From: Netvort@aol.com Sent: Friday, November 11, 2005 1:37 AM To: JoshHoff@aol.com Subject: Netvort : parshas Lech Lecha, 5766 Paving the Way By Rabbi Joshua (prototypically known as The Hoffer) Hoffman In this week's parsha, God tells Avrohom to continue the journey that his father had begun and then interrupted, and to go to the land that He will show him. The destination was the land of Cana'an, which we know as Eretz Yisroel, which God then promised to Avrohom's seed for all generations. The Torah tells us that Avrohom came to the land of Cana'an, and that he got as far as Shechem, and the Plain of Mamreh, "and the Cana'anites were then in land" (Bereishis 12:6). This verse poses a difficulty, because the word "then" (az) implies one time period as opposed to another. This is, in fact, what led Rashi to make his comment that the Cana'anites were, at that time, conquering the land from the descendants of Shem. Thus, Rashi understands the word 'then' to mean that the Cana'anites were in the land then, as opposed to an earlier time period, when they were not there. Rabbi Avraham Ibn Ezra, in his commentary, mentions Rashi's explanation, and says that if this is not the meaning of the verse, then its correct meaning involves a great secret. Some interpreters of this comment have explained the secret to be that Moshe did not write this verse, because the verse is saying that the Cana'anites were in the lands then, but not now, at the time the verse was being written. However, we know from the Torah and subsequent books of Tanach that the Cana'anites were, indeed, in the land in the time of Moshe and also in the time of Yehoshua, his successor. Therefore, they conclude, the verse must have been written in a later time period, which contradicts the traditional belief that Moshe wrote the entire Torah, with the possible exception of its last eight verses, as discussed in the Talmud. This is the great secret that Ibn Ezra did not wish to reveal openly. Others have vehemently denied that this is what Ibn Ezra maintained, and this debate about his opinion has been going on for centuries. My teacher, Rav Aharon Soloveichik, zt"l, was a great admirer of Rav Avraham Ibn Ezra. Although some great rabbinic figures, such as the 16th century rabbinic authority Rabbi Shlomo Luria (Maharshal) wrote negatively about Ibn Ezra, and said that his Talmudic knowledge was deficient, Rav Aharon said that anyone who felt that way need only study the work Yesod Morah, in which Ibn Ezra writes as one of the rishonim, who were the great medieval Talmudic commentators, to be disabused of this notion. It was, therefore, inconceivable, in Rav Aharon's mind, to suggest that Ibn Ezra believed that this verse was not written by Moshe. What, then, was the great secret alluded to in his commentary? Rav Aharon explained it on the basis of the principle taught by the Ramban, that the book of Bereishis follows the pattern of 'ma'aseh Avos siman labanim', or the acts of the patriarchs are a sign for the sons. On a simple level, this means that what happened to the patriarchs will later happen to their descendants, so that their lives served as a kind of signpost for their descendants, giving them an idea of what would happen in the course of their history, and also, perhaps, serving as a lesson for their future deportment. Thus, when Avrohom went down to Egypt in face of the famine that engulfed Eretz Yisroel, he was anticipating the future trek of Ya'akov and his family to Egypt in face of the famine of their time. Rav Aharon however, explained that a close reading of the Ramban’s comments will reveal that he is saying more than this. What his principle means is that the actions of the patriarchs instilled within their descendants the ability to act in a similar way. Thus, when Avrohom passed through Cana'an while they were occupied with capturing the land from the descendants of Shem, he was instilling within his future nation the ability to pass through the land while the Cana'anites were still there, meaning, he was giving them the ability to conquer the land from the Cana'anites. The word 'then,' accordingly, does not mean 'then' in contrast to an earlier or later time. Rather, it is meant as an emphasis on that very time, because what was done then had tremendous implications for the future. This, said Rav Aharon, is the way Ibn Ezra understood the verse when he wrote that it holds a great secret within it. Although Ramban lived after the time of Ibn Ezra, this does not preclude the possibility that Ibn Ezra held a similar view. In any case, this is certainly the way the Ramban himself understood the verse, according to Rav Aharon. Rav Mordechai Gifter, zt"l, in his Pirkei Torah, understands the Ramban's principle differently. He says that Avrohom had a 'neshamah koleles,' a soul that incorporated within it the soul of the Jewish nation, which encompasses all generations of the Jewish people, stretching back to the patriarchs and continuing throughout history, until the times of the messiah and beyond. Therefore, what Avrohom did had significance for the forging of the eternal character of the Jewish people. I believe that this approach to the Ramban's principle, when seen in light of Rav Aharon's explanation, can help us understand the first part of our verse, which, as we have seen, tells us that Avrohom came to the site of Shechem until the Plain of Moreh. Rashi explains that the Plain of Moav is Shechem. Rashi comments that Avrohom prayed there for his descendants, because they would, in the future, engage in warfare against the city of Shechem, and that God also showed Avrohom Mt. Gerizim and Mt. Eval, where the nation would, after entering the land, accept upon themselves the oath of the Torah. We explained, in Netvort to parshas Ki Savo, 5765, that the covenant created through this oath was one of 'arvus,' or mutual responsibility, that each Jew took upon himself. Maharal of Prague explained that this covenant could only be undertaken in Eretz Yisroel, because the covenant underscores the unity of the Jewish people, which can be fully realized only in their own land. In fact, the Zohar in parshas Emor, in commenting on the verse in Shmuel II (7:23), "and who is like your nation Yisroel, one nation in the land," states that only in Eretz Yisroel is the nation truly one. When Avrohom walked through the land, paving the way for his nation's future conquest of it, God showed him the location of the oath that they would take upon themselves in entering upon the covenant of mutual responsiblilty. Perhaps the idea here, then, is that in order for them to be able to carry out this conquest, and to maintain their hold on the land, there had to be unity among them. When Avrohom paved the way for them to capture the land from the Cana'anites, God showed him the location of the covenant that would help forge that unity. Perhaps we can suggest that this was meant to be a hint to Avrohom to add to his prayer an additional request, that the nation maintain the unity that they would forge through the bris, and thereby help preclude the development of sinas chinam, or unjustified hatred, which, as the Talmud tells us, is the cause of our current exile from the land. Please address all correspondence to the author (Rabbi Hoffman) with the following address - JoshHoff @ AOL.com. To subscribe to Netvort, send a message with subject line subscribe, to Netvort@aol.com. To unsubscribe, send message with subject line unsubscribe, to the same address.