This week, I am going to do something a little different. This week’s Divrei Simcha on the parsha is longer than usual. The reason is because this was one of the chapters originally included in my book “G-d Is Everywhere… Even Walt Disney World”. (Numerous chapters were removed from the final copy because the size of the book would have been too big if it included all of the chapters I originally wrote.) Anyway, this chapter is entitled “Kosher Food” and since this week’s parsha is includes the laws of kosher food, I felt it would be perfect for this week. Also, I was sick the first part of the week and therefore this week I’ve been unable to learn the parsha like I normally do.

KOSHER FOOD

I must thank a great Rabbi for the idea of this chapter. He mentioned in one of his classes about how some people that normally keep kosher, bend the laws a little bit when they visit Walt Disney World. It is sometimes difficult to find kosher food at Disney, so some people are not as strict as they usually are. Instead of bringing their own food or buying one of the kosher options, they look at the ingredients and decide for themselves if something is kosher or not. (At the time I am writing this, there are some snacks that are kosher and some frozen meals available in certain eating establishments. Please check with your rabbi or local kashrus organization for specific items at Walt Disney World that are kosher if you are planning a trip). Of course, this is so absurd! Just because the ingredients in an item look fine, does not necessarily mean it is kosher. First of all, not all items are always listed on the ingredients list. Sometimes there is a small amount of a non-kosher item in the food that the FDA does not require to be listed on the ingredients but it still makes the food unkosher. Furthermore, the food might have been prepared in a non-kosher factory or might have come in contact with non-kosher items. There are many things that could be unkosher about this item, but there are still people who bend the laws of Judaism so they can eat this food.

The Rabbi giving the class asked the following question: what would a person do if he was told 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? Would anyone take his chances by risking his life for a little food, especially when other food is available? The other food might be expensive or a person might have to go out of his way to get it, but it is certainly worth it. Would one be willing to burn his insides just because he wants to be cheap or lazy? Just as a person would never risk eating cyanide, a person should not be lenient in the Jewish laws.

On Rosh HaShana every year, we pray to get written in the book of life and every year we mention one of the greatest moments in Jewish history to give us merits. This event is none other than Akeidas Yitzchak, when Avraham brought his son, Yitzchak, to be brought as an offering on Mount Moriah. If we look closely at this passage, we will see how a Jewish person should approach doing a commandment.

I was always bothered by the sequence of the events in this passage. It states that G-d tells Avraham to bring his son as an offering. He obeys and enthusiastically fulfills G-d’s command. Avraham comes to the mountain and is fully prepared. He ties Yitzchak down on the altar and lifts his hand high in the air to slaughter his only son from his wife Sara. A voice then calls out from Heaven and tells Avraham not to do it. Avraham starts getting into an argument and says that G-d should at least let him scratch the boy or give him some bruise. G-d says no to Avraham. Avraham finds a ram stuck in the bushes and offers the ram in place of his son. At this point, G-d reappears and says now He knows that Avraham believes in Him. He gives Avraham a great blessing that his children will be as numerous as the stars and the story ends. I was always bothered by this story, though. 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 over his son. Why didn’t he get the blessing at that point?

I once asked this question to my Rabbi in Boston, and he answered me that from here we see the love of 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. Avraham was not satisfied with throwing away a mitzvah. He had the chance to do the will of G-d, but it was taken away from him. 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 loved mitzvos and loved serving G-d. He 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 gave the blessing to Avraham only after he offered the ram, because at this point we see how truly great Avraham was.

Let’s look a little closer at this story. It says Avraham carried along wood and fire with him on his journey. Our Sages explain the reasoning behind this was because Avraham was afraid he would not find trees to make wood or rocks to make fire when he arrived at the destination G-d chose for him, and then he would not be able to fulfill this mitzvah. How amazing this is! Trees and rocks are found almost everywhere! And if they were not in the place where G-d chose for him, he could have easily said, he did everything he could and it is not his fault for not fulfilling the mitzvah (since if a person does everything he possibly can and the reason for not fulfilling a certain mitzvah is beyond his fault, he is considered as having fulfilled the mitzvah). But Avraham did not want to say this. He did not want to take the easy way out, even though he would have still received credit for fulfilling the mitzvah, per se. He took all necessary items before even leaving on his journey, so he could fully serve G-d.

People who are strict about observing the laws do it because they love what they are doing, but they also realize if they are not strict, they lose out on so much. Avraham would have lost out on performing one of the greatest acts in the history of the world and lost a great blessing if he decided to be lenient. Avraham realized he could have just said “it’s all kosher” and walked home, but it would have been like swallowing cyanide. He would have missed so much! When a person eats food and just says “it looks kosher”, that individual is losing out on so much. It might be true the person is very hungry, but they are not going to collapse because they can’t have a certain item of food that “looks kosher”. And anyway, there are so many foods that are certified kosher at Walt Disney World, why would someone want to eat something that might not be?

Good Shabbos!
-yes
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