In Parshat Vayera, Hashem appears to Avraham when three men, malachim, approach. According to one interpretation, Avraham looks up at the visitors and then calmly and confidently asks Hashem to wait while he tends to their needs. Imagine asking Gd, the Rebbono shel olam, to wait a moment! But, Hashem is fine with the request and waits while Abraham brings the visitors food and drink, before engaging him in dialogue about the fate of Sodom.
Putting the needs of human beings before attending to Gd seems astonishing. However, Avraham was acting on the understanding that every person is created in Hashem’s image. He could see the visage of Gd in the face of the stranger. That was Abraham’s gift and his legacy. He knew that honoring Gd and offering hospitality to strangers were one and the same.
Only after he brings the men a royal feast and they have had their fill, does Avraham turn back to Gd. Hashem now tells Avraham that He will destroy the people of Sodom and Gomorrah because of their sins. Once again, Avraham speaks up and begins to negotiate on behalf of the good people of Sodom. Would Hashem save the city for 50 righteous people? 40? 30? 20? 10?
How was Avraham able to stand up to Gd not once, but twice? Perhaps, his courage came from his driving sense of purpose. Avraham was chosen by Gd to create a nation built on chesed. He was the model of what it means to look out for the good in others, to recognize the divine spark in each of us. He spoke on behalf of the righteous, and treated those whom he didn’t even know as if they were Hashem, Himself.
That clarity of purpose and the courage to act according to one’s purpose are profoundly inspiring. Purpose is what helps us get up each day with enthusiasm and propels us forward to make a difference in the world. Knowing our “why” gives us the courage to overcome inertia and pursue what matters to us and ultimately enable us to achieve great things. When we aren’t sure of our purpose, on the other hand, we can feel lost, aimless, or anxious.
In what way can we as individuals uniquely contribute to the lives of others? Our purpose isn’t stamped on our foreheads at birth, but must be discovered as we accumulate life experience. If we approach our lives through a reflective lens, we can uncover what we are passionate about and what gives us meaning and fulfillment every day.
Some of us find our purpose through volunteering, turning a side gig into a career, or spending time with people who inspire us. Others turn our pain into purpose. We may end up learning so much about a challenge we or a loved one is going through that we realize it lights a fire within us. We see a path forward through the pain where could make a difference for someone else.
As Jews, we share a common purpose to be a light unto the nations. That common purpose creates a powerful sense of community wherever we are, whether in Israel, the US, or around the world. At OCA, our purpose is to educate our students to be caring and confident Torah-observant Jews in the world today. Our goal is to inspire a love of learning and Torah, one child at a time. To bring light to our students by showing them that learning is an engaging and empowering experience and that they are capable of whatever they set their minds to achieving. To teach our students that Hashem’s Torah guides everything in our lives and that through acts of chesed, we follow Avraham’s example, showing others that in each of us lies the divine spark. This is what drives us every day and underpins our curricular and programming decisions.
B”H, our OCA community is growing. Year after year, more families want to be a part of the OCA community. Families who see themselves and their children reflected in our purpose. Join us as we launch our 2023 “Shaping Lives” Annual Campaign to help ensure we as a school can achieve our purpose of enabling our students to achieve theirs. Supporting our growing school involves everyone who cares about the future of our school and about the Jewish future. We hope you will make a generous pledge and encourage others to do so, as well!
Shabbat Shalom!