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November 15, 2024 - 16 Chesvan 5785 Parashat Vayera - This Is only A Test
Dear Friends, "This is a test of the Emergency Broadcast System. This is only a test." While I'm sure a lot of the younger folks in our lives may not be familiar with the above, so many of us are. On TV and radio, a masculine voice would chime in with the above announcement, followed by a long piercing tone held for probably the better part of a minute. Then, the voice would return, reminding us that this was only a test, and were it a real emergency, we would receive instructions on what to do next. It is interesting to me that, on the one hand, a "test" is a practice run or a "drill." In the case of the Emergency Broadcasting System, it was an opportunity to practice certain emergency or time-sensitive protocols in place at our schools, places of business, or homes. When it is "only" a test, we know it's not actually the real thing and we can take some comfort in knowing that. On the other hand, we use the same word to mean, essentially, the exact opposite. Tests on school subjects, standardized exams to apply to college or graduate school, and assessments to earn a professional certification or license, which are tests of aptitude, are, of course, tests of a very different flavor from that of the Emergency Broadcasting System. With these kinds of tests, they are usually graded or evaluated on a scale, so there is a result, a final grade, a judgment, determining whether we passed or failed. This week's Parasha, Vayera, includes the infamous moment of God's ultimate test of Abraham, the father of the Jewish people. "Sometime afterward," Genesis 22 begins, "God put Abraham to the test." Despite the decades-long prayers and pining for a child, Abraham and his wife Sarah are finally blessed with the birth of Isaac. Abraham is then commanded by God to offer Isaac as a sacrifice. Abraham, who had no issue "talking back" to God after God's decree to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, here says....nothing! God says, "Take your son, your favored one, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the heights that I will point out to you.” And the next verse tells us that, "Early next morning, Abraham saddled his donkey and took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. He split the wood for the burnt offering, and he set out for the place of which God had told him." As we know so well by now, an angel of God calls off the sacrifice, just as Abraham held a knife over his head to slaughter his son, replaced by a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. For the Sages, Abraham aced this test. Having demonstrated such incredible faith in and allegiance to God that there is nothing, not even his only child, that he would withhold from God. That, the Sages believe, is true and perfect worship of God, and as such, Abraham passes the test with flying colors. For many others, myself included, it's not just that Abraham doesn't pass the test, but he actually fails miserably, having accepted a command to kill his child, without any pushback, questioning, or challenging of a supposedly All-Merciful God. Perhaps it's easy for me to judge, but if I were Abraham and was commanded to do this, I would say "Absolutely not! Do with me what You will, but that I will not do.” When we are tested in life, all we can do is make the best decision possible considering the different factors before us. All we can do is the best we can do. This may take a lot of effort, thought, reflection, and even research, but ultimately, all we can do in any given moment, is the best we can do. I have long loved the motto from the Dillon Panthers, the protagonist football team in the fantastic TV show "Friday Night Lights," where in the face of adversity, Coach Taylor would tell his players, over and over again, "Clear eyes and full hearts...can't lose." Even if the choices we make when tested don't come to fruition in the way we hoped they would, that doesn't necessarily mean we made the wrong ones. It means that life happened. If we are thoughtful, intentional, and deliberate, taking into consideration everyone and everything that may be impacted by our actions, then we have done the best we can. Perhaps, what Abraham did in that moment on Mount Moriah was done with clear eyes and full heart. It was certainly the best he could do. May we all be inspired to do the best we can do in every situation. Amen. Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Joshua Strom
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