BAT MITZVAH OF SARAH LOMKE

This morning I begin my comments by reviewing a point I made in one my Rosh Hashanah sermons.

Not all of you were here at that time, and I don’t pretend to claim that even those of you who were present at our high holiday worship services will remember all, or even most, of what I said.

However, just about every Jew should know that the Torah readings on Rosh Hashanah are too critical chapters from the lives of Abraham and Sarah.

Today, of course, we read Parshat Lech Lecha; on Rosh Hashanah we read Genesis, Chapters 21 and 22 which are the last two chapters in next week’s Parsha of Va-yara.

So, now let me review just a little bit of what I said on Rosh Hashanah. I attempted to point out that it is not exactly clear why God called to Abraham and Sarah.

The text of the Torah tells us virtually nothing about Abraham and Sarah in the end of last week’s Torah portion, before we hear that suddenly, God speaks to them and tells them to leave their homeland and go to the land that God will show them.

Why? What’s so special about them? Why are they deserving of this attention from God?

There are many answers in the Midrash – the rabbinic commentaries which try to explain difficult questions such as this one.

But the text of the Torah itself gives us virtually no clue whatsoever. The Torah really doesn’t tell us, so therefore, we’re all free and able to guess why it is that Abram and Sarah are called by God.

Let’s go back a week to last week’s Torah portion. There it’s a different story altogether. In the story of Noah we hear right away why Noah was singled out as the person from whom the world will begin again.

We understand that the rest of the world is evil and corrupt and deserving of destruction, but not Noah. Why? Because the opening sentence of last week’s portion indicated, as I quoted last week in my sermon,

Noah was a righteous and blameless man in his generation.

Those sound like pretty good credentials to me. Yet, it doesn’t really work out with Noah, does it?

He and his family survive, and from one of his sons we eventually get to the family of Abraham and Sarah.

But the rabbinic sages correctly point out that Noah is different than Abraham because Noah was not able to access his own inner talents, skills and positive characteristics as a human being in a way that made a difference to anyone else.

Noah is inherently a righteous and blameless individual, but he’s able to lead no one else to that same status. His talents apply only to him and he takes them nowhere else and to no one else.

He is not able to successfully model them to his peers. To use more modern jargon, he is not able to influence or coach anyone else. He is not able to inspire.

Now you have to understand, this is not a sin. Noah was indeed a great man, and that’s why the Torah portion begins by clearly calling him a “tzaddik tamim – righteous and blameless.”

He just could not lead others to greatness. He couldn’t model or teach it to others.

You know the old adage that says that with a particular skill or profession, if you can’t do it, you teach it – I think it goes – those who can’t do, teach. The opposite is also true, or let’s at least put it this way – not everyone who can do, can also teach or model or coach.

Often the greatest athletes end up becoming the poorest coaches. They just believe that everyone else should have the inherent talent and ability they possess. Too many can’t inspire their students to the greatness that lies within each and every one of them.

Noah just could not lead others to greatness. Not every person can do that.

The Maharal, which are the initials and the acronym for the name of Rabbi Judah Lowe ben Bezalel, the 16th Century scholar and leader from Prague, wrote the following in his comment to the beginning of today’s Torah portion –

“In the previous Parsha, dealing with Noah, the Torah begins by praising him as a righteous and perfect man. Why then doesn’t the Torah begin its account of Abraham here by praising him as a righteous and God-fearing man? The reason why it did not so is because if it had, it would have implied that the reason that Abraham had been chosen by God wa s because of that fact. Then, if at some time in the future the Jews would not be worthy of being God’s choice, it would, heaven forbid, mean that the Jews would no longer be the chosen people.”

In other words, according to the Maharal, yes, maybe God chose Abraham and Sarah because of some special qualities they possess.

But the Torah specifically doesn’t mention them because the reality is that not all of us possess those qualities inherently, and there really is no inherent reason why God chooses the Jewish people and has this special relationship with us.

This concept and idea is determined not by who we are, but by who we may become. It is determined not necessarily by our reality, as much as it is by our potential.

Noah had a wonderful reality as a human being, he just couldn’t transmit it to others.

Abraham may have had some similar qualities, and maybe he didn’t, since the Torah really doesn’t tell us right away.

Maybe they took time to develop, and maybe God is teaching us that this is the greater and more worthy reality to nurture.

It’s no surprise to those of you who know me that I try to look at the newspaper every day and read certain sections. Almost always I’ll read at least one or two articles in the Sports Section, and especially this past week.

On Wednesday morning I was reading about Curt Schilling’s Herculean effort in Yankee Stadium the other night, and then all of a sudden I noticed an article at the bottom of the front page in the Washington Post Sports Section.

The article was written by Amy Shipley, and it is about a coach, a college football coach, named Howard Schnellenberger.

While the subtitle of the article states, “Coach draws inspiration from his eldest,” I will share with you a few paragraphs from the article in praise of the coach himself.

Reading of his commitment to his disabled son inspired me, and it helped me understand the value of being a good coach, a worthy model, and the difference between Abraham and Sarah on the one hand and Noah on the other.

Here is what Amy Shipley wrote the other day –

“It was just past 11 AM, about 15 hours after another victory on the football field, as Howard Schnellenberger pushed the wheelchair through a set of double doors at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, 2,125 miles from the previous day’s game in Greeley, Colorado.

Schnellenberger, the head coach of the undefeated Florida Atlantic Owls, had slept only a couple of hours, having returned to his home just north of Boca Raton at 4:45 AM after the victory. By 9 AM he was driving some 50 miles south on I-95 as he does every Sunday morning to visit his eldest son Stephen, 44.

As bright sun flooded the plaza in front of Ryder Trauma Center, Schnellenberger pressed a pair of sunglasses onto Stephen’s head, steered him into a quiet courtyard, parking him in the shade. He then commenced the most important coaching he would do all week.”

The article then goes on to tell of Schnellenberger’s own illustrious career in coaching, mostly at the college level and, it provides details of the care Schnellenberger gives to his son, who is disabled due to complications after surgery to help treat Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia II B, a rare congential disorder of the endocrine glands that carries with it a high risk of developing thyroid cancer. Stephen is relegated to a wheelchair, and now can barely speak or raise his arms. The surgery took place on February 10, 2003.

Amy Shipley continues, “Ever since, his (Stephen’s) father has managed to balance the demands of high-pressure coaching with nurturing a son whose setbacks can be life-threatening and whose daily progress is measured in centimeters and syllables, an existence none of Schnellenberger’s teams – underdogs though most of them have been – could truly comprehend.”

“I tell him all the time,” Schnellenberger said, “He’s tougher than any football player I ever had. He’s tougher than I am.”

Just a few more short paragraphs to describe the commitment from Howard Schnellenberger and his wife Beverlee. Last week I spoke about Christopher Reeve, of course, and then my comments were more devoted to the patient’s situation.

Today I want to emphasize the talent it takes to provide love and care, and to continue to coach and model what a life can be, even under the most dire circumstances. Not everyone can provide that inspiration.

Howard Schnellenberger and his wife do that for their son, and through this article, have done that for me.

“Schnellenberger visits his son on Sundays (before his 2 PM team meetings) and Mondays (a day off for the team). Beverlee comes Tuesdays through Saturdays, sometimes arriving before noon and leaving after midnight. She put 37,000 miles on their car last year.”

“I am resigned to Stephen’s situation,” Schnellenberger said. “It’s been in God’s hands now for a long time….I can’t allow myself to place any demands on his recovery or pretend like everything is going to be alright.”

“(But) one of the hardest things is the toll it’s taken on Beverlee, because she’s a Mom and she won’t allow herself to completely turn it over to God….it’s a 24-hour-a-day job for her.”

The opening call to Abraham and Sarah continues with these words

“ And I will bless you, and make your name great; and you will be a blessing….”

Rashi comments, “the blessings are placed in your hands.”

And so we understand that both are true, Abraham will be blessed by God and also be a source of blessing – how? He is to share his blessings with others, and as the commentary called “Totza’ot Haim” illucidates – “and this does not only apply to material wealth, but also to a person who is wealthy in Torah knowledge or wisdom, who must share his wealth with others, by guiding and teaching them.”

This is the meaning of the verse, “And I will bless you… and you will be a blessing:” this is a commandment to Abraham (and Sarah) to offer material and spiritual wealth to others.”

Abraham and Sarah may or may not have been tzaddikim right away, but clearly they were eventually able to show that the right way to find blessings in life was by being willing to share some of their own.

That is how Howard and Beverlee Schnellenberger are fulfilling their role as parents to their son. That is also how Abraham and Sarah are fulfilling their role as spiritual parents to each and every one of us.

Shabbat Shalom.