8/6/2019 aviyahzeved

1/2

B'siman tov u'v'mazal tov!

First of all, I'd like to thank all of you for coming this morning to the zeved habat of our

daughter, Aviyah Rachel.

Irit and I are really glad we could share our simcha with you.

In honor of Aviyah's zeved habat, I'm doing a siyum on Seder Nashim, as I finished mesechet

Kiddushin the day she was born.

When we give names to our children, we try to find ones that have meanings - ones that will

influence their future development and have a positive impact on them.

In the case of Aviyah, aside from the connection to Irit's father Avraham Ya'acov, there's also a

deeper meaning to Aviyah's name.

In Sefer Yirmiyah (9:22-23), the navi tells us what Hashem wants from us:

' :

'

':

Thus says the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, nor let the mighty man glory in his

might, let not the rich man glory in his riches;

But let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who

exercises loving kindness, justice, and charity, in the earth; for in these things I delight, says the

Lord.

The three things in the first verse wisdom, might, and riches are directly parallel to the three

things in the second verse - loving kindness, justice, and charity:

- To do loving kindness, you must have wisdom. The Radak says that there are two types

of, a lower level and a higher level, and you must be able to know the difference

and be able to tell when you need to do one or the other:

- The lower level is to do good to people who really dont deserve it. Thats relatively

easy, because you can just do good to everyone without thinking about it.

- The higher, more difficult, level is to do good to people who really do deserve it, but to

go above and beyond what they deserve. This is harder because you must be wise

enough to know what more they need.

- To do justice, you must be a , to have the strength and moral willpower to stand up

for what is right and just, despite the costs, to protect the innocent despite the

pressures of society.

- To be charitable, you must be an that is, sameyach bchelko so you can give

freely of your own time, money, and patience to others.

8/6/2019 aviyahzeved

2/2

This, in a nutshell, is what Hashem wants from us for us to emulate his deeds, for us to

practice with each other as He does with us.

This same idea is found at the end of mesechet Kiddushin, which ends seder Nashim:

,,)(

:

We see that Avraham Avinu kept the whole Torah before it was given, as it says Because

Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my

laws.

Now, Im not going to go into the complicated question of what it means that Avraham

kept the whole Torah before it was given Im going to stick with the pshat of the Ramban

and Sforno.

According to them, this verse is telling us that Avraham always walked in Hashems ways:

.

We can see quite clearly from here, then, that these three things - are

equal to keeping the whole Torah.

And what does this all have to do with our little Aviyah?

Well, first of all, as Irit said, Aviyah is named after Saba Avraham, who like his namesake

Avraham Avinu, was well known for his , fairness, charity, and was always

. , practicing what he preached.

But as I said at the beginning, theres also a deeper meaning to Aviyahs name. The letters of

her name: alef, bet, yud, hei, are found right here, in the second verse from Yirmiyah:

This is what we wish to bless our little Aviyah with:

- To know Hashem, to walk in His ways, to be like Him -

- To be wise, mighty, and wealthy, and tio use these gifts for what Hashem intended themfor - .

Amen, ken yehi ratzon!