Thought of the Week: Lech Lecha - 5772

SHABBAT ALIYAH

When we read Pareshat Lech Lecha we re-experience our national birth.  Our patriarch, by reaching out and teaching the will of Hashem, begins a journey that commences the era of Torah.  Yet we must always remember that the first command Avram received was to make his way to Eretz Yisrael.

Throughout the ages our ancestors dreamed of a land which they could only imagine. When a visitor appeared in town, one who had had the privilege of stepping on that sacred soil, then all residents would come to greet him and demand a few stories about the condition of our ancestral land.

We have merited seeing, in our days, a return to Eretz Yisrael.  Every structure being built in Israel is a reason to celebrate.  For years we cried about the desolation, now let’s praise Hashem for its rebuilding.

Mizrachi Organization of Canada, in conjunction with several different Orthodox synagogues in Toronto, has declared this Shabbat to be Shabbat Aliyah.  We will have the honor of hearing from the YU/Torah MiTzion shaliach, Hillel Horovitz who will speak at Seudah Shilisheet.

Let’s continue making Eretz Yisrael an integral part of our life!

Shabbat Shalom.