Parasha Thoughts
By Rabbi Shlomo Zargari
Shalom,
In the Parasha, we find that after Yitzchak is born and grows more:
×•Ö·×ªÖµÖ¼Ö¨×¨Ö¶× ×©Ö¸×‚×¨Ö¸Öœ×” ×ֶֽת־בֶּן־הָגָ֧ר הַמִּצְרִ֛ית ×ֲשֶ×ר־יָלְדָ֥ה לְ×Ö·×‘Ö°×¨Ö¸×”Ö¸Ö–× ×žÖ°×¦Ö·×—ÖµÖ½×§×ƒ
Sarah saw the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Avraham playing.
וַתֹּ֙×מֶר֙
לְ×Ö·×‘Ö°×¨Ö¸×”Ö¸Ö”× ×’Ö¸Ö¼×¨ÖµÖ›×©× ×”Ö¸×ָמָ֥ה ×”Ö·×–Ö¹Ö¼Ö–×ת וְ×Ö¶×ªÖ¾×‘Ö°Ö¼× Ö¸Ö‘×”Ö¼ ×›Ö´Ö¼Ö£×™ לֹ֤×
יִירַש×Ö™ בֶּן־הָ×ָמָ֣ה ×”Ö·×–Ö¹Ö¼Ö”×ת ×¢Ö´×Ö¾×‘Ö°Ö¼× Ö´Ö–×™ ×¢Ö´×־יִצְחָֽק׃
She said to Avraham, “Cast out that slave woman and her son, for the son
of that slave shall not share in the inheritance with my son Yitzchak.â€
Sarah
saw Yishmael had very shallow demeanor and bad character, and she was
afraid he would have a negative impact on her son Yitzchak.
״צוף דב״
asked why did she have to distance Yishmael? Why not keep Yishmael and
let Yitzchak have a positive effect on Yishmael through his good midot,
behavior, holiness, and fear of sin? Was this not the family business?
From here we can see when there’s a bad friend, chances are he will
affect all those around him and not the opposite!
We therefore see we need to open our eyes and be on the alert when it comes to our children’s friends or our own “friends†or social media so that we should not be affected negatively. We should not be naive thinking that these influences won’t have an effect on us.