Community Magazine November 2019

24 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE Home&Stone FIXTURES FAUCETS HARDWARE ACCESSORIES 1663 Coney Island Ave Brooklyn NY 11230 Valet Parking Appointments Welcome 718.787.1000 homeandstone.com @homeandstone לעילוי נשמתם של משה בן עליזה, יצחק הלל בן עליזה, והנרייט לאה בת עליזה, דוד בן גילה, רבקה בת גילה, יהושע בן גילה, משה בן גילה, שרה בת גילה, יעקב בן גילה, ואליאנה בת גילה. ולרפואה שלמה ליוסף בן אהובה מסעודה, שילת אהובה בת עליזה, ודניאל בן עליזה. Aaron 732.631.4519 New clean car with comfortable leather seats Community Driver Deal Driver 19 To JFK $180 To LaGuardia $190 To Atlantic city $140 To Newark $90 To Manhattan $180 To Brooklyn $180 Hourly(local) $25/hour Super-Drive Super Service. Every Ride. Every time. Motzei Shabbat Hours: 1/2 Hr after Shabbat to 9PM FREE DELIVERY ON SATURDAY NIGHTS that’s the end of it. We just accept that the bad habits are part of our beings, and there’s nothing we can ever do to change that. This is precisely what makes akedat Yitzhak so important, so critical, and such a central part of the foundation of Jewish belief. We are the descendants of Avraham Avinu, who was told to do something that directly and drastically contradicted his deepest convictions and instincts – and he did it. He paved the way for us by showing that we are not trapped, that the chains of instincts are imaginary, that we are not bound by our habits and natural drives. We are fully in control of our behavior. We are not compelled to do something even if we feel an instinctive drive to do it. Our instincts do not control us. Our habits do not control us. Our decisions are controlled by nothing in the world other than our Gd-given free will. Our instincts make the right decisions difficult, but not impossible. They do not force us to do anything. The sentence “This is just the way I am” is one which should never cross the lips of a Torah Jew. It might be true that “This is the way I’ve been,” but that does not dictate the way we are now, or the way we will be tomorrow or the next day. The only thing that dictates the way we are now are the decisions we make now, and the only thing that dictates the way we will be tomorrow are the decisions we make tomorrow. Our habits of the past, no matter how ingrained they’ve become, do not control us. The Purity of the Patriarchs Many sources speak of “ zechut avot ” – the merit of our righteous patriarchs which remains with us and assists us to this very day. Rav Eliyahu Dessler noted the word “ zechut ” can be punctuated differently to read “ zakut – purity.” We have received from our saintly forbears not only great merit, but also a spark of purity that will never be extinguished. We have within us the power of sacrifice exhibited by Avraham at the time of akedat Yitzchak , the power of going against our instincts when necessary to do the right thing. We must always remember – we are not imprisoned by our bad habits. We exercise full control over ourselves. We are not stuck. We can change. We can be better. Of course, it is so much more convenient to feel helpless, to feel that we have no control over ourselves, and to just do whatever we instinctively feel like doing. But we are never going to achieve without struggle, without sacrifice. And this starts with the recognition that we are the heirs and students of Avraham Avinu, who showed very clearly that we are in full control of our behavior. Let us break the imaginary chains that hold us back, and move forward with the confidence that we are fully capable of being the great people that we are expected to be.