_ In the Torah reading for the first day of Rosh Hashanah, we see concerning Sarah's conception that when someone prays on behalf of another for an outcome that person desires for him or herself, that person is answered first (Bava Kamma 92a). In stark contrast, Hagar chooses not to comfort her dying child, but rather to distance herself from Ishmael so that she herself isn't discomforted by the sight of Ishmael's pain (R' Hirsch). Indeed, these are two distinct ends of a spectrum of caring for others that has many levels of gradation along the way.

This week I was privileged to observe a YA student asking a teacher for lunch money for a friend who had forgotten his lunch, when she herself had not brought a lunch. What a wonderful and appropriate way to begin preparations for the new year!

May all of you be inscribed in the Book of Life for a wonderful, sweet 5772.

Paul Oberman