Who Are You Hanging Out With?
13/11/2015 12:10:16 PM
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Dear [first_name] In this week's parasha we read something really quite shocking: Isaac has become old (senile?), his eyes have become dim (perhaps with cataract?), and as a result he wishes to bless his older son Esau - a man whose values are far removed from those of his father Isaac and grandfather Abraham.
The obvious implication is that because Isaac has become old, senile and blind, he really doesn't know what he is doing. But hold on! Firstly, we are not talking about just any "old geyser" - this is our holy forefather Isaac! Secondly, if he really has lost it, what value could there be in his blessing? Rashi explains that the blindness that Isaac was struck with was not the result of old age, and his desire to bless Esau was not a consequence of his senility. This is no ordinary blindness, says Rashi. He became blind because of the incense that his daughters-in-law burnt to honour their idols. It was a spiritual malaise brought about his proximity to idol-worshippers.
What Rashi is telling us is that in spite of Isaac's greatness, he was affected by his environment. This is why he wished to invoke blessings on Esau instead of on the more spiritually deserving Jacob.
Indeed, Ramban says the same thing when explaining Abraham's apparent spiritual decline as he entered Egypt, the most promiscuous country of his era. “Even the holiest soul is affected by the desires of the flesh,” writes Nachmanides.
This is why our Sages wrote in the Mishna, “Keep away from a bad neighbour!” and "Don’t become friendly with an evil person!”
Our Rabbis are teaching us a very valuable lesson. If you live in a negative environment, or hang out with negative people, you will be negatively affected! No matter how intelligent, insightful or holy you are, your judgement will be compromised!
It is for this reason that Maimonides, an expert in human psychology, begs people to move away from a negative environment no matter what the cost.
If even spiritual giants are negatively affected by a negative environment - what hope do we have? And yet every single day of our lives we are inundated by messages in newspapers, movies, television programmes, social media, etc that espouse values, lifestyles, anti-Israel positions and promiscuity that are totally at odds with any sense of traditional Jewish morality. Is it any wonder that by the time we are done, we have very little idea of what is right and what is wrong, the line continually shifting as the media constantly pushes the envelope?
We may not always be able to extricate ourselves from a spiritually negative environment - but we should at least be cognisant of its effects on our thinking. If we begin seeing things differently, or notice our values changing, it may not be because we have "matured" or "grown". It may simply be the effect of a negative social and media environment subtly pulling the needle of our moral compass further and further down.
With best wishes for a Good Shabbos on behalf of the Rebbetzin and all of us at South Head,
Rabbi Benzion Milecki OAM
Some of the 90 people at the third session of JLI's 'Journey of the Soul', called "Proper Perspective: How Death Informs Life"
Far Above Medical School
Mrs. Susan Blauner
When my son, Shmaryahu, was a baby, he was very sickly. He was feverish all the time. If someone sneezed three miles away, he would get a cold. He had almost no immunity, an his health was of great concern to me. full story  RECOMMENDED LIBRARY READING
"HEAVEN PRINTS" Stories of finding Hashem in our lives, and living our lives with Hashem. By Sara Yocheved Rigler. The author delights and inspires us and most important of all opens our eyes to those moments when Hashem allows us the privilege of seeing more clearly His Divine Providence. In these captivating stories and essays we discover Hashem's "heaven prints" in many different places and situations. Shabbat Shalom, COMMUNAL EVENTS
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666 Old South Head Rd Rose Bay, NSW 2029 (02) 9371 7300 |
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BEHA'ALOSCHA
Rose Bay, NSW 2029
(02) 9371 7300