In this week's
Parsha, we read about two monumental covenants between
God and Avraham. In addition, the Parsha opens with
additional blessings that God promises Avraham, also
somewhat in the form of a covenant. If we pay close
attention to the Torah's language throughout Sefer
Bereshit, we can see that these covenants greatly impact
later developments in the Torah. At the beginning of
Lech Lecha, we are struck by the depiction of Avraham's
descendants as a great and mighty nation: "And I will
make you into a great nation, and I will bless you, and
make your name great, and you shall be a blessing. And I
will bless those who bless you, and he who curses you I
will curse, and all the nations of the land shall bless
themselves by you" (12:3). However, in this initial
blessing, we learn very little about the Promised Land.
God assures Avraham that He will show him this land, but
Avraham has not yet merited knowing its identity.
Moreover, the spiritual dimension is quite lacking in
this blessing. The verse "And I will bless those who
bless you.and all the nations. shall bless themselves by
you," although it sounds spiritual, essentially focuses
on the awe with which other nations will regard
Avraham's descendants; other nations will admire their
might and fear becoming their enemies. This verse gives
no indication of whether Avraham's descendants will feel
a deep connection with God. By the middle of Lech
Lecha, though, we get a greater sense of what God has in
mind for Avraham's progeny. At the end of Perek 15, they
are promised the Holy Land in the Brit Bein Habetarim.
There, God specifies precisely which land they will
inherit (see verses 18-21), and he appears to provide a
moral basis for this covenant. Rather than simply
promising that Avraham's descendants will inherit this
land, God goes out of His way to emphasize that events
will develop in accordance with His sense of justice.
Those who enslave the Jews will be punished, and the
original occupants of Canaan will not be forced off of
their land until their own sins earn them this
punishment. Implicit in these statements is the
assumption that Avraham's descendants must act in a
manner that befits the beneficiaries of this covenant.
However, Avraham and his descendants have still not
received any commandments as a sign of their unique
relationship with God, nothing to which they must adhere
in order to merit the fulfillment of Brit Bein
Habetarim. Finally, at the end of Lech Lecha, Avraham
is ordered to circumcise his entire household, and he is
promised in return, "Vahakimoti Et Beriti Beini
Uveinecha.Livrit Olam: Lihyot Lecha Leilokim, Ulzaracha
Acharecha," "I will establish my covenant between Me and
you, and between your offspring after you for their
generations, as a permanent covenant: to be a God to
you, and to your children after you" (17:7). At long
last, Avraham has learned of a concrete action by which
he and his descendants can affirm their commitment to
their relationship with God. Throughout the rest of
Bereshit, we see these distinct stages reappearing
individually. For example, Yaakov "steals" our Parsha's
opening blessing of tremendous might: "Yaavducha Amim,
Veyishtachavu Lecha Leumim.Orerecha Arur, Umvarechecha
Baruch," "Nations will serve you, and governments will
bow to you. those who curse you [will be] cursed, and
those who bless you [will be] blessed" (27:29). Yitzchak
intended for Eisav to receive this blessing, which would
not have precluded a similar blessing for Yaakov.
(Indeed, even after Yaakov "steals" this blessing, we
find Eisav receiving a blessing of prosperity as the
weaker brother in 27:39-40). However, after Yitzchak
realizes what has happened and Rivka again reminds him
of Eisav's intermarriage (27:46), Yitzchak
wholeheartedly offers Yaakov the spiritual blessing of
Brit Milah (28:3-4): "Vekeil Shakai Yevarech Otcha,
Veyafrecha Veyarbecha, Vehayita Likhal Amim. Veyiten
Lecha Et Birkat Avraham, Lecha Ulzaracha Itach -
Lerishtecha Et Eretz Megurecha, Asher Natan Elokim
Le'avraham," "And may Keil Shakai bless you, make you
fruitful and make you numerous, and may you be a
congregation of peoples. And may He give you the
blessing of Avraham, to you and to your offspring with
you - that you may inherit the land of your wanderings,
that God gave to Avraham." God Himself reiterates the
blessing of Brit Milah to Yaakov after the travails of
his time with Lavan and his battle in Shechem. Like his
grandfather Avraham, Yaakov has his name changed and
receives the promise (35:11-12), "Ani Keil Shakai.Goy
Ukhal Goyim Yihyeh Mimeka.Ve'et Haaretz Asher Natati
Le'avraham Ulyitzchak - Lecha Etinena, Ulzaracha
Acharecha.," "I am Keil Shakai.a nation and a
congregation of nations will come from you.and the land
that I gave to Avraham and to Yitzchak - I will give it
to you, and to your children after you.." Thus, God
reveals what Yitzchak learned over the course of Parshat
Toldot: Although Eisav is not necessarily unfit for the
contents of the opening blessing of Lech Lecha, only
Yaakov can carry on his fathers' full legacy due to the
spiritual nature of Brit Milah. Finally, in the
beginning of Parshat Va'eira, we find the fulfillment of
Brit Bein Habetarim. God explains to Moshe that the Avot
saw the fulfillment of Brit Milah. They observed this
commandment, and in return God allowed them to dwell in
Canaan as temporary residents - "Vegam Hakimoti Et
Beriti Itam, Latet Lahem.Et Eretz Megureihem, Asher Garu
Vah," "And I also established my covenant with them, to
give to them.the land of their dwellings, in which they
dwelled (Shemot 6:4). This is the same formulation that
God used in the original Parsha of Brit Milah. Now,
however, God promises Moshe that He will uphold the one
promise that He has not yet fulfilled: the promise of
Brit Bein Habetarim. By identifying the different
blessings in Lech Lecha, we gain a better understanding
of several later stories where the same phrases reappear.
We also realize the tremendous responsibility that we bear as
the recipients of these blessings and covenants.
We have been promised prosperity and power, but
we have also been informed that God runs His world according
to just principles of reward and punishment. He punished the
Egyptians and Canaanites for their sins, so He expects
us to act better than them, in order to truly merit
His blessings.
But Your Name Shall Be
Avraham by
Dov Rossman
In Parshat Lech
Lecha, the Torah states (17:5): "Velo Yikarei Od Et
Shimcha Avram, Vehaya Shimcha Avraham," "And your name
shall no longer be called Avram, and your name will be
Avraham." The Mishnah states that anyone who calls
Avraham by the name Avram is violating a positive
mitzvah from the Torah because of this Pasuk. R' Eliezer
states that one is not only violating a positive
mitzvah; he is also violating a negative mitzvah because
of the first part of the Pasuk, "Velo Yikarei Od." The
Gemara then asks: if this Halachah is correct, why does
it not apply to Yaakov, whom we call by the name Yaakov
today even though his name was switched to Yisrael? The
answer is that the case of Yaakov is different because
Hashem calls Yaakov by the name Yaakov even after his
name is switched to Yisrael.
The Divrei Eliyahu adds that Yaakov's name was
never completely switched to begin with. He points out a
hint to this in the names of the Tefilot
that the Avot set up. The second letter of the
name Avraham, Bet, hints to the Tefilat Boker,
which Avraham established. The second letter of Yitzchak, Tzadi, hints
to the Tefilah that Yitzchak established, Tefilat Hatzaharayim. The second
letter of the name Yaakov, Ayin, hints to the Tefilah
that he established, Tefilat Arvit. Since the Ayin in Yaakov's name
is useful, we see that the name Yaakov still
had a purpose and function. This contrasts
with the name Avram, which had no use and
was completely replaced by the name Avraham.
Dual Purpose by
Etan Bluman
Avram
and his wife Sarai spent much of their lives spreading
the word of Hashem. Despite their efforts, Hashem did
not appear to them for many years. Finally, in this
week's Parsha, Hashem speaks to Avram, telling him to
leave his home for an unknown land. What was Hashem's
main motivation in giving Avraham this unusual
command? The Midrash states that Hashem's primary
reason was to spread Avram's fame, ultimately bringing
in more people to serve Hashem. Rashi quotes this very
practical reason (in his commentary to 12:1), and also
quotes another concept. According to the Gemara, Hashem
sent Avram to Canaan to start the nation of Bnei
Yisrael. This first test of Avraham's, that of moving to
Eretz Canaan, represented the birth of Am Yisrael. Only
in Eretz Canaan, says the Gemara, could Avraham have
children and start a nation. This is why Hashem told
Avraham to go "Lecha," "for yourself" - it was in
Avraham's own interest to move, because only then would
he merit children. Ultimately, both of these goals
were accomplished. Avraham did have children and start a
nation in Canaan, and by visiting many places, as the
Midrash indicated, he was able to spread the
word of Hashem to many more people.
Thus, Hashem's command to Avraham provided for the people of Avraham's
own time and for us in the future. Hashem
planned for His word to be spread further in Avraham's day, while
simultaneously setting up the birth of our nation.
Halacha of
the Week The Shulchan Aruch (Yoreh Deah
249:3) states that when we give
Tzedakah, we should do so with great sensitivity
and commiserate with the plight of the unfortunate
individual whom we are helping. Thus, we should support the
recipient of the Tzedakah both financially and
psychologically.
Staff at
time of publication:
Editors-in-Chief: Ely
Winkler, Willie Roth Executive Editor:
Jerry M. Karp Publication
Editors: Jesse Dunietz, Ariel
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Ben-Jacob, Moshe Zharnest Business Manager:
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Strauss Faculty Advisor: Rabbi Chaim
Jachter
This week's issue
of Kol Torah has been sponsored in memory of:
Moshe
David Ben Yitzchak Goldman
Feige Perel bat Moshe David
Goldman ---------------- This week's issue of Kol Torah
has also been sponsored by Rabbi Meier & Helen
Brueckheimer on the occasion of the upcoming Yahrzeit of
haChever Naftali ben Maer z"l.
This
publication contains Torah matter and should be treated accordingly.
