“I will make of you a great nation, And I will bless you; I will make your name great, And you shall be a blessing.” (Genesis 12:2)
In convincing Abraham to leave the only place he has ever known, God promised Abraham two concrete and two abstract benefits. He will be the father of a great nation and experience extraordinary renown. He will be blessed and he will be a blessing to others. The first two are easy to understand. Being blessed and being a blessing to others is a little more difficult to define. But as Justice Stewart said in another context, “I know it when I see it.” Feeling blessed and being a blessing to others is a feeling that can motivate. It can challenge us to be better, it can drive us to build a better world. The feeling of gratitude for what we have and the equally substantive feeling of knowing our value to others is immeasurable.
I am interested in teaching a class that would meet weekly to look at the adult lessons of Genesis on Wednesday evenings at 8:00pm. We would spend time reevaluating the Bible stories we may have learned as children or may have overlooked entirely. Would anyone be interested in that?
Greenburgh Hebrew Center rabbistein@ghcny.org 515 Broadway Dobbs Ferry, NY 10522 914-693-4260 office@ghcny.org www.ghcny.org
