Lech Licha Excerpts

לך לך

Shabbat Shalom

 

Avraham is in Israel. He has problems with Lot. Have Jews ever not had problems with people in Israel? Have any Jews in our town ever had good business dealings with family?...You brother claimed 70 percent of the partnership. That is not partnering...You didn't do any work. You even complained about your back when you did Hagbah last week...Avraham tells Lot to chose anywhere in the land, and says that he will go the other way...A little family fight. We know about those here. But Avraham takes the upright route Bernie. He doesn't tell everybody else to sit on the other side of the shule...You cannot have more than one Makom Kavuah. Seat that is yours to sit in...No. You do not get physically involved. You changed your seat last week. The Goldblass family has been sitting there for 8 years...Who cares if you are a native. You are not a native to every seat.

(14:14) He hears his nephew is captured and he is out there right away. 

(14:15) Avraham gets his servants ready and they all go out to save Lot

Does Avraham think? Yes. I have to save my brother. That is what he thinks. He doesn't think about the mortgage on his home. He doesn't think about the dues he hasn't paid. He doesn't think about how the grass is getting too hi. The Feldsteins also don't think about the grass. It is an embarrassment to the neighborhood...You have brought down the cost of housing, a good $50,000. Your neighbors have all left the neighborhood and you didn't even have to ask them...

He doesn't call the police. He knows they are crooked out in Compton. He knows that if he waits, it will be harder. There is an element of surprise, when people just do...

You fight to save your people. You fight to save your family. You don't fight to save your investment and sit back,and watch them die...You people are scared when the non-Jewish janitor comes in to clean the chapel.

No. You are not a hero Bernie. Mr. Feinblum fought in the war. You packaged something for a soldier. A care package with tuna and socks...No. They did not care.

Kicking somebody out of their seat, in the middle of the cantor's repetition is not praiseworthy...You started a fight in shule. That is not worthy of praise.

Even if it was another one of your Makom Kavuahs. It is not yours. You did not pay for that seat...No. It is not a religious obligation to throw a punch at an innocent and kind man, who has been sitting there for 8 years.

That is not caring....

What is happening in Israel? Who is willing to step up to the plate?

Yes. Michael. I give this speech every year, because terrorism is happening every year. You all seem to forget about it. You also seem to forget about paying dues, and giving the rabbi his vacation days...We have a Bar Mitzvah. Another funeral. A birthday...No Michelle. birthdays are not a religious ceremony. There is no reason to cater a buffet. No need to save Bernie a seat. Spend the money on a nice kiddush...

'Lets talk to them. Maybe they will allow Lot to go, if we reason with them?' Avraham did not say this. Because you can't talk to the UN or a group of people that lies.

When it comes to family- the familia, as we say in the mob- you fight for them. That is the foundation of morality. Because when it is yours, you think twice about evil...Yes. There is evil. We all saw the fight last week, with Bernie and the kind young man...

I know nobody sees their Jewish brethren in Israel, as family. You haven't sent them a penny. Neither did Menachem support his son through college.

Would you fight for family, like Avraham? Where were the American Jews in any war where Jews were dying? In their seat, in shule. Avraham went out and fought, to protect...Israel is having hard times, what should we do? Join the community in the new BDS campaign...If you ask the Simchavil family, it would be to protest Israel's right to exist.

Will Bernie fight for a chair in Israel? Is that against his religious actions as a liberal?

You can't even express your true opinions in this congregation, or you might be supporting Israel...Avraham shows his support for his family....

Only then are we deserving of the blessing Malki Tzedek game Avraham (14:19) 'Blessed is Avram to the Almighty, who acquires Heaven and earth...' He is not even a Jew and he comes up with brilliant blessings.

Mark's birthday wishes were horrendous. To call them a Bracha would be a shanda to Malki Tzedek...

Really a blessing to H.'...

Bernie. No. Your throwing a punch last week was not praiseworthy.

***These are excerpts from the sermon. For the sermon in its entirety, come see David Kilimnick perform at the Off The Wall Comedy Basement, in downtown Jerusalem.
David also tours as a Maggid around the world, with very few stories.

Shabbat Shalom