Loss of people, property, power and patience are some of the disastrous effects of Hurricane Sandy. Many friends, loved ones and strangers are still stranded – not knowing the status of their family and homes.
Our hearts, helping hands and pocketbooks go out to our fellows in need. Chabad – along with many noble organizations – is at the forefront of relief efforts in the Northeast. If you are able, I encourage you to contribute to this immediate and critical cause.
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I am certain that weather forecasters and atmospheric scientists will spill many bottles of ink – or maybe keystrokes on a computer - analyzing and studying the cause of the storm that shut down Wall Street for two days and damaged the widest section of America in recent history.
In fact, Mayor Bloomberg has already connected the dots between global warming and the devastating storm.
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I’m no expert on weather or climate change – but I can take a cue from this week’s Torah portion, Vayairah.
When 99-year-old Avraham is recovering from circumcision he sees three men passing by. The Torah states, “And he lifted his eyes and saw, and behold, three men were standing beside him, and he saw and he ran toward them.”
Why does the Torah state twice that Avraham saw the men?
Perhaps one lesson Avraham is teaching us is the proper response when we see a troubling or perplexing situation.
Avraham sensed that these were important people (they were indeed the Archangels Michael, Gavriel and Raphael) and their presence certainly was out of the ordinary. What were they doing in middle of the desert? Easily Avraham could have slipped into analyzing mode. He could then slip further into fact-finding or interrogation mode.
But instead Avraham springs into action. He immediately runs toward them and invites them in. If they are traveling in the wilderness they must be hungry. And thirsty. And tired.
For many of us, we are intrigued by what we see and this curiosity leads us to further investigate what we see. But the Torah emphasizes that all Avraham did was see. He did not ask or research. He saw and he acted.
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Perhaps, at some point it will be appropriate to review the causes of Hurricane Sandy. But now our duty is simply to leap forward to help others.
Let us learn from Avraham and offer a helping hand to those in need. We’ll reflect on it another time.