Nation of faith

Rev Joseph Matzner

Our Parents Home

“Ba’agala Uvizman Kariv” – “Speedily in our days” – that we say every day in the kadish, shows a sense of urgency of our redemption. We have been saying this for the past 2 000 years. This points to great patience and faith that it will happen sooner or later. 
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It was Abraham who implanted this faith in us. Abraham had known G-d since childhood. He had noticed that the principle running through all of G-d’s creation was chesed – loving kindness. He wanted to rejoin in this fabric of kindness because this is what G-d wants of His world. This is knowledge of G-d, not faith. 

Faith came to Abraham when He appeared to him at the ripe old age of 75. That is when G-d promised Abraham a descendant and a land for that descendant. Both of those promises went against the present reality. 

Abraham and Sarah were old and the land was conquered by the Canaanites. He had to wait another 25 years to see the birth of his son Yitzchak. As far as the land was concerned, Abraham was a stranger in the Land of Promise.

The “international” community at the time began looking for flaws in Abraham’s character. They had a field day when they heard that he had evicted Hagar and a son. They promptly came to him and lectured him on human rights. 

They even imposed on him a ban of digging wells for work and further building. Abraham accepted the restrictions on him. He planted a tree and proclaimed the name of The Eternal G-d who has all the time in the world at his disposal. 

This was the faith of Abraham and this is the faith of the Jewish people.

This faith is the faith that all of G-d’s promises will come true. “Ba’agala Uvizman Kariv.” Amen.