* Translated by Janine Muller Sherr
We are living through challenging times and we often find ourselves turning to political experts and commentators to try to understand what’s happening around us. This week’s parasha reminds us to take one basic factor into account: There is a God.
In last week’s parasha, Avraham and Sarah are told that they will have a son, Yitzhak, and Sarah finds it hard to believe considering their advanced age.
Then the angel responds to their doubts with a fundamental question: “Is anything too wondrous for the Lord?”. In other words, is there anything that God is incapable of doing? Is He bound by the laws of biology and physics?
It is true that the world follows certain laws of nature and we are required to live according to these laws and to exert our own efforts to accomplish our goals. But we need to remember that there is someone who determines these laws and guides our lives and world history. There are no limitations for Him. God can orchestrate events that we could never have imagined and that no “expert” could ever foresee.
This concept applies to our individual lives and to the story of the Jewish people. The only explanation for the thousands of years of our survival against great odds, is expressed in these very words: “Is anything too wondrous for the Lord?”. We may not understand how, but ultimately, He is steering the world toward redemption.
Let us all keep these powerful words from this parasha in mind while navigating your own life.
