Join us each week as we journey across the United States and gather words of Torah from rabbanim representing each of the fifty states. This week we are pleased to feature divrei Torah from Rabbi Ovadia Goldman of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
In this week’s Torah portion, Chayei Sara, we read the story of Avraham’s servant, Eliezer. He leaves the comfort of his master’s home and becomes a shliach, a loyal emissary, entrusted with the mission of finding a match for Yitzchak, his master’s son. With Hashem’s help he succeeds and brings Rivka home to Eretz Yisrael, where she unites with Yitzchak in marriage. And the rest is history.
However, a story in the Torah is not just a recording of an historical event; it’s the story of our very existence, and that means there is a lesson there for each one of us. The success of Eliezer’s mission to bring these two souls together resonates to this very day. After all, it was that shidduch that brought about the birth of Yaakov, and subsequently the entire Am Yisrael. Yitzchak and Rivka are also a spiritual gift to the world; they serve as a ray of G-dliness for all of mankind, guiding us in the right direction.
My mentor and teacher, the Lubavitcher Rebbe of righteous memory, taught us to follow in Eliezer’s footsteps. He inspired thousands of young couples to leave the comfort of their homes, to depart from his presence – that haven of life, spirituality and holiness – and embark on a mission for the “soul” purpose of bringing Jews together. Heeding the Rebbe’s call, in the spring of 1998, my wife Nechoma and I, with our two young children, Mendel and Mussie, departed from LaGuardia Airport and took off to the buckle of the Bible Belt – Oklahoma City.
Jewish unity is not only about bringing Jews together, it’s also about helping each Yid connect to his or her core, to his or her neshama, making a match within the person. The Rebbe encouraged his disciples – in fact, every Jew – to inspire and teach our fellow Jews to live a more Torah-true life, even those living in cities far from Jewish centers. When we teach a Jew to connect all the dots of his or her being, he or she begins to feel whole, he or she experiences a true self and thereby deepens his or her relationship with our Father in heaven.
This idea has special relevance during 5776, as this is a year of Hakhel. When the Bais HaMikdash stood in Yerushalayim, in the year following Shemitah, all Jews – men, women and children, even infants – would gather in the courtyard of the Bais HaMikdash to hear the king read from the Torah. The objective was to inspire the entire klal to follow the Torah and to fear Hashem.
During numerous Hakhel years the Rebbe campaigned extensively for it to be called a year of Hakhel and for each of us to act on this wonderful mitzvah, even though we don’t have a physical Bais HaMikdash. Jews should gather together – as many as possible, as often as possible, and wherever possible – throughout the year, for the purpose of inspiring and encouraging each other to increase observance of Torah and fear of Hashem, thereby rejuvenating our bond with Him.
In Southern Oklahoma, Jews are few and far between. Yet when they gather at the Chabad Center to daven, attend a Torah class or enjoy a Simchat Torah celebration, one can see that they are in their natural habitat; they seem so comfortable. Because they are in fact at home. Joining together to daven, study Torah or celebrate one of our holidays is truly the way a Jew gets recharged, and the results are powerful.