Hot Works Presents
Orchard Lake Fine Art Show
TORAH PORTION
July 24-26, 2009
Reward Suit Task
Shabbat Hazon (Parshat Devarim):
Deuteronomy 1:1-3:22; Isaiah 1:1-27.
I
n the fifth book of the Torah,
Deuteronomy, Moses prepares the
Jewish nation for their entry into
the promised land. In the course of his
words, he recounts the events that trans-
pired over the last 40 years as the people
journeyed through the desert.
"And God said to me, do not incite
war with Moav, for I will not
give you of their land; it is an
inheritance to the children
of Lot." (Deuteronomy, 2:9)
Similarly, in verse 19 He says,
"You are nearing the border
of Amon; do not bother them
and do not incite war with
them, for I will not give you
of their land; it is an inheri-
tance to the children of Lot."
What merit did Lot have
that God gave his children
Amon and Moav these lands
as an inheritance?
The Midrash explains:
"When Abraham was forced by famine
to go down to Egypt, he said that Sarah
was his sister instead of his wife. He was
afraid that if they knew she was his wife,
they would kill him in order to give her
to the king as a wife. Lot knew very well
that Sarah was not Abraham's sister, but
remained silent and did not reveal the
secret. It was for this silence that God
rewarded him, by saving him from the
destruction of the city of Sodom and
then again by giving his children an
inheritance of land never to be taken
away from them."
This explanation seems very peculiar.
Why would God reward him for such a
small, insignificant act rather than for
the great sacrifice that Lot made when
the angels, in the form of men, came to
visit him? In that case, Lot put himself in
danger by having guests in a city where
guests were forbidden under penalty of
death!
When the townsfolk came to demand
the guests, Lot put forth tremendous
efforts to protect them! Why was there
no reward for these heroic acts?
Based on this, our sages teach us a
very important lesson. We know that
Lot had a very strong desire for money.
This was evident when the angels had to
force him to leave Sodom, a city about to
be destroyed because he could not part
with his material possessions. When
Lot followed Abraham to Egypt, it was
solely Nvith the intention that as the sole
heir to his fortune he would inherit all
of Abraham's immense wealth upon his
passing.
To this end, it was in Lot's best inter-
ests to reveal that Sarah was Abraham's
wife so that Abraham would be killed
and he would inherit his wealth.
Additionally, having pro-
vided the king was such a
beautiful wife would also
have netted Lot a tremen-
dous reward.
Therefore, not revealing
Sarah's true identity was an
extremely difficult test for
Lot. Abstaining from doing
so required great effort on
Lot's part and deserved
being rewarded.
Our sages teach us that
reward is commensurate
with the difficulty of the
task. The more difficult the
task, the more reward. Thus, a person
is worthy of reward only when he does
something difficult, that goes against his
nature.
A great rabbi once asked his student
the following question: If you have five
burning candles and you extinguish two
of them, how many are left? The student
did not know what to answer. Of course
the rabbi knew simple math.
After a short while the rabbi
answered. Two are left, for the three that
remained lit burned down to nothing.
It is those fires that we extinguish
within ourselves that makes us great. It
is through overcoming the difficult tasks
that we grow.
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175 award winning artists on the beautiful lakeside grounds of the
Orchard Lake Schools • 3535 Indian Trail. Orchard Lake, Michigan 48324
FREE ADMISSION - Saturday 10-7, Sunday 10-5
Free Live Entertainment • Great beverages and food
Interactive Demonstrations • More!
e- Youth Art Competition for grades K-8 • Children's Art Activities
0 - • it the top 100 art shows in the country two years in a row!
Winner of three awards from 2008 Michigan Festivals & Events.
www.HotWorks.org
New this year. North Oakland County Art Festiva
August 1416 at Otde World Canterbury Village, Lake Orion,.
Avraham Cohen is director of the Weiss
Family Partners in Torah of Yeshiva Beth
Yehudah in Southfield.
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WINDSOR
Conversations
What good qualities do you
feel you inherited, and what
good quality are you working
on acquiring? Who is doing
a greater mitzvah, one who
gives a dollar to charity or one
who gives a thousand dollars?
Why do you think the reward is
greater when things are more
difficult?
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Artist Preview Party
Friday, July 24 6-9
Hors d'oeuvres
catered by
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Meet our 175 fine artists • Purchase original works before available to public
Dinner available • Support Orchard Lake Schools
Tickets Available at www.ticketweb.com
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