About KBY

Hotels, cars and flight all fall under the category of travel. There is an on-going battle between the consumer and the service provider. Every provider wants our business, but the customer wants to pay as little as possible. There are many perks and benefits for members and frequent users which accompany repetitive business. I, for one, am always trying to figure out the best deals and often try to calculate which options to choose from. One of the many choices presented to someone wishing to rent a car is the gas category. The three gas options are: A) refuel yourself and return the car with a full tank of gas; B) prepay for a full tank of gas (at local prices), regardless of how many gallons of gas remain in the tank at the time the car is returned; C) return the car with less than a full tank of gas and get charged for a full tank of gas at a rate that could be three times the price of the local gas station.

Obviously, no one would choose option C at the outset, but sometimes things do not go as planned and there is no choice. Typically, I choose option A, refilling the tank myself so the car is returned with a full tank. Pre-paying for the full tank of gas is obviously a convenience, and in life we pay for convenience. Nevertheless, I try to get my money’s worth by returning the car with the least amount of gas possible. This requires some mathematics in calculating how many more kilometers I will need to travel and how many kilometers per liters this vehicle gets, resulting in how many liters of gas to purchase just prior to returning the rental.

In the small picture of life, many of us have travel stories and challenges, but in the greater picture we all go through challenges as we travel the road of life. Life is a journey that comes with curves, turns, potholes, wrong turns, poor directions, and the need to navigate through it all in the best, most practical, and beneficial manner.

From the moment we are born, the gas tank is full until we run out of gas as we come to our final resting place. During our lives we continuously re-fill the tank until the gas station closes. The book of Bereishit, also known as Sefer HaAvot the book of our fathers (Genesis) lays the groundwork for the future of the Hebrew people. This is highlighted by what Chaza”l says: "מעשה אבות סימן לבנים" “the actions of the forefathers are a sign for the children”. The process of traveling through life and facing the tests and tribulations of living our lives is clearly seen by the life of Avraham Avinu. Although Avraham is mentioned in five parshot, the main part of his life is described in Lech Lecha and Vayeira. Avraham’s life is strung together, linked by the major, famous ten tests beginning in Lech Lecha and ending in Vayeira.

The Torah in last week’s Parashat Lech Lecha states in Bereishit 12:1 "ויאמר ה' אל אברם לך לך מארצך וממולדתך ומבית אביך אל הארץ אשר אראך" “God said to Abram, ‘Go away from your land, from your birthplace, and from your father’s house, to the land that I will show you”. The Torah in this week’s Parashats Vayeira states in Bereishit 22:2 "ויאמר קח נא את בנך את יחידך אשר אהבת את יצחק ולך לך אל ארץ המוריה, והעלהו שם לעולה על אחד ההרים אשר אמר אליך" “Take your son, the only one you love -Isaac - and Go Away to the Moriah area, bring him as an all-burned offering on one of the mountains that I will designate to you”. Rabbi Bachya, on the words Lech Lecha in Vayeira, explains there were ten tests upon which Avraham was tested. Avraham was found to be complete and wholesome in all of them. The first test was the command to leave his birthplace; the last was the Akeida. Pirkei Avos 5:3 also states, ‘With ten tests Avraham was tested and he stood in all of them’. Nevertheless, we find that the last test was the greatest and most challenging of all. One reason is clear: the first test came along with a guarantee that it will be for your good and benefit. The last, in stark contrast, was to sacrifice his only son. A second reason is the mere fact that Avraham was running away from bad; in the last one he was on the way to do something good.

A final thought on the matter is that the words Lech Lecha do not need to be taken literally in the physical sense of going from point A to point B. Rather, the Lech Lecha is a spiritual journey leaving the Avoda Zarah, the idol worship in his birthplace, traveling to a holy place, namely Har Hamoriah. One can deduce the leaving from the first Lech Lecha indicated by the very next letter Mem, which connotes from and going away, while the second place, indicated by the word El, means to someplace great.

Life is not just about getting from one place to the next. We should look at our lives and travel a route that combines all three explanations. As we grow closer to Hashem, the tests grow correspondingly more difficult and challenging. Hashem does not need to test the wicked and those who are distant from Him. He tests those who are closest to Him. Secondly, we know the difference between good and evil. Throughout all the challenges of life, we should only choose goodness, leaving the bad. Finally, our travels through life should take us to spiritual matters that not only will give us the fuel and energy for this world, but will take us on our final destination in the World to Come.

Remember Torah is all about relationship NOT religion!!!

Shabbat Shalom!!!

Two weeks each year people are a little off their game. One week a person does not have enough time and the next week there’s a little bit much more time. Later today most Canadians will change their clocks, “gaining “an hour to the week. Personally, I try to be as systematic as possible, changing the clocks all at the same time, albeit for my wife, different clocks are set at different times, some five minutes fast, some fifteen minutes fast, while others are set to show the actual, real time. Old-fashioned clocks and watches need to be changed manually, but our satellite-recognizing timekeepers automatically adjust to the time change. However, there are a few clocks in the “no time” zone that can, may, or are supposed to change by a receiving signal which does not always work. Under the Canadian Constitution, laws related to timekeeping are a provincial and territorial matter. Most of Saskatchewan, despite geographically being in the Mountain Time Zone, observes year-round Central Standard Time (CST). This results in the province effectively being on year-round daylight-saving time. According to a recent Associated Press poll, most people across the country want to stop the twice-a-year ritual of clock changes. There are dozens of other polls with mixed results whether to switch or remain and to remain on which one.

Most time we talk about changing of time, obviously, the correct wording should be ‘adjust the time’ or just go buy a new clock. Nevertheless, the idea of ‘change’ the clock, meaning adjusting the time or replacing the apparatus, is something we all face as we transition through different stages of life. This is most apparent in people who “change” their names to change their destiny.

In this week’s Parashat Lech Lecha the Torah in Bereishis 17:5 states: "ולא יקרא עוד את שמך אברם, והיה שמך אברהם כי אב המון גוים נתתיך" “- “No longer shall you be called Abram. Your name shall be Abraham, for I have set you up as the father of a horde of nations”. Then, in 17:15, it states: "ויאמר אלוקים אל אברהם, שרי אשתך לא תקרא את שמה שרי, כי שרה שמה"- - - “God said to Abraham, Sarai your wife, do not call her by the name Sarai, for Sarah is her name”. Immediately after the change Hashem says to both Abraham and Sarah, “I will bless you and increase you”. The Gemara Brachos 16b explains: that only the three are called the Avot (the fathers) and only the four are called the Imahos (the mothers). Who are the three? We know now they are Avraham, Yitzchok and Yaakov, but why not start with someone else, like Terach, Avraham’s father? The Torah describes Abram as old, being ninety-nine years old after Yishmael turns thirteen, which now brings the birth of Yitzhak closer. Even if we didn’t want to have Terach as one of the ‘fathers’, IS he not the biological father of Abram? we can’t change that link. In fact, going up the ladder tracing the generations from Terach to Noach and further back to Adam, each and every one is referred to as the Avot.

In the words of Chaza”l, is it possible to take a sharp knife and sever the generation between Abram and Terach so that the chain of three starts with Abram, continuing to Yitzchok and Yaakov? Apparently, when Hashem decided to give birth to Israel, He did it in a way that was intended to break the link from Terach to his son Abram, starting with Abram as the first and continuing to make the three with his son Yitzchok and his son Yaakov, thereby creating the Avot of three as we know it to be. But how?

When birth occurs naturally, the father is known to the child as his father, and the father of the father is known as the grandfather. In the chain of family tree, the child is the trunk at the bottom, the body is the father, and the branches of the tree are formed by the grandfather and further back through the previous generations. But there was one man who was older and, with his wife, no longer had the ability to have a child in the ‘natural’ way (Abram had a son Yishmael at 86 with Haggai but was after the flesh). Hashem intervened and miraculously reverted both the man and his wife, Abram and Sarai, to their youth, enabling them to bear a son. Since the chain of natural birth stopped with Abram, he was no longer directly connected to his father Terach, because if Abram was unable to have a natural child, then the connection to the grandfather and previous ancestors no longer existed. Therefore, Hashem waited until Abram and Sarai were older, well past child-bearing age, and performed a Neis/miracle. Hashem caused them, in a sense to be reborn after the spirit. A new beginning was created with Abram and Sarai, their strength to have the ‘natural’ child would continue to Yitzhak and then to Yaakov, establishing the three Avot.

To demonstrate this nais/miracle to the new potential parents, Hashem changed their old physical bodies to new, younger ones. When a new child is born, the baby is given a name; to begin their new life, Hashem changed the names of both Abram and Sarai to Avraham and Sarah - new identities completely disconnected from Terach and Haran (for Yishmael was born after their likeness) the fathers of Abram and Sarai. Avraham and Sarah experienced a change in body and soul; their physical qualities changed from old back to young, and spiritually through the slight change of their names by the mere addition of a letter. . In addition, they needed brand new biological clocks that gave them the opportunity to have a child specifically in the miraculous form to establish the chain and link of the Avot beginning with Avraham and not from Terach, his father.

All of us need to constantly review and evaluate who we are and where we are going as we progress through our lives. Sometimes we need to adjust and ‘change’ who we are in a slight manner - a little more here or a little less there- regarding how we go about our lives. That is the slight hour change, keeping the general time and connecting it to who we are as a people. On the other hand, (no pun intended) sometimes we need to ‘change the clock’, experiencing a complete, new, thorough overhaul, putting completely new systems into place in our lives. Been born of the spirit and not ONLY the flesh. Hopefully by recognizing time and place of where we and our families are, we can ‘change’ the clock and be right on time every time!

Remember Torah is all about relationship NOT religion!!!

Shabbat Shalom!!!