Last Motzei Shabbat we learned of the petirah of two Torah giants - עליהם השלום - Rabbi
Dovid Feinstein z’l, and Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, z’l. I have always found that on Saturday nights, I am a little saddened as my neshoma yetera from shabbos leaves but last week it was devastating. We said Baruch Dayan Emet; we accepted Hashem’s decree. And yet, it is not their death that leaves a mark on us but their lives, what they have accomplished, what they valued, what middot they modeled for us.
How fitting it is that we begin this week’s parsha with the words “ויהיו חיי שרה מאה שנה ועשרים שנה ושבע שנים שני חיי שרה” - This was the life of Sarah - each day of those 127 years were equally good (according to Rashi) Yet we know that Sarah (and Avraham’s) life was fraught with trials and tribulations. She was kidnapped, she was infertile, she traveled from place to place. Nevertheless, her life was considered good. The famous Auschwitz survivor and psychotherapist, Viktor Frankl, in Man’s Search for Meaning, writes that people can transcend the difficulties in life if they feel there is a greater purpose. The meaning of life lies in finding that purpose and taking responsibility for ourselves and other human beings. By having a clear “why” we can face all the “how” questions of life
Rabbi Sacks in his weekly commentary last year (5780) wrote “I believe that faith helps us to find the ‘Why’ that allows us to bear almost any ‘How’. The serenity of Sarah’s and Abraham’s death was eternal testimony to how they lived.”
Rabbi Sacks taught us through his actions that one can be highly educated and yet still understand and relate to the “average” person. He modeled for us how you can be fiercely proud of your faith and be accepting of other people’s faiths. How you could be an English Lord and still be a family man. How a great leader is one who develops leadership characteristics in others. How when you treat others with respect you gain the respect of others. He will be sorely missed by his family, the Jewish community, and the world.
Rabbi Dovid Feinstein A”H was a Torah giant in a diminutive body. His halachic insights and Torah based decisions with which he guided people are well known within the Yeshiva world. As a great talmid chacham with an impeccable family heritage (he was the son of the great Rav Moshe Feinstein, A”H) one wold think that he remained in the confines of the bais medrash at all times or that he was too lofty to be approachable. However, Rav Dovid Finstein did not separate himself from quotidian undertakings, and with these everyday activities, Rav Dovid modeled what it means to be humble. When we lived in New York my husband always did the shopping on Thursday nights in Boro Park. He would often see Rav Feinstein shopping, pushing his own cart, standing in the checkout line. On many occasions, my husband, out of a great deal of respect, offered Rav Feinstein his place in line - the Rav should go first, the Rav’s time was valuable. And yet, the Rav always refused and said he could wait in line just like everyone else. That is greatness! That is being humble...one can understand the expression והאיש משה (דוד) ענו מאוד
We can all learn from the lives of others how to live the good life - Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, z”l, concluded his commentary on the parsha with the following words:
“We have learned this extraordinary mindset from Holocaust survivors like Edith Eger and Viktor Frankl. But in truth, it was there from the very beginning, from Abraham and Sarah, who survived whatever fate threw at them, however much it seemed to derail their mission, and despite everything they found serenity at the end of their lives. They knew that what makes a life satisfying is not external but internal, a sense of purpose, mission, being called, summoned, of starting something that would be continued by those who came after them, of bringing something new into the world by the way they lived their lives. What mattered was the inside, not the outside; their faith, not their often-troubled circumstances.”
May all of our years be good ones, and may all of our days be meaningful.
Shabbat Shalom
Rochelle Brand, Ed.D
Head of School
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