פרשת וירא Projecting Problems ויאמר קח נא את בנך את יחידך אשר אהבת את יצחק ולך לך אל ארץ המריה והעלהו שם לעלה על אחד ההרים אשר אמר אליך And He (G-D) said [to Avraham], please take your son your only one the one you loved Yitzchak and go for you to the Moriah and bring him up over there for an offering an one of the mountains that I will tell you. When Hashem (G-D) commanded Avraham Avinu to bring up Yitzchak Avinu as a korban (sacrifice), He says take your son...that you loved. On this, Rashi tells us that Avraham Avinu answered that he loves both of his sons (and he was therefore clarifying which son Hashem was referring to, Yishmael or Yitzchak). Therefore, Hashem had to specify Yitzchak. Prior to this, Avraham sends Yishmael out of his house. Rashi explains that Avraham found out that Yishmael was committing cardinal sins, and therefore Avraham hated Yishmael. This is the reason why Avraham kicked Yishmael out of his house without giving him any money (he did provide food and water). When comparing these two Rashis, there is an obvious contradiction. First Avraham hates Yishmael and then suddenly loves him? What caused Avraham to suddenly have a change of heart towards his son Yishmael? Perhaps the answer is as follows. Avraham Avinu loved Yishmael with all his heart despite the fact that Yishamel went against everything that Avraham stood for and represented. Yes, it bothered Avraham, but Avraham hated what Yishmael was doing and not his essence. Hatred towards someone else stems from the haters problems and not the person being hated [except by Amalek in which it’s a Mitzvah (commandment) to hate them because their essence is evil]. When Avraham heard what Yishmael was doing, it caused him much pain and sadness, but did not cause him to hate his dear son. In our daily lives there are many times that others do things that upset us. Perhaps its because its different than what we are used to. It’s also possible that the reason why it bothers us is because we ourselves have that very same problem inside ourselves (maybe to a lesser degree, but its there nonetheless). That person is such a liar and cheat. He is so bossy. If we could examine our own flaws, its possible that we would find that very same flaw inside ourselves. If we would work on that flaw then it wont upset us that the other person has this flaw. May Hashem give us the ability to work on our Middot (character traits) and perceive reality the way it really is.
Posted on: Thu, 06 Nov 2014 00:33:15 +0000
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