From: JoshHoff@aol.com
Sent: Friday, November 07, 2008 2:56 AM
To: JoshHoff@aol.com
Cc: TorahWorld@gmail.com
Subject: Netvort:parshas Lech Lecha,5769
The Journey Begins
By Rabbi Joshua (convincingly known as The Hoffer) Hoffman
In the beginning of this week's parsha, God tells Avrohom to go from his
home to a land that He will show him. The expression used for to go, 'lech
lecha,' is the same as is used when God tells Avrohom to sacrifice his son
Yitzchok. The Midrash Rabbah notes this similarity, and asks which one of the
tests was dearer before God,, and concludes, based on a verse at the end of the
akeidah episode, that the akeidah was dearer. What is the connection
between these two episodes that would lead the midrash to ask which one was
dearer? Ostensibly, the test of the akeidah would seem to be the obvious
answer, and, in fact, the question itself is hard to comprehend! One answer I
heard many yrs. ago is that by the time of the akeidah, Avrohom had already
undergone ten tests, and, therefore, he was used to receiving these unusual
commands from God, and was able to handle them better. However, we may think
that the very first time he was tested by God it was a new experience for him,
and was more difficult than even the test of the akeidah. Therefore, the
midrash proves that the akeidah was still harder. This explanation is based on
the comment of the Rambam in his commentary to Avos, 3:19,on the mishneh which
says that everything depends (i.e.,is judged) on the abundance
of actions, that if one has a choice to give a one-time contribution to
tzedakah of one hundred coins, or one hundred contributions of one coin
each, he should choose the second option, because his personality is effected
more by multiple acts of giving tzedakah, however small the amount is each
time, than by one large contribution. In a similar way,proposes the midrash,
perhaps Avrohom's first nine tests had such an effect on him that the tenth
one, with all the moral issues it may have raised, was relatively easy for him
to pass. I would like to suggest a different explanation of this midrash, based
on a thematic approach to the tests that Avrohom endured.
Rabbi Yakov Skaly, a student of the great Talmudic commentator Rav
Shlomo ben Aderet (Rashba), mentions, in his Torah commentary Toras HaMincha,
the verse in Nechemiah, in which God is praised as the One who chose
Avram took him out of Ur Kasdim and gave him the name of Avrohom,
and found his heart to be faithful to Him. Rabbi Skaly explains that this verse
praises God for choosing a servant who believed in Him and trusted in Him, and
was able to spread belief in Him to others. How did Avrohom convince others of
God's existence and governance of the universe? Rabbi Skaly says that he did it
through intellectual proofs. Rabbi Skaly compares the expression used in the
beginning of the verse in Nechemiah, ' atah hu Hashem ha-Elokim,' -
" You are the Lord,God" to the expression used in the aftermath of
Eliahu's challenge to the prophets of the Ba'al on Mt. Carmel, when the people,
seeing the defeat of these prophets when the sacrifice brought to God was
accepted, proclaimed, " the Lord He is God" ( Melachim1,
18:39).The name for God, Elokim, says Rabbi Sakly, is used when
there is an initial difference of opinion,and an eventual
resolution,constituting a clarification of the matter and an acceptance of the
one God. Eliahu began his challenge by tasking the people how long they
would continue to skip between two opinions, between belief in the
Ba'al and belief in the true God, and ended with his
demonstration that the Lord is The true God, as the people acknowledged.
Avrohom, too, was certain in his belief in God,and was therefore able to
convince others to believe, as well. My teacher, Rav Aharon Soloveichik, noted
that the Hebrew word for 'to believe,' - leha'amin,' is in the hipihil- the
causative- because the test of one's belief is his ability to cause others to
believe, as well.I would like to suggest that this feature of
authenticity of belief is what lies behind the question of the Midrash Rabbah.
Avrohom, as we noted, was able to convince some of the people in Ur Kasdim to
believe in God and His sovereignty over the universe. although most of the
people there were violently opposed to his views. God then directed him to
leave his home and go to another land, where he would have a more
receptive audience to address. The Torah tells us that Avrohom's s
father, Terach, also went on the journey.According to Rabbi Avraham Ibn Ezra,
the beginning of parshas Lech Lecha is connected to the end of parshas Noach,
which describes the departure of Terach, Avraham and family from Charan. As the
Ramban explains the Ibn Ezra's opinion, this connection makes it sound as if
Terach himself planned the journey, while the opening verse of Lech Lecha makes
it clear that it was God who commanded Avrohom to leave home. Because of this
problem, Ramban rejects the Ibn ezra's exegesis on these verses. However, Rabbi
Yoef Dov Soloveitchik, in his work Abraham's Journey, explains that according
to Ibn ezra, even though avrohom was the moving agent in this trip, out of
respect for his father he made it seem that he was the one who did all the
planning. In any case, Terach's participation was a remarkable
achievement on the part of Avrohom, because, according to the midrash cited by
Rashi and the Ramban, he had previously been an idol worshipper, and had
delivered Avrohom to Nimrod to be killed for smashing his idols. Eventually,
however, Avrohom was able to convert his father from an idolater to a believer,
to the extent that he was willing to follow Avrohohim to take. This
accomplishment was a testimony to Avrohom's certainty of faith, and may have
led one to think that it was a greater test than the test of the akeidah, even
though, in the end, Terach did not complete the journey to Cana'an.
Why, then, was the akeidah considered to be a greater test? Perhaps it was
because in this instance, Avrohoha had to convince his own son oft eh veracity
of his belief. The Rambam in his Morah HaNevochm writes that one of the
messages of the akeidah is the certainty of prophecy in the mind of the prophet.
Had Avrohom not been utterly convinced that it was God who commanded him to
bring his son as a sacrifice, and not some delusional voice that he heard, he
never would have proceeded to carry out such a command. However, Yitzchok
was the one who was going to be sacrificed, and he, too, had to be convinced,
without having received a prophecy from God. Avrohom, then, had to convince his
son that what he was going to do was an authentic command from God.
Children have a keen sense of discerning when a parent is being truthful and
when he isn't, and if Avrohom had not been utterly certain in his belief in God
and in the prophecy he received form Him, Yitzchok could not have been
persuaded to go ahead with what his father was about to do to him. Thus,
persuading Yitzchok to go ahead with the akeidah was an even greater challenge
to Avrohom's certainty of belief than was the challenge of convincing his
father, a former idolater, to believe in God, and this is the message being
conveyed by the midrash, which asked which was the greater test. Transferring
one's faith in God to the next generation is a test facing every Jew, and
Avrohom implanted the ability to do in each of us when he passed the test of
the akeidah.
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Please address all
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JoshHoff @ AOL.com.
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