Everything Has It’s Time And Place

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Avraham and Hashem spoke many times. We find that after the instruction to leave his birthplace, something happens that never happened before:

וַיִּפֹּל אַבְרָם, עַל-פָּנָיו; וַיְדַבֵּר אִתּוֹ אֱלֹהִים, לֵאמֹר – Avraham fell on his face, and God spoke to him. (17:3)

Hashem tells him what truly lies ahead for Avraham, and tells him that the symbol of the covenant will be the mitzva of circumcision.

Avraham falls over, as if he is recoiling, as though he were burned. This is unique to this command – Avraham doesn’t fall over at any other time Hashem speaks to him. So what changed now, that it never happened before?

R’ Chaim Soloveitchik explains that until the command to circumcise was delivered, the fact he hadn’t done it yet didn’t render him ערל – the term used for an uncircumcised person. The beginning of the communication requiring it was when it was expected – it suddenly became a deficiency, and literally could not stand God’s presence in this state.

R’ Shlomo Farhi explains that this rubs both ways.

What is expected of all Jews is nothing less that absolute, perfect dedication and diligent mitzva performance. But everything is a long way away from anything less that that, so improvements can be gradual. So long as a person is not ready to take on more, the fact they haven’t yet done so is no problem at all – it’s perfectly reasonable in fact!

But equally, the moment they are ready for more and are content to stay out, suddenly a new burden is cast upon them – וַיִּפֹּל אַבְרָם, עַל-פָּנָיו.

There’s nothing wrong with someone not ready for more. But sometimes more is expected, and the challenge must be taken.

Responsibility, Independence and growth – beyond your comfort zone

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Avraham’s true ascent to greatness begins when Hashem calls on him:

וַיֹּאמֶר ה אֶל-אַבְרָם, לֶךְ-לְךָ מֵאַרְצְךָ וּמִמּוֹלַדְתְּךָ וּמִבֵּית אָבִיךָ, אֶל-הָאָרֶץ, אֲשֶׁר אַרְאֶךָּ – Hashem said to Avram; “Go – לְךָ – from your land; from your birthplace; the home of your ancestors; to the land which I will show you. (12:1)

The instruction is an odd one, without delving into the nuances of the structure of order things to leave. לֶךְ-לְךָ is taken at face value to mean “Go, for you” – ie it is in his interests to follow.

The Kli Yakar takes issue with this, and says that לְךָ is not “for you”, but “to you” – “you” is the destination, by way of הָאָרֶץ, אֲשֶׁר אַרְאֶךָּ. He is told to leave where he is to become who who he will be – independent and great. This is לְךָ.

Avraham was not the first to recognise Hashem, nor was he the only righteous person of his day. But he was the first who taught and lived accordingly – he is not noted for his great faith, but for his great kindness and warmth.

This was what made him remarkable. There was a synthesis between what he believed and how he lived.

Recognition of Hashem is very little without recognition of the soul – the spark of God within us all. There needs to be a fusion of these two components to meet the responsibility incumbent on us to be a לְךָ – independent, quality people.

Leaving your past behind

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The parsha opens with:

ויאמר ד׳ אל אברם לך לך מארצך וממולדתך ומבית אביך אל הארץ אשר אראך – And Hashem said to Avraham, “Go for yourself, from your land, your homeland, and the house of your father, to the land which I will show you”.

This pasuk is loaded with inferences. Rashi points out that Hashem was telling Avraham that this journey would be לך – for his own benefit and growth, which seems difficult to understand. Did Avraham need a personal gain to do what Hashem had instructed?

Further, the pasuk uses an expression of leaving from, rather than exiting to, which seems odd, if the actual goal was to arrive at the land Hashem would show him.

Lastly, the requirement to go “from your land, your birthplace, and the house of your father, to the land which I will show you”, seems redundant – the goal is אל הארץ אשר אראך, the land he would be shown. Why include where he was leaving from at all?

Avraham is commanded to go first from his country, then his homeland, and lastly, his father’s house. Shouldn’t the sequence be reversed? When travelling internationally, you leave the house first, then the area and then the country. So why is the command in this order?

The Nesivos Shalom explains that Hashem was telling Avraham to leave his negative traits which he acquired in these locations. Our environment is instrumental to developing who we are as people. The more localised the environment, the greater the affect it can have.

As such, a home environment is more persuasive than a homeland, which in turn is more influential than a country. The command is brought to greater light; Hashem was telling Avraham to leave, abandon even, the negative influence he picked up from his country, homeland and father’s house. The order is listing in ascending difficulty.

This further bring to light that לך לך means “Go fro yourself”. Avaham understood that ultimate happiness is becoming close to Hashem, echoing the Mesilas Yesharim, that the supreme joy in this world is the joy of serving Hashem; acknowledging one’s purpose in life and fulfilling it. Hashem told him that in order to grow further, he needed to totally separate himself from the negative culture he’d lived his whole life in – מארצך וממולדתך ומבית אביך.

It’s not enough for a person to try to be the best they can be, where they are. To reach full potential, he also has to remove himself from the bad midos of his environment because they still have an affect on him.

Once Avraham abandoned his past, he could achieve אל הארץ אשר אראך.

This further answers why the command was to “go” from somewhere, not just to somewhere. He had to leave where he was to get where he was going.

Why circumcise, and What is man’s mission in life?

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Avraham enters into a covenant with Hashem, that his descendants will be many, they will be great, and they will inherit the land. The sign of the covenant, is circumcision, the bris milah.

At the beginning of the parsha of milah, the pasuk says:

וַיֵּרָא יְהוָה אֶל-אַבְרָם, וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו אֲנִי-אֵל שַׁדַּי–הִתְהַלֵּךְ לְפָנַי, וֶהְיֵה תָמִים – And Hashem appeared to Avraham, and said to him; “I am The Omnipotent, be before me, and be perfect”. (17:1)

The Beis HaLevi explains that people who deny fundamental precepts of Judaism, or even Hashem, can sarcastically ask that “if God can do everything, why do we have to do anything? Let Him have made the world perfect!”. They feel that the existence of imperfection disproves God. In the context of milah, the question is the same, that “if God wanted you circumcised, why didn’t He make you that way?”.

The Beis HaLevi points out that the name Hashem appears to Avraham with is אֵל שַׁדַּי. Chazal teach that this means the Omnipotent, that Hashem could have kept creating and building from Creation, but said דַּי – “enough”. Had Hashem not chosen to stop, creation would manifest itself perfectly, where all living things would give birth to adult offspring, food would not need processing or cooking, etc.

But Hashem said “enough”. Creation is not meant for us to enjoy in perfection, as the Torah tells us at the onset of Shabbos, the transition from Creation to existence, כִּי בוֹ שָׁבַת מִכָּל-מְלַאכְתּוֹ, אֲשֶׁר-בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים לַעֲשׂוֹת – for on that day did Hashem refrain from all His work, which He made to be done. (2:3). The point of existence is לַעֲשׂוֹת – to be done by man. Our instruction of וֶהְיֵה תָמִים, to be perfect, is our own responsibility.

Circumcision, and everything else in life, do not come naturally. They require input of effort and hard work, but it is the end goal of being here – to be perfect.

Why isnt the episode of Avraham in Ur Kasdim in the Torah?

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Our Shemona Esrei, the staple point of prayer, begins with a Tefila called Avos.  Avos goes through how Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov each accepted and were accepted by Hashem. The Bracha ends off with ברוך אתה…מגן אברהם.

The Beis Yosef in in the Tur brings down a Midrash from Shivulei Haleket  that says that each Brachaof Shemona Esrei is in essence what the angels said when an awe-inspiring event happened in the history of the Jews. For example when Yitzchak was brought as a Korban the Melachim cried out Mechayay Hamasim or when Yosef was taught 70 languages by the Malaach Gavriel, the Melachim cried out חונן הדעת. So what is the story behind מגן אברהם ?

In this weeks Parsha (15:7) G-d proclaims to Avraham “I am Hashem who took you out of Ur Kasdim to give to you this land as an inheritance”. (Rashi 11:28). Many of the Meforshim bring down that אברהם  figured out on his own that there was a monotheistic creator and traveled around the world preaching this claim. Nimrod, the leader of the World at the time, wasn’t satisfied with him and threw him into a fire from which he walked out 3 days later, unscathed as Hashem had protected him. At this point the Melachim in heaven screamed out מגן אברהם‘’ – ‘the G-d who protects Avraham  ‘ which is what we do too in our Shemonah Esrei to commemorate this incredible miracle.

This is a beautiful Midrash which shows how Avraham was willing to give up his life for G-d even before He showed Himself to Avraham. There is only one question: Why didn’t the Torah tell us about this incident? The Tanach brings so many other cases of people dying Al Kiddush Hashem, why not mention this one? Yes, it is mentioned in Oral Torah , but this looks like one of the focal points of Avrahams life, so why wouldn’t the Torah mention it any other form other than בדרך רמז  (hint)? (רשי 11:28)

The Shela asks this question (Sefer Yad Hashela) and gives an incredible answer. We have a Halacha that at certain times (when forced to kill someone, have illicit relations, or commit the sin of idol worship)  a Jew must give up his life rather than committing a forced sin upon himself (Please ask your Rav for confirmation). This is called dying אל קידוש ה’ .

The Shela says that this Halacha is true only when a Jew is forced to commit the sin. But, if the Jew brought the issue on himself, it would not be called dying אל קידוש ה’ . He brought it upon himself to be killed and that is not what G-d wanted. Avraham did just that. He went too far trying to convince the world that there was a G-d and he brought it upon himself to be thrown into the furnace. Since Avraham acted against Halacha the Torah couldn’t have written it down because as we know the Torah is a book of laws, not a story book. Therefore the only way we could mention this incredible act of Avraham is in the Oral Torah . The Shela finishes and asks  why did Avraham go against Halacha? He answers that it was at a time when the world was so entrenched with idol worship that Avraham needed to go against Halacha to put an end to it. This is fine for Avraham as Hashem obviously agreed with his course of action, but it is not a way of living for us to emulate and thus it is only hinted in our Torah in the two words Ur Kasdim.

Embittered Lives

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Hashem told Avraham that his children would be enslaved in a land not their own for 400 years. Yet we find that they left after just 210 years of actual enslavement. Where are the missing 190 years?

There is an answer suggested that Egypt treated the Jews much worse than they should have, so as we say in ברוך המקום during Seder night:

ש”הקבה חשב את הקץ – Hashem calculated the end. What “end” is this talking about? Hashem hastened the גאולה and reckoned off קץ – 190 (from 400)- leaving us with 210.

In the Haggada we read how וַיְמָרְרוּ אֶת חַיֵּיהֶם – They embittered their lives (Shemos 1:1)

The Vilna Gaon points out how this is very subtly hinted to by the notes. The notes on וַיְמָרְרוּ אֶת חַיֵּיהֶם are קדמא ואזלא, which literally means “they got up and went”. Additionally, the numerical value of this is 190! They were over-embittered to a value of 190, so they got up and went!

R’ Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld points out that the redemption from Egypt was only completed 7 days after it began, when the Red Sea parted and when Paroh and his army were destroyed, so where is this reflected in historical events?

He answers that the 400 years were counted from Yitzchak’s birth. The extra week is found at his circumcision. Yitzchak was only circumcised 7 days after his birth – so only became Jewish then, and only 400 years from then were the Jews genuinely free.

לך לך and the sensitivity of syntax

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At the beginning of this week’s Parsha, Hashem tells Avram, as he is called at this point, that ואברכה מברכיך ומקללך אאור – I will bless those who bless you and those who curse you, I will curse.

Why does Hashem change around the order of the verbs – following ואברכה מברכיך, it should say ואאור מקללך, thereby keeping the syntax the same?

Firstly, the Vilna Gaon explains that a bracha given by an עשיר is going to be more generous than that of an עני, as he has the experience and comfort with which to issue such a ברכה. Conversely, an עני, who generally is perceived to suffer more, will likely give heavier curses than a wealthy man. Therefore, Hashem says ואברכה first with regards to ”מברכיך”, so that anyone who is blessing you should already be an עשיר at the point in time that he blesses you, so that the ברכה is maximised. However, when it comes to ”מקללך”, it only says that Hashem will curse him afterwards, so that at the time he curses Avram, he will still be an עשיר and the curse will be minimal!

Secondly,mine Kli Yakar explains that there is a concept of מחשבה כמעשה – that Hashem treats our thoughts as if they were acted upon. However, חז”ל point out that this is only with regards to our intended מצוות. With regards to our עבירות, Hashem doesn’t treat our negative thoughts as having been acted upon.
Therefore, ואברכה - ‘I will bless’, occurs even before a man is an actual מברך, even at the point that he thinks it. מה שאין כן with regard to the מקלל who will only receive the reciprocal curse from Hashem if he vocalises it. Therefore, אאור only comes after he is established as such!