Mazel Tov to Mr. and Mrs. Menachem Strum on the birth of a baby girl! May they see much nachas!
Mazel tov to Mr. and Mrs. Moishy Pruzansky on the birth of a baby boy! The shalom zachor will be held at 2302 Crabury Road on the back deck starting at 7:30 PM. The bris will be this coming Monday following the 8:20 AM Shachris at Rabbi Weiss's shul (approximately 9:05 AM). For those who are unable to attend in person, please use this LINK to attend the livestream event. May they see much nachas!
We would like to welcome our newest members to the kehilla:
Mr. and Mrs. Pinney Elbaum
We are so glad that you have decided to join our shul!
Avos U'Bonim
Once again, there will be Avos U'Bonim on Motzei Shabbos at 7:00 PM.There will be pizza and prizes for every child who attends! We would like to thank Mr. and Mrs. Elie Mishory for sponsoring Avos U'Bonim this week in honor and appreciation of Mr. Moshe Graber and all of the valuable business advice and assistance he has given them.
Ramban Shiur
There will be a Ramban shiur on the parsha next Thursday night at 9:45 PM. It will be held at the shul and will be accompanied with cholent. Everyone is invited to attend!
Have a wonderful Shabbos!
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Dvar Torah
Rashi at the beginning of the parsha brings from Chazal that Sarah Imeinu’s petirah is mentioned right after Akeidas Yitzchak because Sarah was nifteres when she heard that Yitzchak was almost shechted. Superficially, this is very hard to understand. How can it be that the greatest act done by Avraham and Yitzchak would be the cause of Sarah Imeinu’s petirah!? Furthermore, we know from Chazal that הקב"ה is ממלא שנותיהם של צדיקים – that the righteous complete their lives and do not pass on prematurely. Seemingly then, it was appropriate for Sarah to pass on specifically right after Akeidas Yitzchak. But why?
Perhaps one way to understand this is that Akeidas Yitzchak was precisely when Sarah Imeinu had fulfilled her mission in this world. The mission of every Jewish woman, particularly the אמהות הק', is to be an עזר כנגדו, which on one level means to help their husband bring out his potential by being כנגדו – i.e. by having opposite tendencies. Each one of the 'אבות הק represented a different tendency. Avraham represented חסד (kindness), while his son Yitzchak represented the opposite tendency of גבורה (limiting inappropriate kindness). For each one of the Avos to fulfill their mission, they needed to curb their tendencies to ensure the right balance for themselves and כלל ישראל. For this to happen, it was necessary that the 'אמהות הק, Sarah and Rivka, had the opposing tendencies of their husbands - which they did [as is evident from a cursory reading of these parshiyos]; Sarah possessed the characteristic of strength and Rivka possessed the characteristic of kindness. This phenomenon was carefully orchestrated for them to be the ultimate עזר כנגדו.
Based on this, we can better understand why Sarah passed on precisely after the Akeida. The Sefarim point out that Akeidas Yitzchak was the ultimate sacrifice for Avraham Avinu, not only due to the inherent challenge, but also because it was the exact opposite of the kindness he exemplified. But how did he get to this level where he was even excited to do the Akeida [getting up early, wanting at least to draw some blood, etc.]? The answer is that Avraham Avinu, with the help of his עזר כנגדו, had spent his whole life working on curbing his חסד and channeling it to 'רצון ה, and was therefore willing, ready, and excited to do His will of Akeidas Yitzchak even when it meant using tremendous גבורה, going completely against his natural tendency. At this point, Sarah Imeinu had fulfilled her mission.
Good Shabbos,
Nesanel Horowitz
