We remind ourselves: we are Yisrael. We face struggles…but we prevail. We muster the physical strength to ward off enemy attacks; we draw on our spiritual strength to overcome ideological opponents.

These anonymous souls deserve respect and appreciation. They represent the good people of every generation—including our own—who stand faithfully and loyally with the descendants of Abram and Sarai.  They are with us in good times and bad; they sacrifice for us and for our shared ideals.

When we are at an impasse, we are not likely to receive a prophetic dream as did Jacob. But we can think of our situation as a challenge from God in which the Almighty prods us to be strong, resilient, clear-headed, unafraid. It is as though God places Jacob’s ladder before us and says: will you ascend or descend? Do you have the courage to climb and reach for the heavens?

To raise a Tzadik, parents must themselves live by the values they wish to convey to their children.  Otherwise, the children will quickly realize that the parents are not sincere, not truthful, not worthy of emulation. What’s true of parents and children is also true of rabbis, teachers, and everyone else who wishes to impact on others.  Good role models help generate good followers. Bad role models generate negative results.

God could have created Adam from precious metals, from stardust, or from pure spirit but chose rather to use dust of the ground. From dust we learn humility...but also self-respect.

This week’s Parasha is entitled “Hayyei Sarah,” the life of Sarah; yet it focuses on her death and burial. A Talmudic teaching has it that the righteous are called living even after they have died. Memorial plaques and gravestones testify to the lives of those who have passed away. But they also have the capacity to inspire the living, to evoke memories, to link the generations.

Abraham’s shofar symbolizes thoughts and feelings that go beyond words.. But it is precisely in the realm of wordlessness that we reveal our true selves. This is true in our relationship with others, in our relationship with God…and in our own self-understanding.

The challenge of this season is for us to listen more carefully to our inner scientist and to ask our inner lawyer to stop making excuses for us.  Prayers of confession are not meant to weaken us but to give us confidence that we can change for the better, we can grow spiritually, we can overcome past shortcomings. If we let our inner scientist win, the holy day season will be a success.