05 Nov FLY YOUR BANNER

Life comes with both good days and challenging
ones. While we are blessed, at times we are
tested.
Pirkei Avos teaches “Asara nisyonos nisnassoh
Avraham Avinu, Our father, Avraham, was
tested ten times, v’omad b’kulam, and he
withstood all of them.” (Avos 5:3)
This week’s parsha, Lecha Lecha, opens with
one of Avraham’s life tests. Lech lecha. Go for
yourself. HaShem instructed Avraham to leave
his land, his birthplace, the home he grew up in.
Everything he was familiar with, and start a
new life.
Where to? “El ha’aretz asher ar’echa, to the
land that I will show you.”
With a giant leap of faith, Avraham and Sara
packed their bags and left behind the world
they knew. With emuna and bitachon, they
crossed hot desert sands “to the land that I will
show you.” They didn’t have Waze to guide
them, they didn’t know how long it would take,
they didn’t even have an exact destination.
Imagine being asked to leave your comfort

zone for the unknown. How stressful would
that be.
Avraham and Sara made a life-altering move. A
move that changed not only their destiny, but
the destiny of our people for generations to
come.
In parshas Vayeira, we read, “V’hoElokim
nisah es Avraham, and HaShem tested
Avraham.” (Breishis 22:1). Ramban addresses
the purpose of life‘s tests and challenges.
Ramban teaches that when we experience
difficulties, we actualize our potential, elevating
our very being.
“V’omad b’kulam, And (Avraham) stood up to
them all.” It’s not just accepting the challenge,
but how one accepts the challenge. Nowhere do
we see any kvetching, complaining or doubting.
No grouchiness or hesitation.
Avraham, who experienced firsthand the needs
of the desert traveler, established an eishel, an
open, inviting home, where he made it his
mission to welcome so many.
Like Avraham, all our patriarchs and matriarchs
experienced life tests. Each one, in their own
way, rose to the challenge. Generations later,
we are the carriers of their spiritual DNA,

genes that enable us to find the
strength to stand up to our own
personal life tests.
At times, life’s trials and tribulations
seem too much to bear. We protest…
it’s not fair, why can’t life be easier.
All we want is happy, it that too
much to ask for?
In times of pain and frustration, we
cry out, not understanding the why
behind it all. Tests are for the
Avrahams and Saras in the world….so, why
me?
“V’hoElokim nisah es Avraham, and HaShem
tested Avraham.” My mother a”h often taught
that the Hebrew language is like no other. It is
Lashon Hakodesh, the Holy Tongue. There is a
life lesson to be found in each and every word.
The word nisayon, a test, shares common
letters with the word neis, meaning miracle.
Neis can also mean a flag or banner.
The difficulties that we at times endure, are
there to help us realize our purpose, our life
mission. A mission to do, not only for ourselves,
but for the betterment of our family, our friends,
our community. And, who knows, it may even
morph into the betterment of mankind.
Challenges help us discover our “flag”, the
banner we fly high, proclaiming our mission
statement.
And that leads us to understand the third
meaning of neis… miracle. For the greatest
miracle of all is to recognize one’s purpose in
life.
My mother would often bentch us to have
“nachas from yourself”. To be proud of where
one is in life.
Rav Yeruchem Levovitz, the Mir mashgiach,
would tell his students that as important as it
is for one to know his faults in order to know
what he must amend, it is even more important
for one to know his capabilities, to know what
he can accomplish. To know one’s mission
and do it.
During the last year of my mother’s life, she
devoted herself to writing a book, Be a
Blessing. Her final message to her readers, to
Am Yisroel. A message that we, as the
grandchildren of Avraham Avinu, have a
tafkid, a life mission to do good and bring
blessing to the world around us. As HaShem
tells Avraham, “V’heyei bracha, and you shall
be a blessing.”
Zahava List lives by the words “be a blessing”.
Zahava writes that “no one is a stranger to
pain, each person has their unique challenges.”
For Zahava, it was postpartum psychosis. In
her own words, “I am not a rebbetzin… I
never imagined starting an international

organization. All I wanted was support. To
have people by my side who cared… who
understood my challenges, because they had
their own mental health journey and could
relate.
It started with one phone meeting, four women
listening and supporting each other. Four
unrelated women who called themselves
Sisters… giving each other strength, thereby
strengthening themselves. Word spread. Four
became forty, then four hundred, and now,
eight years later, two thousand.”
Zahava took her challenge and followed in the
path of Avraham, to be a blessing. While she
wishes there weren’t so many who need support
and encouragement, the reality is, there are.
Zahava saw a need and founded Chazkeinu, an
organization that is there for those suffering
with mental health issues. Most importantly, it
has brought the entire subject of mental illness
to the forefront, and removed the stigma that
made a painful situation even more difficult.
Through its work, Chazkeinu has made people
realize that mental illness is just like any other
illness, and there is nothing to be embarrassed
or ashamed of.
Zahava is the embodiment of v’heyei bracha.
She writes: “I often remind myself that Hashem
gave me this illness for a reason. Even though I
don’t know why I was chosen to have this, I
know that Hashem gave it to me to help me be
the best Zahava I can be. Through my illness, I
was able to accomplish things that I never
would imagine I would be able to do. I am
grateful for that, and hope to accomplish even
more. To know that I can give strength to others
because of what I went through, gives so much
meaning to my life.”
(To learn more about Chazkeinu, visit www.
chazkeinu.org)
The same Chumash that tells us that HaShem
tested Avraham, also tells us “VaHaShem
beirach es Avraham bakol, And HaShem
blessed Avraham with everything.” (Bereishis
24:1). The G-d who tests is the G-d who
blesses.
With HaShem’s help, our lives should be filled
with brachas – bakol, in everything we do.