Parshas Chayei Sarah
14 maamarim of the tzaddikim on this week's reading, each in Hebrew and English with a takeaway.
Lehavas David
Rav Dovid Matisyohu Rabinowitz ›Lehavas David · Rav Dovid Matisyohu RabinowitzSarah's Self-Sacrifice: Rooted in All GenerationsSarah spent all her years longing to give her soul to Hashem, and through that longing and her final act she rooted the strength for mesirus nefesh in every generation, from…Lehavas David · Rav Dovid Matisyohu RabinowitzSelf-Sacrifice in Thought: The Akeidah and Sarah's LongingThe Akeidah never came to an actual deed, and for that very reason the power of mesirus nefesh lives on in the world for all of Yitzchak's descendants. Sarah teaches that a…Lehavas David · Rav Dovid Matisyohu RabinowitzDays Made Whole: Order in Serving HashemSarah's years were “all equally good” even though most were full of pain, because she kept order in her life and so no moment lacked the service it called for. Filling our days is…Lehavas David · Rav Dovid Matisyohu RabinowitzUplifted Beauty: Serving Hashem through TiferesThe Torah praises the beauty of the Imahos not for itself, since “beauty is vain,” but because they raised it up and used it for the honor of Hashem, as R' Yochanan and Yaakov…Lehavas David · Rav Dovid Matisyohu RabinowitzOld Age and Days: Serving with Every TraitThe finer path in avodas Hashem is not only to fight the yetzer hara but to take its very longing and bring it into holiness, as Dovid did when his feet carried him to the beis…Lehavas David · Rav Dovid Matisyohu RabinowitzGod of Heaven and Earth: Foundation of EmunahAvraham knew that all of Klal Yisrael would grow from Yitzchak's match, so at its very beginning he planted the emunah that Hashem is the God of the earth as well as the heavens…
Yismach Yisroel
Rav Yerachmiel Yisrael Yitzchok Dancyger ›Yismach Yisroel · Rav Yerachmiel Yisrael Yitzchok DancygerThe Twice-Lived Years of the TzaddikimThe years of the tzaddikim are never lost. Given over to Hashem in holiness, they are stored above and shine again for later generations when the exile is darkest and no living…Yismach Yisroel · Rav Yerachmiel Yisrael Yitzchok DancygerYears That Truly Existed Light Our DarknessEating, drinking and every ordinary act have no real existence of their own, but done purely for Hashem they become lasting ornaments that delight the King. The years of tzaddikim…Yismach Yisroel · Rav Yerachmiel Yisrael Yitzchok DancygerThe Servant Who Shares the InheritanceHashem's providence and closeness reach the lowliest place and the lowliest person. A Jew is bound to Him in essence, not merely by his deeds, so even when he feels like a failing…Yismach Yisroel · Rav Yerachmiel Yisrael Yitzchok DancygerEliezer's Prayer: You Began, Now CompleteWhatever good we have achieved, Hashem began it, and we have only reached the beginning. Instead of resting on our merits, we should do as Avraham and Eliezer did, and ask the One…Yismach Yisroel · Rav Yerachmiel Yisrael Yitzchok DancygerThe Wise Servant and the Leaping EarthHashem's greatness is that He stoops to the lowliest, and our bond to Him is essential, like a child's to a father. So even as mere servants we can speak to Him, as Avraham did…Yismach Yisroel · Rav Yerachmiel Yisrael Yitzchok DancygerThe Tzaddikim's Years Shine in Our DarknessThe years the Avos and the tzaddikim sanctified are never lost. They are stored above and shine down, like sunlight reflected by the moon, precisely in the darkest times. When we…Yismach Yisroel · Rav Yerachmiel Yisrael Yitzchok DancygerEliezer's Humility: Walking in Darkness, Lit by HashemHumility is not self-erasure but the doorway to closeness. Like Eliezer, who saw himself as nothing and was therefore lit by Hashem, a person who honestly recognizes his lowliness…Yismach Yisroel · Rav Yerachmiel Yisrael Yitzchok DancygerThe Avos' Years Stored Up as LightThe holy years of our forefathers were not lost when they passed; they remain stored up as light and merit for us, above all in our darkest times. When we consider the precious…