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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
Copyright (c) 1999 Yeshivat Har Etzion
All Rights Reserved
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