“These are the animals you may eat…” (Devarim 14:4)

Vacations are an important part of everyone’s life. When some people are on vacations, though, they unfortunately also take a vacation from Judaism. Sometimes it is difficult to find kosher food at the vacation spot, and therefore, some people decide to bend the laws a little bit. Instead of bringing their own food or finding foods that are certified kosher, they look at the ingredients and decide for themselves if something is kosher or not. Of course, this is so absurd! Just because the ingredients in an item look fine, does not necessarily mean it is kosher. There are many things that could be unkosher about this item, but there are still people that bend the laws of Judaism so they can eat this food. Rav Avraham Yachnes once asked the following question: what would a person do if they were told that a small amount of cyanide is on a piece of food? What if it is only a possibility that some cyanide fell onto it. Would anyone eat it? Even if there is no other food in the area, no one would imagine touching it. The same should be when we cannot find kosher food.

Compare the person that treats the mitzvah of kosher food lightly with Avraham. On Rosh Hashana every year, we mention one of the greatest moments in Jewish history as a merit for ourselves. This event is none other than Akeidas Yitzchak, when Avraham brought his son, Yitzchak, as an offering. Let’s look closely at this passage and we can see how a Jewish person should approach a mitzvah. It states that G-d tells Avraham to bring his son as an offering. Avraham enthusiastically obeys. He comes to the mountain, ties down Yitzchak to the altar, and lifts his hand high in the air to slaughter his only son. G-d appears and tells Avraham not to do it. Then Avraham sees that a ram is stuck in the bushes and offers the ram in place of his son. At this point, G-d reappears and says that now He knows that Avraham believes in Him. He gives Avraham the great blessing that his children will be as numerous as the stars and the story ends. I was always bothered by the sequence of the events. Why does G-d only give the blessing after Avraham offers the ram? Avraham clearly showed that he passed the test with flying colors when he lifted his knife against his son. Why didn’t he get the blessing at that point?

I once asked this question to Rav Dovid Moskovitz in Boston and he answered me that from here we see the love a person should have for a mitzvah. Avraham had a mitzvah in his hand and although he was told he no longer needed to fulfill the mitzvah, he did not quit. He was supposed to offer his son to His Creator, but then he was told to stop. Most people probably would have breathed a sigh of relief and walked away. But not Avraham. Avraham came to serve G-d and was saddened that he was not able to serve G-d at this point. Therefore, he felt he needed to still bring an offering. When he saw the ram, he immediately offered it up because he still had the desire to perform a mitzvah. This is the way our great people act – they do not throw away opportunities to serve G-d. This is why G-d only gave the blessing to Avraham after he offered the ram because at this point we see how truly great Avraham was.

The month of Elul begins in this coming week and it is time to prepare for the final judgment. It is time to start thinking what type of Jews we want to be. Are we the type that treat mitzvos lightly and eat foods although they may be forbidden? Do we try to bend the laws for our own advantage? Or are we going to be like Avraham and have a desire to perform mitzvos every opportunity we get?

Good Shabbos!
-yes
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