Our Mission

Rebecca was born to Bethuel.

Gen. 22:23

Abraham’s greatest challenge came 37 years after his son Isaac was born. G-d commanded him to sacrifice Isaac. Abraham obeyed implicitly, and G-d then rescinded His command. After this, Abraham heard that Rebecca, a suitable match for Isaac, had been born.

The juxtaposition of the narrative of the binding of Isaac with that of the birth of his future wife, Rebecca, demonstrates that self-sacrifice is an integral component of a healthy marriage. When we marry, and especially when we start to have children, our primary focus becomes the immediate tasks of supporting our families and dealing with the material world and its attendant mundane matters. No longer are we free to focus as intensely on our personal spiritual development. Whatever degree of self-orientation characterized our focus before marriage, even very spiritual self-orientation, it must be largely replaced by selfless devotion to others and preoccupation with prosaic matters after marriage.

It is imperative that, as this happens, we keep in mind that marrying and raising a family are just as much a part of fulfilling our Divine mission to make the world into G-d’s home as are more explicitly spiritual pursuits. In fact, making a Jewish home, filled with the knowledge of the Torah and the performance of G-d’s commandments and good deeds in general, is the primary way that we transform the world at large into G-d’s true home.

—From Daily Wisdom 3