Parashat Chayei Sarah - Most Valuable Possession

0:03I'm going to ask you guys a question, and I want to see the point. If, let's say, chas v'shalom, you guys were actually working on Wall Street. Chas v'shalom. I used to work on Wall Street. Don't work on Wall Street. All the millions are not worth it. If you want to know why, I brought you USBs with my movie in there, and you can see why it's not worth it to work on Wall Street. You sell your soul for the sake of money, it's not worth it. Now, Let's just say you worked on Wall Street. Let's just say you had some type of business, or you worked for some business, and there was somebody else that was the owner. Now, if somebody asked you, who do you work for? Would you be one of these people that says, "Oh, I work for Mr. Jones. He's the greatest, he's the best, I'm so proud to be his employee"? Or would you say, "Listen, I work for this so-and-so company"? How many of you would be the first option? You're the most proud person to work for Mr. Jones because he gives you a salary and you have food on your plate. And how many of you would choose option B, which is like, listen, I work for some company and that's the job that I have. Option two? The rest of you are still thinking? Option two? Option two? There's no wrong answer. Most people usually pick option number two. Why? Most people are not proud to work for anybody. Most people are not proud to work for anybody. Now, what if I told you, forget working. Slave.

1:29Imagine you're in Egypt, and somebody from Australia visits Egypt to see the pyramids the Jews built. He says, "Wow, this is really nice. What do you do here?" Are you going to say, "Oh, I'm so proud, I'm a slave here?" Or would you say, "Oh, Hashem, I'm suffering here. They killed people. They tortured them." What would you do? Option A or Option B? Option B? Okay, Baruch Hashem, I have at least one fan. He's listening. Question is, why is Eliezer so proud to be a servant? As the pasuk says, in chapter 24, in verse number 34, the Gemara says he's one of the few people that went into Gan Eden alive, with his clothes on. With his clothes on, he never had to die. says to Lavan, says to Betuel, says, "You know who I am? I am the servant of Avraham. I'm not the one that replaces him, for sure, even though he does. I'm not the one that's, uh, who really likes me and eventually he's going to put me in Gan Eden. I'm not the one that, uh, is really important because I've been already with Avraham for over 60-70 years."

2:55No, no, no. I am Eved Avraham. Meaning, Eliezer, how does he define himself? Eved Avraham. Why is he so proud of being Eved Avraham? If you were Eved Avraham, would you be proud? If the answer is no, or I'm not so sure, that's because you don't know what it means to be Eved Avraham. Avraham Avinu was at a point where HaKadosh Baruch Hu would test him with the worst possible things you could ever imagine, knowing he would pass the test. Because HaKadosh Baruch Hu doesn't give tests that we can't pass. That's what the Ramban says, and many other Chachamim. But Avraham got test after test. By the time he's almost 100 years old, his wife gets kidnapped by all types of Hammasniks every other day, If it wasn't enough the first time by Pharaoh, the second time by Avimelech, Shema Yisrael, every other day there's a new test. Then finally, after he has a kid, the kid grows up, he's so happy about him, this Tzadik Yitzchak, HaKadosh Baruch Hu says, "Listen, by the way, this Yitzchak, the one that you love, the only one, the real one, not this Ishmael, not so much. This one. That one, I want you to shecht him for Me."

4:14Avraham, it says, he woke up early in the morning. What does it mean, early in the morning? He was as excited to go do what HaKadosh Baruch Hu said, which meant to shecht his son, as you guys are excited for the children on Shabbat. He was excited. When are the children coming? After the prayer. Oh, we can't have a little bit before? No? Okay. The reality is, Avraham Avinu knows that he's going to shecht his son. Anyone that read the Machzor, For Rosh Hashanah, understanding the words, you're actually at the Midrash of the conversation between Avraham and Yitzchak. And you see how Yitzchak is telling Avraham, "Please tell my mother that I love her. Please make sure somebody is Menachem Ota, you know, just comforts her because she waited for me for so long and now she's not going to have me, she's probably going to be very sad." As you start reading it, you understand it, you start crying. But this is what's happening. Moments before he's about to die, or at least that's what's supposed to happen.

5:15But Avraham did it, even though he's crying. He's crying for two reasons. One, he's crying because he loves his son. Two, he's crying because he knows that he's about to make the biggest sacrifice anybody has ever made for HaKadosh Baruch Hu. And that's why HaKadosh Baruch Hu told him, "Now I know that you fear Me. Now I know that you fear Me. Now I know that there's nothing that you wouldn't do for Me. There's nothing that you wouldn't do for Me." So to be someone that HaKadosh Baruch Hu himself says, "Now I know you fear Me. Now I know there's nothing that you can, that simply you wouldn't do for Me." To be a servant to somebody like that, it's a big deal. It's definitely a big deal. Now, what is the reward of being such a person? Now, in this week's parasha, we see that Avraham, before he sends... Eliezer, on this very important mission to go find a kallah for Yitzchak, he has a brit with him. Now, most people that read this in this day have such filthy minds that it looks weird to them. Why? Because Avraham says to Eliezer, promise me that you're not going to go and choose one of these arurot Kena'ani.

6:35Don't bring me a Canaanite here because they're immodest; you can't fix them. Yeah, but what about if the one that's not a Canaanite is an idol worshiper? He goes, idol worship we can fix. Idol worship we can fix. Immodesty we can't fix. We can't fix immodesty. This is mussar. To anybody that has a sister, or has a friend, or has a wife, or has anything, that's what HaKadosh Baruch Hu thinks. Idol worship we can fix. Why? Technically, most idol worshippers believe there's a higher creature, there's a higher being. So directing them to the right and only One is much easier than fixing immodesty. A woman walking around immodestly has a very serious problem. Why? Because she's machtiyah rabim (causing the public to sin). This is the reason why you will never find shalom bayit (peace in the home) in a house where the wife is not modest. It will never be. Baduk. Check. Any house where the wife is not modest will never have shalom bayit. There are always going to be problems. Why? When you're immodest, you cause other people to look at you. You cause other people to look at you, he's not thinking about his wife, he's thinking about you. You create shalom bayit problems in his house. You create shalom bayit problems in her house. HaKadosh Baruch Hu runs the world, measure for measure. You created problems in somebody else's house, and that's what you get back.

8:03That's what you get back. Fair is fair. So now, back to Avraham Avinu. Avraham Avinu says to Eliezer, we have to make a covenant. Don't bring me a Kena'anit. And also, don't bring my son over there. Bring them here. Fine. Could have just finished there. He says, no, no, no. Put your hand under the yerech. What's the yerech? That's the brit. Now, when most people in this generation hear this, whoa. What's going on? Is Avraham LGBTQ? Chas v'shalom! Or is Avraham this, Avraham that? That's because there's so much junk in their mind, from all the garbage that they saw in their life, that's how they think. That's how they think. When you have filth in your mind, you think filthy things. So why did Avraham do it? Why did Yaakov Avinu, his grandson, do the same thing with Yosef? Why was this the way? Because Avraham Avinu says, in order to make a deal, I have to offer what is the most valuable thing that I possibly have. Money is worthless. In fact, he gave all of his money to Eliezer, saying, "Take it with you. Maybe they like money over there. Maybe Lavan over there likes money. Maybe all these Canaanites like money. All these people like money, give them the money." That's not very valuable. HaKadosh Baruch Hu decides if I have money or don't have money, it doesn't make a difference. It's material. You die, and money doesn't go with you.

9:25Somebody dies with a portfolio of real estate. You know who lives in that real estate? Not him. A bunch of people, usually, that don't even like him. And especially the building that has his name on it, guess what happens? The first thing that happens after he dies is they usually change it. They usually change the name on the building. Why? Because that's the way the world is. The Gemara says, what is the reason why the skin becomes tamei after a person dies? Because the Chachamim already knew that people who don't have Yirat Shamayim have so many fights between brothers and sisters over the Yerushah, over the inheritance, the real estate. You take the house, you take the building, you take the field, you take the car, you take the jewelry, you take this, you take the business. They get into such fights that they reach a point where they think, "You know what? I have to win somehow. You know what? I'm taking the body. I'm going to take the body, I'll take the skin and make it a carpet on the wall." So the chachamim say, in order to stop this bizayon, this embarrassment of the parents, disrespect of the parents, what we're going to do is make the body tamei. No one's allowed to touch the body. So they'll make carpets with the parents' bodies. This is in the Gemara. The chachamim knew the mentality of mankind with and without Torah.

10:46Avraham Avinu knew who Eliezer is and knew that Eliezer understood that the brit is the most valuable possession that he has because that's the first commandment that Hakadosh Baruch Hu gave him. That's a commandment for which he had to sacrifice everything, and he says, "This is the most valuable thing that I have." We are meant to be a light unto the nations, not to follow their misguided practices. Every Jew has to remember. that he's a Jew and she's a Jew. We don't celebrate non-Jewish holidays, even if they seem harmless. It's a zilzul, disrespect to the Torah, and could lead to chillul Hashem, desecration of God's name. Stick to our holy Torah and our own holidays. That's the path of a true Jew.