Higher

When Abraham took his son Isaac to be sacrificed, he “raised his eyes” and saw the mountain from afar.

Later, after Abraham was told to not sacrifice Isaac, he again “raised his eyes,” and saw a ram caught in the thicket. He sacrificed the ram, in place of his son.

So he raised his eyes twice. Once when his son’s life seemed to be over, and once after his son was spared.

Perhaps we can learn from this.

Sometimes, life seems challenging. Tragic. What can we do?

Look up. There is a G-d. We will ascend the mountain. We will rise.

It may seem far away. But with faith and perseverance, we will triumph, reach the loftiest heights, and achieve great things.

Sometimes, on the other hand, life seems great. What should we do?

Look up, and we realize that everything comes from G-d. And we focus on what we need to do.

After October 7, we look up. We don’t understand why tragedies happen. We shudder to think of how vulnerable Israel was, how dangerous our position was. But we believe that G-d is above us, that He is greater than us, and that we can’t always understand His ways. And we believe that ultimately He does everything for our benefit; even if we don’t now understand how, one day we will understand. One day those who perished will rise, and we will dance and rejoice with them.

It seems far way, like the mountain. But we believe and trust that Moshiach will come soon, and that we will once again laugh and rejoice.

And sometimes, when things are going well, when we are defeating our enemies in the most amazing ways, we may feel super proud of ourselves, of our technological superiority.

So we need to look up. To realize that our good fortune comes from G-d. His blessings ensure that our efforts are successful. And we trust in Him to continue to protect us.

These days, as we witness so many miracles, it becomes easier to look up, and to realize that G-d is watching over us.

In trying times and in fortunate times.

We look up. So that we know what to think, and what we need to do.