Youthful Cedars!

It is so freeing to not need to think about relationships, children, and to live your life in pursuit of really whatever you want. You can be dedicated and choose sacrifice for whichever cause touches your heart.  In fact, much of the change that our world experiences is a result of movements that the youth initiate.

It is like a Cedar that grows tall without the need to think about producing fruit.

Maturity and adulthood however are fraught with sacrifice to others.  A good marriage is built on focusing on the other.  Raising emotionally healthy children is about focusing on connection and love which both require giving of oneself.

Maturity and adulthood are to a Date Palm Tree that while it grows tall it doesn’t grow as tall as the Cedar.  It does however produce fruit, something that Cedar does not.

While sacrifice might be deemed to be the highest accomplishment, real sacrifice is evaluated by the fruit and results that are produced.

In our Parsha, after the Akeida, the sacrifice – the binding of Isaac, the Torah shares 5 additional verses.  It is the lineage that births Rivkah, the future wife of Isaac.  The Torah tells us this to inform us that after the Akeida – Isaac married.

Although at first glance, the sacrifice of Abraham and Isaac can’t be topped, the Torah reminds us that the real sacrifice is the dedication to marriage and the children that follow.   

Remember that at your next sleepless night, a challenging moment in a relationship or when you are required to step up to the plate.

Good Shabbos!

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