GOOD MORNING! Thursday, November 2nd (which corresponds to the Hebrew date of the 18th of Cheshvan) marks the fourth yahrzeit (Yiddish for anniversary) of the passing of our beloved teacher Rabbi Kalman Packouz, of blessed memory. It is almost hard to believe that four years have already passed.

Aside from being one of the most kind and caring people one could ever hope to meet, Rabbi Packouz was a man of remarkable ingenuity and creativity. He was passionate about the Almighty and His children, and I believe that it is for this reason that he made it his life’s work to reconnect the two. In this way he was the quintessential ideological son of our forefather Abraham.

Last week I was asked to address a fairly large Yeshiva (rabbinical college) and the following question was raised: The Torah describes Noah as being wholly righteous – in fact he is the only one in the entire Torah to be given the appellation “tzaddik – righteous.” Here is how the Torah describes him: “Noah was a righteous man and flawless in his generation; and Noah walked with God” (Genesis 6:9). Clearly, Noah was a special person with a close relationship to the Almighty, and for this reason Noah was entrusted with the preservation of both mankind and the animal kingdom.

However, Noah is not considered the first Jew – that title belongs to Abraham. Why? What made Abraham worthy of being the first Jew and the father of the Jewish people?

When the Almighty asked Noah to build the ark he spent 120 years building it. As anyone who has undertaken a serious construction project knows, the general rule is that it will cost twice as much as originally budgeted and take three times longer than projected. Even for a small construction company (Noah and Sons, LLC) 120 years seems like an inordinately long time.

The sages explain that the reason for this lengthy period of time was to give the people of his generation a chance to repent. In other words, when his neighbors would ask, “Hey, what’s with the yacht construction project going on in your backyard?” Noah would explain that God had determined that the generation had become so wicked that He was planning on bringing a flood to destroy the world. In this way he hoped some people would change their ways and be worthy of saving.

By contrast, Abraham made it his mission to make everyone aware of the Almighty. As Maimonides writes, “Once he came to recognize the Creator he went out to the world and argued against idol worship. He traveled to many cities, smashed idols, and continuously preached to the world that God was the only one worthy of serving. He continued in this way until he had tens of thousands of adherents who had been enlightened. He wrote books and taught them to his son Isaac who went on to teach others as well […]” (Yad Hilchos Avodas Kochavim 1:3).

Abraham had an incredible insight. He realized that it wasn’t enough to have a personal relationship with the Almighty. After all, there were many before him who had been worthy of a relationship with God – Adam, Methuselah, Henoch, Noah, Shem, etc. But Abraham came upon the realization that the Creator Himself desired to be connected to His children, and that the people of this world needed to be aware of His presence.

Whereas Noah was content to merely answer questions about the sorry state of the world and God’s displeasure with it, Abraham made it his mission to bring awareness of the Almighty to this world. Abraham describes this mission in a conversation with his servant Eliezer, “Originally God’s presence was only in the heavens; I made sure that He had a presence in this world as well” (see Rashi’s commentary on Genesis 24:7).

Abraham also had an incredible amount of love for his fellow man. Whereas Noah seems to be okay with God’s plan to destroy the world and everything in it, Abraham was different. Case in point: When Abraham was informed that God planned to destroy the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah he entered into a lengthy argument with the Almighty pleading that He shouldn’t destroy those cities. He begged the Almighty to relent and argued that if there were even just ten righteous people God should not destroy them. Eventually God acquiesced that if He even found ten righteous people the cities will not be destroyed.

Abraham recognized that God desired a palpable presence in this world and in the lives of its inhabitants. Abraham took responsibility to make it happen and also took responsibility for the personal growth of his fellow man. This is why he is considered the first Jew. He recognized that man’s role in the world is to connect to the Almighty and bring awareness of His presence to the entirety of the world. He also taught his children that it was their job to perpetuate this vision. It is that vision that created the mandate for his family and the ultimate mission for Jews in this world.

In a similar vein, Rabbi Packouz patterned himself and his life’s mission after Abraham. Rabbi Packouz was a paragon of kindness and all were welcome in his home. I have frequently written about his unique love for his fellow man and his life’s work on behalf of the Almighty in this world. His life and the way he lived it was so remarkable that it actually inspired us to write a book about it!

Regular readers of this column are undoubtedly aware that a book on his life has been in process for the last few years. Well, it’s finally been published, and we expect to take delivery in the next week or so.

The book beautifully weaves together three distinct elements of the good rabbi’s life and, in truth, each one is worthy of a book of its own. It begins with the intriguing journey of an idealistic young man who was basically Jewishly ignorant but had a burning desire to know the truths of life. This journey led him to the world famous Rabbi Noah Weinberg, of blessed memory, who founded Aish HaTorah with the express desire of connecting Jews back to their Father in heaven.

The book explores how Rabbi Noah Weinberg took him by the hand, and his step-by-step process of learning what Judaism is all about. The book goes on to detail how his journey of self-discovery led to his development into an inspirational rabbi with a passion for God, the holy Torah, and the Jewish people. His love for his fellow man compelled him to his life’s mission of educating the masses about what he’d discovered.

This beautifully written book was a personal project of Rabbi Shraga Simmons, a highly regarded writer who has authored several books as well as hundreds of news and magazine articles and is still a frequent contributor to Aish.com, which he helped co-found. Most importantly, Rabbi Simmons was a close friend and colleague of Rabbi Packouz.

The book follows the chronological timeline of Rabbi Packouz’s remarkable life and is replete with extraordinary stories that demonstrate what an incredibly unique individual Rabbi Packouz was. The book also highlights some of his more incredible achievements in the service of the Jewish people. Furthermore, it includes some of his collected works on how to gauge one’s own life and lead a more meaningful and fulfilling life.

Longtime readers of the Shabbat Shalom may recall that at the end of every column Rabbi Packouz had a picture of his perpetually smiling visage together with his hand showing a big “thumbs up.” Perhaps that, more than any other description, best represents the essence of Rabbi Packouz’s outlook on life. For this reason, the book is titled Thumbs Up!

I encourage everyone to get a copy of this book, which is “hot off the presses.” Aside from being a heartwarming tale of an incredible person’s life, the stories and vignettes on how he led his life will undoubtedly inspire you to be a better person. In fact, I am encouraging all of my readers to purchase 10 copies or more and give them out as Hanukah or holiday gifts. We are offering discounts to ALL Shabbat Shalom Weekly readers and even steeper discounts for bulk purchases.

May his memory be a blessing – and may it be a merit to bring peace and solace in these difficult times to our brethren in the Land of Israel and the world over. Am Yisrael Chai! The Nation of Israel Lives!

Vayeira, Genesis 18:1 - 22:24

Abraham on the third day after his circumcision (brit mila), sits outside his tent looking for guests to extend his hospitality. While talking with the Almighty, he sees three visitors (actually angels of the Almighty). Abraham interrupts his conversation with the Almighty to invite them to a meal. One angel informs him that in a year’s time his wife, Sarah, will give birth to a son, Isaac (Yitzchak).

God tells Abraham that He is going to destroy Sodom because of its absolute evil (the city is the source of the word sodomy). Abraham argues with God to spare Sodom if there can be found ten righteous people in Sodom. Abraham loses for the lack of a quorum. Lot (Abraham’s nephew) escapes the destruction with his two daughters.

Other incidents: Avimelech, King of the Philistines, wants to marry Sarah (Abraham’s wife), the birth of Isaac, the eviction of Hagar (Abraham’s concubine) and Ishmael. Avimelech and Abraham make a treaty at Beersheva. Abraham is commanded to take up his son, Isaac, as an offering “on one of the mountains” (Akeidat Yitzchak). Lastly, the announcement of the birth of Rebecca (Rivka), the future wife of Isaac.

Do you want to know the reward for listening to the command of the Almighty? This is what the Almighty told Abraham: “[…] I shall surely bless you and greatly increase your descendants like the stars of the heavens and like the sand on the seashore; and your offspring shall inherit the gate of its enemy. And all the nations of the earth shall bless themselves by your offspring, because you have listened to My voice.”