The London branch of Bank Leumi decided to audit the bank passwords used by their customers. They found an elderly gentleman with a very long password. Suspicious that he may have terrorist ties they called him in. “Abe Stein, do you know that you have the longest password of any customer in Great Britain?” “What do you mean?” he asked. “Well, your password is AVRAHAM, YITZCHOK, YAAKOV, SARAH, RIVKA, RACHEL, LEAH, JOSEPH, JERUSALEM.” Abe Stein replied “I was simply following the Bank Manager’s request. He said to me “Choose a password that has eight characters including one capital.”

Rosh Hashanah
The Miraculous Birth of a Nation

On the first day of Rosh HaShanah, we read of the miraculous birth of Yitzchak to Sarah and Avraham, who were 90 and 100 years old, respectively. As we will see, many other miracles took place that day, as well.

When Sarah learns that she will give birth, she exclaims, “G‑d made laughter for me. Whoever hears will laugh for me.”[1] Later, she says, “Who said to Avraham that Sarah would nurse children?”[2]

Rashi explains: Sarah’s laughter means that on the day that Yitzchak was born, 1) many other barren women conceived, 2) many sick people were healed, 3) many prayers were answered, and 4) the whole world enjoyed much joy and laughter.

In other words, the miracle of Yitzchak’s birth was not limited to his family alone, rather it brought salvation to the entire world in various ways.

Furthermore, Rashi says the words “nurse children” mean that Sarah nursed not only Yitzchak, but also various princesses (from around the world) brought their children to Sarah to be nursed, and she nursed them all.[3] This rectified the situation in which “people murmured against Avraham and Sarah, saying they adopted an abandoned child from the street and claimed it to be their biological child.” Today, if you want to know if a woman is the biological mother of a certain child, you could perform a DNA test. In those days, however, to know the status of a new mother, one would observe whether or not she could nurse her baby.

To “Nurse Children”
A few questions come to mind. If people wanted to find out the truth about Sarah, her nursing of Yitzchak alone should have been sufficient proof. For any skeptics, Sarah’s nursing of two or three other babies would have proven that she had given birth to Yitzchak. So why did she need to nurse all the children of the princesses?[4]

Another question: in this parshah, pertaining to Sarah’s nursing, the word heynikah has two yuds, but in other places in Scripture, the word has only one yud.[5] Why the extra yud here?

From Personal to International
To answer the above questions, let us examine the events that take place immediately before the conception of Yitzchak. The Torah says that G‑d tells Avram, “Your name is no longer Avram, rather Avraham.”[6] In other words, “You are no longer av-Ram, ‘Father to (the nation of) Aram,’ rather you are Avraham, meaning av hamon goyim, ‘a father to a multitude of nations.’ ” Rashi comments, “He is av l’chol haolam, ‘a father to the whole world.’ ”

Similarly, G‑d changes Sarah’s name saying, “her name will be Sarah”;[7] “until now you were sarai, My princess, now you shall become sarah, a princess to the whole world.”

Why are Sarah and Avraham renamed this way, just prior to the conception of Yitzchak? Conception and birth are private family matters. Why does the Torah suggest that the birth of Yitzchak is not just a private phenomenon, but also an international one? Yitzchak is to be the first person born to Jewish parents. This is a blessing for the Jewish People — why must we mix “the whole world” into the equation?[8]

A Light Unto the Nations
The worldwide miracles around the birth of the first Jewish child convey an important message. From the very outset, the fundamental Jewish purpose and mission was not of a private nature. Jews are not merely to cater to their own families, or their own people. The events of Yitzchak’s day of birth demonstrate that the Jewish nation is to be “a light unto (all) the nations.”[9] That is why G‑d changes Avram’s name to mean “Father of the Whole World,” and changes Sarai’s name to mean “Princess of the Whole World.” It underscores, from the outset, that with the birth of every Jew comes the responsibility to change the whole world, as well as the strength to do so.[10]

As lights unto the nations, each of us carries an international and interdenominational responsibility. We are to be the moral compasses of the world, to teach humanity that there is “an eye that sees and an ear that hears.” We need to tell the world that on Mount Sinai, G‑d commanded Moses to convince and encourage all peoples to follow the Seven Noachide Laws,[11] along with the mitzvah of charity.

In the past, Jews in Europe lived in ghettos, and rarely could interact with the other nations, let alone convince them of accepting the Noachide Laws.[12] Today, conditions have changed. Jews and non-Jews have much more interaction, and are closer and more connected. Jews are now able to acquire government jobs and even run for public office. Heaven has made all this possible so that we can finally fulfill our mission to teach and illumine the nations. Now we are able to prepare the world for the ultimate Redemption, a redemption that will transform the whole world.

The Two Yuds
This explains why the word heynikah has two yuds. Yud is the first letter of G‑d’s name, so it represents the G‑dliness that Sarah passes on to the children she nurses. Not only does Sarah impart G‑dliness to her own son Yitzchak (symbolized by the first yud), she infuses G‑dliness into all the children from other nations that she nurses (symbolized by the second yud). Sarah nourishes every person she meets, for her duty as a Jew is to influence all the nations of the world, by teaching them to acknowledge G‑d, and to follow the Noachide Laws.

In order for Sarah to be effective in her spiritual mission, G‑d performs a miracle allowing her to nurse as many children as were brought to her. Because of this miracle, the princesses of the nations realized that G‑d’s nourishment and blessing comes through the People of Israel. We, too, must first offer physical nourishment to those who need it, including food, clothing and shelter. This will help create the necessary receptivity to accept our spiritual message.

On Rosh HaShanah, the Day of Judgment for the entire world — for Jews, non-Jews, and Noachides — we must resolve to be leaders and role models, not only for our family, but for all nations of the world.

In merit of being a “light unto the nations,” may we see the fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah: The Temple of G‑d will be firmly established… and all nations shall stream to it… and say, come let us go up to the mountain of G‑d… He will teach us of His ways and we will walk in His paths….[13] And on that day, “our mouths will truly be full of laughter….”[14]

A Story
When Shirley Chisholm was elected to Congress in 1968, she was the first African-American woman to hold such an office. Due to race and gender prejudice, however, she was assigned to the Agriculture Committee where it was assumed she would have little influence.

Ms. Chisholm was passionate about solving inner-city issues and helping the poor. A brilliant politician, she was dismayed by her assignment.

David Luchins, a senior advisor of Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, heard the following story from Ms. Chisholm at her retirement party.

As it happened, Ms. Chisholm lived a block away from the Rebbe. She had met him once during her campaign. One day, she received a call from his secretary saying, “The Lubavitcher Rebbe wants to see you.”

At the meeting, the Rebbe told her he knew she was upset about her assignment. “I am upset; I am insulted. What should I do?” she asked.

“What a blessing G-d has given you!” said the Rebbe. He urged her to take advantage of the Divine Providence that put her in a position to do something about food distribution. “This country has so much surplus food and there are so many hungry people. You can use this G-d-given position to feed hungry people. Find a creative way to do it!”

On her first day in Washington, Chisholm met Senator Bob Dole. He was looking for help in solving the plight of Midwestern farmers who were losing a great deal of money since America was purchasing produce from Cuba. Senator Dole told Ms. Chisholm, “We have a surplus of food and we don’t know what to do with it.”

At that moment, Ms. Chisholm remembered the Rebbe’s advice. She began working to expand the Food Stamp Program, which allowed low-income Americans to purchase food. By 1973, the Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act mandated that food stamps be available throughout the U.S.

Ms. Chisholm also made her mark in the creation of the WIC Program, which helps provide food supplements for high-risk pregnant women and their infants. Due in part to her strength and determination, today more than 8 million people have received such benefits each month.

For these great successes, Ms. Chisholm gave ultimate credit to the Rebbe. “I achieved this because a Rabbi who is an optimist taught me that what you may think is a challenge is a gift from G-d. And if poor babies have milk and poor children have food, it’s because this Rabbi in Crown Heights had vision.”

Action:  Resolve that once a week, you will give money to your co-workers to place in a charity box for charity, and encourage them to give additional charity on their own. Use this as an opportunity to speak about the Seven Laws of Noach.[15]