You gotta just Keep on Drivin’!

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Bs"d

This year is the year of Hakhel – year of unity, so each week we will share a short 'vort' on unity.

"A person may live for seventy or eighty years just to do a favor for another!"

You gotta just Keep on Drivin'!

A great portion of our lives is spent on preparation. We spend two decades in school to prepare for adulthood and a livelihood. Hours are spent on cooking and baking food which will be gobbled up in an instant.

Honestly, doesn't it seem like most of we do is one grand waste of time? A great portion, if not the majority of our time on earth, is 'not real'? Isn't that depressing?

Well without further ado let's switch to Torah mode, and see what G-d has to say about all of this in the Parsha. Here we go: This week we read how Abraham's time in the spotlight was nearing its end, as it was getting ready to move over to the next Patriarch - Issac.

With his 'presidency' is in its twilight, the Torah analyzes his legacy: "And Abraham led a full life, where each day was used out in the service of G-d".

That's a pretty big compliment, to say the least! Listen to this: The Torah testifies that in Abraham's 175 years in this world, he maximized every minute in the service of his Creator! Wow!

Alas it's not only amazing, it's also problematic. We all know that Abraham wasn't born in a "traditional-ultra-orthodox-religious home", just the opposite, and he had to spend many years to search for the truth. Some opinions maintain that he discovered the Almighty at age three; while others claim it was at 48! So how can we say that his days were full, if so much time was spent in 'soul-searching'?

Same question goes for children under Bar/Bat Mitzvah who are not obligated to do the Mitzvos, and fulfill them 'only' for educational purposes. Seemingly they don't have equal 'rights' to adults, (maybe we should open a movement called 'kidsism' – which will fight for the equality of kids! I mean anything goes these days…) It's not fair!

The problem with our 'problem' is that we think that preparation is a means to an end and for itself is worthless. The Torah however says that the journey is an end for itself! Abraham's journey is as vital and important as the rest of his life and therefore also considered 'full days'. And the same philosophy in regards to educating the young – it's an end for a means and an end for an end!

 So don't mope around about how the 'work is endless with no end in sight', for the end is right there. It's in the journey…

Like one 96 year Jew and former Sergeant in the United States military who've I met in Yerushalayim always says: You gotta just keep on drivin'!

***

 Rabbi Rabinovitz answers his phone.

"Hello?"

"Hello, is this Rabbi Rabinovitz?"

"It is."

"This is the IRS. Can you help us?"

"I'll try."

"Do you know Sam Cohen?"

"I do."

"Is he a member of your congregation?"

"He is."

"Did he donate $10,000 to the synagogue rebuilding fund last year?"

"He will!"

Moshiach Now!

Shabbat Shalom

(Rabbi) Levi Avtzon