The Ripple Effect of One Act of Kindness: Parshat Bereishit - Rabbi Avi Wiesenfeld

[Music] We begin the first parisha of the Torah. Parish spiratius. The Torah as we know teaches us very practical lessons for our daily lives. Every letter in the Torah is precious and can teach us something. When Cen killed He, Hashem approached him, saying, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood demay, cry out to me from the ground." Rashi explains that Hashem used the plural form of the word dumb, blood, to indicate to Cain that he wasn't responsible for the murder of one person. He was culpable for the blood of all those who could have descended from heaven. Kazal told us in the Mishna Sanhedrin that man was created as an individual to teach us that if one preserves a single life, it's as if he has preserved an entire world. When we look at a single person, it's hard to understand this. But when we think about He and realize that 7 billion people on this planet descend from his brother Chase, then we see how the eradication of but one life can turn into the loss of billions of lives. A policeman, Arto Murkovitzi, who was unfortunately killed two years ago on Sunrastoyo, saved a bunch of people right before he was killed, directing them where to go. One of those that he saved was Danielle Sharabi. Donaniel was at a Shabbaton recently for survivors of the Nova festival of which many of them started to keep Shabas. Donielle said that Arto saved me and three friends. He left four children in this world but he left another four children. He's our father. I heard this from my dear friend Rabi Akaman who was there for Shabas and he said that these four yidden that are saved now keep Shabas. Can you imagine the reward? Can you imagine what he left behind? Not only his four biological children but the children that he saved as well. He left behind in this world. And who knows how this can affect their children for generations to come. The power of just one person. You don't have to save countless lives in order to be a hero. You can also help someone in so many other ways. Giving them a nice word, even a smile. You have no idea how far it can go. The power of one is incredible and it's demonstrated in the very first parisha in the toya. Wishing you all an incredibly uplifting shapesh. [Music]