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From:          Yeshivat Har Etzion's Israel Koschitzky Virtual Beit Midrash
To:            yhe-parsha@vbm-torah.org
Subject:       PARSHA61 -04: Parashat Vayera


                   YESHIVAT HAR ETZION
      ISRAEL KOSCHITZKY VIRTUAL BEIT MIDRASH (VBM)
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                     PARASHAT VAYERA

                    Avraham's Mission
                           
                  By Rav Shalom Berger


Only  rarely does the Torah allow us to be privy  to God's  thoughts, to understand why He chooses to act  one way or another.  Just prior to the Torah's account of the destruction  of  Sedom we are given that privilege,  when the  Torah explains why Avraham will be informed  of  the impending destruction.

"And  God said: Shall I hide from Avraham the thing that I plan to do, seeing that Avraham shall surely become  a  great and mighty nation, and all  of the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him; for I know him, that he will command his children and  his household after him, and they shall keep the way  of God,  to do justice and judgment; that God may bring upon  Avraham  that  which He has  spoken   of  him." (Bereishit 18:17-19)

Even  after  this explanation, there are still   many things  left unclear.  The Torah does not need to  inform us  that  God  plans to discuss Sedom's destruction  with Avraham;  it could simply record the conversation  (which is   the  way  the  Torah  ordinarily  presents   us  with information).  The Torah must see it as essential for our understanding of the story to know WHY God has chosen  to have  this  conversation.  But  do  the  passages   quoted really  help  us understand why God feels  this  need  to share  with  Avraham  His plans for  the  destruction  of
Sodom?  There are several confusing points:  a) Why is Avraham's future as a great nation important?  b)  What  is the connection between Sedom and  Avraham's  educational   plans   for   his children (especially considering that Yitzchak is yet to be born)?  c)  Which of God's promises to Avraham is being referred to, and why is it important here?

The  Rashbam  (18:17)  comments  that,   given  God's promise  that  this land will belong to Avraham  and  his children,  any  major issues needed to be  "approved"  by Avraham.   (Remember that the area of Sedom was described in last week's parasha as being very fertile prior to its destruction.)
    
"'Shall I hide from Avraham the thing that I plan to do,'  i.e. that I plan to destroy Sedom, for I  know that  [Avraham's] descendants will keep the  way   of God  and  will merit receiving what was promised   to Avraham - namely, that I will give them the Land  of Canaan   -   and  these  cities   fall   within   the inheritance of his descendants."

If  we take a step back and look at the context   of this episode, perhaps we will get a better picture of the issues involved.

"Our  father  Avraham [may he  rest  in   peace]  was subjected to ten trials (nisyonot), and he withstood them  all,  indicating how great  was  the   love  of Avraham Avinu [for God]." (Avot 5:3)

Avram's  first  command - what the  Mishna   in  Avot refers  to as his first test, his first nisayon - was  to move  to Israel - "Lekh lekha" (12:1).  Included  in  the promise  that  accompanied  that  command  are  the   same elements that we find expressed in God's musings prior to the destruction of Sedom.

"And  I  will make you a great nation,  and   I  will bless you and make your name great, and you will  be a  blessing; and I will bless them who bless you and curse  him who curses you, and in you shall  all   of the families of the earth be blessed." (12:2-3)

From  the  first, Avram is informed that in   sending him  to Israel, God sees a larger purpose.  Avram  is  to become  a  great nation, through which the  rest  of  the world will receive divine blessings.

Almost  immediately upon fulfilling the  command   to move to "the land that I will show you" (12:1), Avram  is informed that his family's destiny is tied to this land:
    
"God  appeared to Avram and said: 'To your seed will I  give  this land,' and there he built an altar to God who appeared to him." (12:7)
    
At  this early stage in the story, Avram is informed of  two  basic, intertwined divine promises: 1)  he  will have  descendants; 2) their future is in this land.   The first  stage  of  God's fulfilling these  promises  takes place  in  the stories of Avram's trials and tribulations in Parshiyot Lekh Lekha and Vayera.

The  fulfillment of these promises  is,  of   course, dependent   on   God's  actions,  but  they    are   also, apparently,  subject to Avram's success in understanding, appreciating and carrying out his mission.  The certainty of    the    above-quoted   Mishna   in     Pirkei    Avot notwithstanding,  from  the time of  Chazal  and  onwards there  have  been  those  who  find  fault  with   Avram's responses  to some of the more difficult aspects  of  his Aliya.   Already in the Gemara we find that Chazal  point to a number of Avram's actions as being the root cause of
the Egyptian exile.

"Said  Rabbi Abahu in the name of Rabbi Elazar:   Why was  Avraham  Avinu punished so that his descendants were  enslaved  in Egypt for 210 years?  Because he made  use  of Torah scholars as soldiers [in   saving Lot and the people of Sedom from the four kings], as it says, 'He led forth his trained servants, born in his own house' (14:14).
    
Shemuel  says: It is because he questioned the  Holy One's  intentions  [prior  to  the  Brit   Bein   Ha-betarim], as it says, 'By what shall I know  that  I will inherit it?' (15:8).

And Rabbi Yochanan says: It is because he restrained [the]  people  [of  Sedom] from entering   under  the wings  of  the  Shekhina, as it says, 'Give   me  the souls, and keep the property for yourself' (14:21)." (Nedarim 32a)

The  opinions  quoted  in the Gemara   indicate  that Avram's  descendants  are  punished  either  because    of Avram's  error in judgment with regard to the  people  of Sedom   (he   brought  his  servants  in  to   do   battle inappropriately, or he neglected to seize the opportunity to  introduce the people of Sedom to belief in  God),  or because he questioned whether God's  promises with  regard to his family's future in the land were certain.

The  Rishonim,  following the lead of  this   Chazal, point  to  other  examples  of  deficiencies  in   Avram's response  to adversity.  The Ramban, for example,  points to Avram's trip to Egypt in the face of famine (12:10) as the  root  cause  of the eventual exile  and  slavery  in Egypt.   Similarly,  he points to the incident  in  which Hagar  and Yishmael are driven out of Avram's home (16:6) as  being  a  serious  sin,  one  that  leads  to   future suffering at the hands of Yishmael's descendants.

The problematic actions mentioned above are followed in the Torah by a series of britot (covenants).  First we find the Brit Bein Ha-betarim (15:9-20), which emphasizes the  national return to the Chosen Land.  Following  that covenant,   we   find  the  command   and    covenant   of circumcision, brit mila (17:1-22), in which Avram becomes Avraham  (the  father  of  many  nations,  17:5)  and   is promised  that  his own son, Yitzchak, will  inherit  the Land.

According  to  this  approach, Parashat  Lekh   Lekha concludes  with  a  series  of covenants  whose  apparent purpose is to quell Avraham's fear and concern about  the promises   that   have  been  made.   Avraham's    actions criticized  by the Gemara and Rishonim are understandable from  the  perspective  of the nomad  threatened  by  the realities   of  his  surroundings  (doubt,   war,    local chieftains,  famine).   Now  girded  with  a    covenantal relationship with God, we anticipate that when faced with similar  threatening situations in the future,  Avraham's
responses  will be tempered by his understanding  of  his destiny  - a great nation of his descendants in the  land promised to him by God.

With  the beginning of Parashat Vayera, we have  our first opportunity to evaluate Avraham's reactions to  the difficulties  that face him.  In fact, the Torah  records that  in Parashat Vayera Avraham is faced with situations that  precisely  parallel those situations  that  Avraham faced in Parashat Lekh Lekha, where he was found wanting. (This  perhaps  foreshadows  the  Rs  assertion  [Hilkhot Teshuva  2:1],  "What  is complete repentance?  When  the penitent  is faced with a situation similar  to  the  one which  previously led to sin, and he does not commit  the
sin  again.")  In Parashat Vayera, Avraham is faced again with  decisions regarding the people of  Sedom.   He  is, again,  faced  with famine.  Finally, he is  faced  again with  decisions  regarding the future of his  family  and Yishmael's place in it.

The story of the impending destruction of Sedom  is the  first  occasion on which Avraham is tested following the  covenants at the end of Parashat Lekh  Lekha.   Will his attitude towards the land that was promised to him  - and  the people therein - be the same as before,  or  has Avram    come   to   understand   his    role    as    the leader/director/inheritor  of  this  land?  Will  Avraham fulfill  the  promise of Lekh Lekha (12:3), "And  in  you shall all of the families of the world be blessed?" That, in effect, is the question that God ponders, as the Torah shares His thoughts with us.

"Avraham  shall  surely become a  great   and  mighty nation, and all of the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him." (18:18)

In  order for the covenants to be carried out, there must  be  a  change  of  attitude on  Avraham's  part,   a realization that these things are promised to him by God, and   that  Avraham,  therefore,  must  take  charge   and actively ensure in the welfare of the land.

Avraham's  reaction, his defense of  Sedom  and   its inhabitants,  is  certainly  the  appropriate   response. Perhaps  (in  response to those opinions of  Nedarim  32a that  blame  Avram  for relinquishing  the  Sedomites  in Parashat  Lekh Lekha) in Avraham's arguments  on  Sedom's behalf  is the implicit offer to play an active  role  in their  rehabilitation,  should  they  be  saved,  thereby guaranteeing a moral, God-fearing force in the land.

Similarly, in contradistinction to his previous trip to  Egypt, in this week's parasha Avraham and his  family travel  only  as  far as Gerar, thus remaining  in  Eretz Yisrael  and discovering that (much to his surprise)  the people of the land are, in fact, God-fearing.  The choice of  Yitzchak and rejection of Yishmael also follows God's promise  that it is Yitzchak that will inherit  the  land promised to Avraham.

In   short,  following  God's  musing,   we  find   a "correction" in Vayera of several problematic episodes in Lekh Lekha:
refuge in Egypt                         vs.        refuge in Gerar
abandoning Sedom's people     vs.        defending Sedom's people
seeing future in Yishmael           vs.        seeing future  in Yitzhak

Nevertheless,  our parasha is not  over.    Avraham's final nisayon - Akeidat Yitzchak - is yet to come.  It is only  after  Akeidat  Yitzchak that the  Torah  concludes (22:18), "...and in your seed shall all of the nations of the  world  be blessed," thus completing the promises  of 12:3  ("and in you shall all of the families of the earth be  blessed") and 18:18 ("and all of the nations  of  the earth shall be blessed in him").

The  Rashbam (22:1) argues that we find yet one more "failure"  on  the  part  of Avraham  Avinu  in   Parashat Vayera, even after the covenants of Parashat Lekh  Lekha. The covenant that Avraham concludes with Avimelech (21:22-34),  promising that "You will not deal falsely with  me, nor  with my son, nor with my grandson, but according  to the kindness that I have done to you, you shall do to me, and  to  the  land in which you have sojourned"  (21:23), indicates  a  lack of faith in God's covenant,  "for  the land  of  the Pelishtim was promised to Avraham  and  his descendants" (Rashbam).

Thus,  we  have  an unexpected contrast   with  Lekh Lekha:
Covenants   with   God        vs.          Covenant   with Avimelech

The Rashbam argues that this is what  brings God  to test/punish Avraham with Akeidat Yitzchak.

Following our reading of these parshiyot, this  test is necessary in order to clarify one last time that it is God's  covenant  -  and  not  Avimelech's  -  that    will guarantee the future of Avraham's offspring in  the  land that has been promised.

This last nisayon brings us the full circle.

12:1                                                22:1
Go out...                                         Go out...
to the land I will show you               to one of the mountains I will specify to you
And  he  departed                           And   he  arose  and departed

Based  on the Rashbam's understanding of the  Akeida as  a  punishment  for  an  inappropriate  covenant   with Avimelech,  we can interpret the parallels as  indicating that  Avraham  must  realize that it is  his  failure  to properly  fulfill  the original nisayon  and  accept  the right  and  responsibility of the land (for him  and  his descendants)   that  has  led  to  this   nisayon.     The
"atonement" is the acceptance that it is God  who  is  in charge, and that it is God's promises and covenants  that are eternal and are to be relied upon.  God's promise  of a  permanent  relationship with Avraham's descendants  in the  land  that  He  promised can only be  realized  when Avraham    (and   his   descendants)    recognize    their responsibility and obligation to His covenants.

This  is the concern that we hear expressed in God's thoughts  and  conversation with  Avraham  prior  to  the destruction of Sedom. We can retranslate the  passage  as follows:

"And  God said: Shall I hide from Avraham the   thing that I plan to do?  If, indeed, Avraham is to become a great and mighty nation, and all of the nations of the earth are to be blessed in him, I must know that he will command his children and his household after him,  and  they  shall keep the way of  God,   to  do justice  and  judgment;  that  God  may   bring  upon Avraham that which he has spoken of him." (18:17-19)

The  blessings  of  the  nations  are   dependent  on Avraham  and his descendants taking their rightful  place in  the world.  Avraham must recognize his place and  the place  of his family in the land, and he must teach  them of  the covenants - the personal and national britot with God - though which God can keep His promises to Avraham's descendants; thus, he will offer blessings to all of  the nations of the world.
    
YESHIVAT HAR ETZION
ISRAEL KOSCHITZKY VIRTUAL BEIT MIDRASH
ALON SHEVUT, GUSH ETZION 90433

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