Walking Across Hot Coals

Language is important. The words we use communicate a message. Language changes. What meant one thing in a prior era is foreign in the present one. And so we look for parables and analogies to explain what we mean or we use new language.

Self Sacrifice. Growing up on Jewish stories of self sacrifice from our ancient history to more recent self sacrifice of our immediate grandparents and relatives under the Soviet Union, the word means literally giving up the self in sacrifice to service of Hashem. That means a willingness and often actualizing of dying for the faith and the things we believe in so dearly.

But no longer. Today the idea of needing to die in service of Hashem is reserved for soldiers in Israel on the front lines but not us comfortably ensconced in Atlanta Jewish life.

Sacrifice means something all together different and yet at the same time exactly the same.

Self-Sacrifice is suspending the self. Doing something that is you don’t understand or don’t feel. Sacrifice is the key to connecting with something bigger than your-self.

In this week’s Parsha, Jacob is afraid to take the blessings Isaac is set to give to his brother Esau. His mother Rachel, says, do this and “upon me will the curse fall”.  

Is that a comfort that if Jacob is to be cursed his mother will take the fall?

Rachel is teaching us the power of self sacrifice or suspending the self. She tells Jacob, these blessings that you are to receive can not come through the normal challenges. They are very powerful blessings and are not accessible through normal give and take. Big reward comes only through great risk. And great risk means suspending your thinking and feeling.

Rachel says to Jacob, if you want to receive these great blessings you need to learn from me. I’m willing to suspend myself for the greater good of bringing these blessings into the world. You need to do the same.

Life is easy when not challenged. But the treasures are found in suspension of self and the suspension of self is most manifest in the essence of challenge.

This is Rachels’ legacy for our People. It doesn’t have to be a Russian Gulag. It can be a regular Thursday in Atlanta and we can engage in self sacrifice.

Have a good Shabbos!