This week's Dvar Torah is in memory of Shoshana Kessler (nee Kalter), from Houston, Texas, who was suddenly taken away from us last week.
It was more than a shock to me and my family. I have known her and her family for just over 30 years and have remained in contact with her throughout. To those who did not know her; she did not have the easiest of lives, in many ways. In past years, she was plagued with one medical issue after another, some not even related to the other. And to those who did know her, well, most didn't know the extent of what she went through. Not because she "hid it so well," but because she lived with it so well.
She was a person who never (at least to us) complained about her situation and always had a positive take on things. And I don't mean one of those "fake frummy" positive takes, where it's clear the person is forcing a smile and pretending that they have emunah. Her positive outlook in life was internal and clear, and you had no clue what pain she might have been going through at that very moment. I certainly didn't.
In fact, her last two audio messages that she left us, left us with a memory which wrapped up her life. First, she described how a possum invaded their home during Sukkos, and what they went through to get it out. Then she described how they discovered a burst pipe, which left them without water for a time, and when the plumber came to fix it, he accidently cut an electric wire, leaving them without electricity for a while. In the end, she laughed and said in her (yes) annoying New York accent, "Well, at least it's a beautiful day out, and heck… at least they aren't rockets!" It was a comedic take on her life: one issue after another, yet still, she held a positive outlook throughout it all.
There are also many other aspects of her life that she and her family are known for, but I wanted to focus on that particular aspect which stood out.
There are people in this world who might not be well-known in the world, but nonetheless, are far bigger than many of those who are well-known; she was one of them.
I hope that her husband, children, parents, and siblings can find a way to continue without her, and hopefully, especially with the way things are going, we can see her again soon.
Okay, let's try to change gears a little bit.
Every year certain questions come up about the parsha that you think about and have no answer for. Then, every once in while, you finally see an answer to one of those questions.
One of the most famous questions out there (in my mind, since I have never heard anybody else ask it), is thus: We all know that Avraham challenged Nimrod and his belief of the Divine. Nimrod thought that he was "All Mighty," and the world followed him, and Avraham comes around and openly challenges this belief. His reward? He's thrown into a furnace. And to everybody's surprise, he comes out alive.
Fast forward a couple of thousand years, you have Chananyah, Mishoel, and Azaria who were similarly tossed into a furnace because they refused to bow to the idol Nevuchanezer built. And they too were spared.
So the big question is: Why were they mentioned in the Torah (Daniel 3), while Avraham was not? We only know this story through the Medresh, not the Written Torah!
Good question, no? (That's because I thought of it.)
Finally, I found an answer thanks to the sefer "Yeshuos Malko."
The Gemara (Pesachim 118a) writes regarding the episode with Avraham, that when the angel Gavriel saw what was about to happen, he begged Hashem permission to go down and save Avraham. Hashem replied, "Just as he [Avraham] is alone, it is proper that I, who am also alone, should save him."
Regarding Chananyah, Mishoel, and Azaria, however, their rescue was not done by Hashem, rather by angels.
Says the "Yeshuos Malko," the Torah was given to us for all generations. It is the blueprint of our lives and it is to teach us how to interact with this world. What Chananyah, Mishoel, and Azaria did, they did according to the Torah. When given the choice to bow to an idol or to give up their lives, they followed halacha. They chose death. This is Torah and therefore is mentioned in the Torah.
What Avraham did, on the other hand, was something completely different. He openly challenged and waged a war against idolatry. He wasn't given a choice, bow or die. He actually picked a fight! And THIS is not Torah for the generations. It's not anti-Torah, but it's not what is expected of us, and that's why it's not mentioned in the Torah at all. We have no mitzvah to start up against the world and its forms of idol worship. However, Avraham went above and beyond this and did so anyway. Therefore, he is called "alone" and was deserved to be saved by Hashem who also is alone.
So, this not only answers an "age-old question," but also teaches us a small lesson as well. When we go beyond what is expected of us, even if it goes against the trends of the time, if we have proper and true intentions, perhaps we will be worthy of receiving extra help from Hashem, directly.
With that, I wish you all a wonderful and quiet Shabbos.