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 National Young Leadership
The Jewish Federations of North America
Parshat Chayei Sarah

November 14, 2014
This week's Shabbat Message was written by NYL Cabinet member, Valerie Gerstein from New York.

Dear Chevre,

I signed up to write about Parshat Chayei Sarah at first, because it was my Bat Mitzvah parsha. I also wanted a deadline to work towards to force myself to go through the exercise of preparing for a d’var Torah just as I had when I was young and carefree. I remember being emotional about the portion which, though it is called the life of Sarah, is actually about her death and what follows.  
 

As with many aspects of our lives, we can be more successful when we have the tools and resources we need. In business, I used to leverage the resources of my employers, American Express and Estée Lauder. Now that I’m a parent, I still think in terms of process and goals, yet now my resources have changed. And that is what I want to share in this message along with the story and meaning of the portion. What I share below will hopefully help you throughout your Cabinet journey.
 

My first step was finding commentary in the digital age, which differs significantly from how I prepared for my Bat Mitzvah d’var Torah in 1989. I went immediately to www.kveller.com - a website with the tag line: “A Jewish Twist on Parenting.” I found the “Torah MOMentary” among other useful information about the portion.
 

Kveller.com is part of MyJewishLearning.com. Try this: if you Google anything Jewish—Challah recipe, bris, Torah portion –one, the other or both websites come up. If you’re not yet familiar with Kveller, that is the part I want to share. The UJA-Federation of New York “Beginning Jewish Families” task force that I served on for many years granted money to create this site, which I have designated as my homepage. I want to share this process of grant allocation this week so as to make your d’var Torah writing easier in the future.
 

For at least a year, our task force revisited the grant, in paper form, about a family-focused Jewish content website. It sounded interesting but we kept moving on to more “innovative” grants. After all that paper pushing, I said “Let’s go to grant proposers’ office and hear from them in person.” They told us about segmentation, and shared quantifiable data that they collected on what Jewish parents want and need and what is or is not being fulfilled online – where most parents are in the middle of the night…
 

As we left the office, in the elevator, we unanimously voted to grant them the money they needed to create this globally accessible portal to make Torah Portions, recipes, serious Jewish discussions and some perspectives from Mayim Bialik available to Jewish parents (and people who know Jews! Information like what to expect at a shiva or why Jews don’t have baby showers).
In researching Chayei Sarah this week, what I realized is that, similar to when I have read the same book at different times in my life, my perspective on the parsha has changed over time as well. By utilizing these websites, I can learn about the life of Sarah from various viewpoints. I will summarize the portion and encourage you to read more online.


Sarah died at the age of 127. As Abraham mourns her death, He asks his servant, Eliezer, to go to Nahor, his hometown, to find a wife for his son, Isaac. When he met Rebecca, a descendant of Abraham’s brother, she offered water to him and his camels, which showed that she was a loving, kind and generous woman; an appropriate wife for Isaac. She went back to Canaan to marry Isaac.


Here is how MyJewishLearning makes the portion relevant to us through the guidance of the best Jewish leaders:


I do hope you explore this and other Torah portions at Kveller.com and MyJewishLearning.com and make the Torah relevant to your life today.



Shabbat Shalom,
Valerie