• Torah Portion
To Reap Life's Benefits
We Must Invest Ourselves
Shabbat Lekh Lekha:
Genesis I2:1-17:2•
Isaiah 40:27-41:16
RABBI STEPHEN WEISS
Special to The Jewish News
A
_s I
—
a l S 1 1
FORGET
THE MALL
We've Got It All!
r
454)
e'b
Complete
Acuvue® Disposable
contacts Package
Includes Exam, Fitting, Follow-Up
Care, Care Kit and 7 Pairs Of
AcuvlieLenses
With Coupon • Excludes
Previous. Orders • Expires 11/30/97
L
J
r
*ifeNai.r,
Eye Examination
All Family Members Welcome
Excludes Contact Lens Exam
Excludes Previous orders
With Coupon • Expires 11/30/97
Per Person
L
r
Pe'r441;1434
Any Frames
In Stock
With Purchase of Prescription Lenses •
Excludes Previous
Orders • With Coupon
Expires 11/30/97
L
Doctor ROBERT FELDMAN
14 Mile Road
...lb.."
4716 Delemere • Royal Oak • (248) 549-3400
I Crooks I
Optometrist
Some insurances and vision care programs
excluded. No other discounts apply.
Deleme re
write this column, the
stock market has just taken us
all on one of its famous roller
coaster rides. After its worst
tumble since Black Monday of 1987,
the market rebounded with incredible
vigor, gaining over 300 points in one
day.
Of course, the ups and downs of the
stock market have their greatest effect on
those who seek to play the market.
Consistent long term investment always
produces the greatest results.
How do I know this is true? Because
I am a party to a very long term invest-
ment. Almost 4000 years to be exact.
And in this week's sedrah, we
read about the first two
investors. Their fates were very
or different. By looking at their
portfolios, we can learn a great
deal about ourselves.
The first investor was
Abraham. Abraham was a
maverick. He didn't just buy
the popular stock. He was the
kind of person who was always
a step ahead.
Everyone else was still steeped in idol-
* any Abraham invested in monotheism.
In fact, he believed in it so much, he
founded his own company, along with a
senior partner.
Part of the contract, or covenant, on
which that partnership was based, was a
promise of great returns on his invest-
ment. God promises Abraham that he
will be the father of a multitude of
nations, that he will inherit a special
-6) land, that the nations of the world will
be blessed by him. But Abraham is will-
ing to invest himself fully in this new
relationship with God long before he
ever hears these promises. In fact, by the
time Abraham hears the call— Lekh
Lekha, Go firth,
Abraham has already
devoted his life to serving God.
The midrash recounts Abraham's
attempt to turn the customers in his
0 father's idol shop away from idolatry.
Eventually Abraham smashed the idols
in the shop, leaving the stick in the
hands of the biggest statue. His father
was not pleased. He took Abraham
before Nimrod the king who demanded
Stephen Weiss is a rabbi at
Congregation Shaarey Zedek.
that Abraham bow first to fire, then to
water, clouds and wind. Each time
Abraham refused. Nimrod decided to
punish Abraham by throwing him into
a fiery furnace.
The future did not look too bright
for Abraham at that moment. Some
investors would have said this was a
good time to sell. But Abraham stands
firm. His faith in God cannot be shak-
en. He is cast into the fiery furnace and
steps out unscathed. God rewards
Abraham for his consistent, unrelenting
faith.
The torah says Abraham set out for
Canaan with the 70 souls which he
made in Haran. Can a human being
make souls? Certainly not. Our sages,
therefore, suggested that these were peo-
ple Abraham brought to belief in one
God. Through his pattern of daily liv-
ing, Abraham demonstrated his faith so
convincingly that others joined him. He
did this even before he heard the call.
Even at great risk to himself Even with-
out any indications he would
get a good return on his invest-
ment. Indeed he never lived to
see God's promises fulfilled;
but you and I are part of the
living legacy of his commit-
ment, and that of generations
of Jews.
The other investor was
Abraham's brother Haran.
Haran, too, was brought to the
mouth of the fiery furnace alongside
Abraham. "If Abraham survives," he said
to himself "then I will side with
Abraham and proclaim my belief in
God. If Abraham dies, I will side with
Nimrod!" When Abraham stepped forth
from the furnace, Nimrod turned to
Haran: "Who are you with?" Haran
replied, "I am with Abraham." Nimrod's
men took him and threw him into the
furnace and the blazed consumed him.
Why was it insufficient for Haran to
proclaim his faith in God? Haran also
invested in monotheism. But his invest-
ment was a spur of the moment deci-
sion. He was trying to play the market.
He was watching to determine if its
stock was going to rise or fall. When he
saw it would rise, he jumped into the
market. But he was not in it for the long
haul. As soon as he could reap his bene-
fits, he would pull out.
This is the challenge posed to us by
the parshat: Do we play the market, as
Haran did? Do we wait for the single
experience that will move us spiritually?
Like the stock market, to get the most
out of our tradition, we have to be will-
ing to invest ourselves in it on an ongo-
ing basis. 0
1 1 /7
1997
59