 318 fighters to push back a powerful army, and to return captives! [See the words of the King of Sodom on 14:21 “ten li ha-nefesh.”] So, it would be to Ephron’s advantage to have Abraham in the land.

So, why didn’t Abraham take advantage of that generous offer? The answer is that Abraham didn’t want Canaanites in future generations to question the right of Abraham’s descendants to be in the land. So he paid an astronomical sum to prove that he and his descendants belong in Erets Yisrael!!

I remember reading, many years ago, a Hebrew story Ha-Eshel by Yitschak Shenhar, where the author described how the blood of the soldiers entering in the soil give us claim to the land.

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Michael Rubin observes yahrzeit for his grandmother Sadie Spector this Shabbat 22 Marheshvan; Morris Zimelstern observes for his mother Rachel on Tuesday 25 Marheshvan May the neshamot have Aliya

Shabbat shalom. `am Yisrael chai!! Rabbi Menahem White

P.S. In case you are interested, the song referred to above begins:

I see trees of green, red roses too, I see them bloom for me and you, And I think to myself, What a wonderful world, etc. etc.  In other words, HaShem created a wonderful world, but humans have messed it up.