Engaging our children in the parsha

The following are some suggestions of ideas for conversations with our children by the Shabbos meals. The key here is to get the children involved through debate and stimulation.

What are you willing to give up?

What are we doing in this world? People naturally pursue their desires and do what they want. The only reason why they sometimes do not do it is because they are scared of the consequences. For example, a person wants a diamond watch. Really he wants to just take it only that he knows that if he does he could end up in prison. What happens to us is that we have a desire and the question is what we do with it – follow it through, hold it back or attempt to conquer it.

Judaism is where we are given a framework through the Torah of how to deal with these desires – some are permitted within certain guidelines while others are forbidden. In Parshas Vayeira we find the episode of the Akeida where we see from our forefathers (who were not given the Torah) how to act and how far they went to overcome their own personal desires to instead follow the will of Hashem.

The Akeida for Avrohom

Try and picture how difficult it was for Avrohom as seen in it being counted as one of his ten trials. This was his special miraculous son that he had waited years to have from his beloved wife Soro. He had been promised that his true offspring would only come through Yitzchok. Avrohom had preached to the world against idol worship. One of these was called Moilech that involved child sacrifice. Now he was about to do the same! All his hard work for influencing people not to do it was about to be lost by sacrificing his own son on an altar! His whole life and ideals were about to be destroyed!

Had he thought into these factors perhaps he would have been drawn into uncertainty and questions. However, Avrohom using the midda of gevura, strength, as defined in Pirkei Avos, overcome his evil inclination that came to ask these confusing questions. Instead, he did not pursue these thoughts and unquestioningly took the approach that Hashem as Creator knows best and it is not for us to question. This was no easy task. He might have done it with a heavy heart. However, we find that in fact he did it with zerizus, alacrity and we learn out the source of zerizus from Avrohom going to do the Akeida.

The Akeida was naturally against human nature. Avrohom had to work at himself mentally to accept it. He did so to such an extent that when he was told to stop as it was just a test he pleaded to at least remove a tiny bit of blood to be considered as a sacrifice! The Malach had to add words to stop him! We have Avrohom as an Av, a legacy to follow in his footsteps albeit on our own scale within our own life.

The Akeida for Yitzchok

Try and put yourself into how Yitzchok felt. He was so beloved to his father and yet now his father wanted to kill him like an animal! What would you do if your father suddenly came to you with a knife and said lie down so that i can kill you because that it what Hashem told me! Your reaction would be to get out of this danger immediately!

However, Yitzchok did not view it like this. He trusted his father implicitly and Yitzchok himself annulled himself not only to be passive and allow himself to be led to the slaughter but even was a willing party! Not only did he not refuse but he actively joined in carrying out the will of Hashem. Had he wanted, he could have easily over powered his elderly father and escaped. Instead, Yitzchok even asked to be tied down in a special way – hands tied to feet to prevent his natural instincts that might try and break away! Yitzchok is known as the Av with the midda of gevura, annulling his desires to carry out the will of Hashem. Let us also take a lesson from him and follow his pathway in life.