THEN THE LORD APPEARED TO ABRAM AND SAID: I WILL GIVE THIS LAND TO YOUR OFFSPRING AND THERE HE BUILT AN ALTAR TO THE LORD WHO APPEARED TO HIM.

(Bereishit 12:7)

 

I will give this land to your offspring: The promise, the Timing of its Fulfillment, and its Stipulations.

And said: I will give [this land] to your offspring - Even though I took you out of the land of your birth to settle you in this land I did not say that I will give it to you immediately and have you replace the nations before you, for that could not be. For you as a single individual cannot settle the land until you have many children and they inherit it. For the mean time you shall enjoy the gift that you will travel across the width and breadth [of the land] with your abundant property and livestock, and people will say good [things] to you; for you presently cross through it, crossing through in peace and there is no one who speaks a [bad] word to you. I will give it to your offspring when they become numerous, and drive out the nations before them. And even when 601,730 of them - not including the Levite' s number - enter the land, I will say: Little by little I shall drive them out of the land until you multiply and inherit the land (Shemot 23:30).

(ReDaK Bereishit 12:7)

 

And at that time Judah went down (Bereishit 38:1). This is as Scripture says: I will yet bring the possessor to you, O inhabitant of Mareshah (Micah 1:15). The Holy One blessed be He said to Israel: Even though I made stipulations of your father Abraham and I told him arise and walk in the land (Bereishit 13:17) I did what I had told him and gave him the entire land, as it says, the sons came and inherited the land (Nehemiah 9:24), and also I took you to the land of Carmel (Jeremiah 2:7), a land that is soft and full. But you angered me and you came and polluted My land, etc. (ibid) and what did I do to you? I brought the nations and they removed you from it I will yet bring the possessor to you, O inhabitant of Mareshah because you did not listen to the words of Micah the Mareshaite.

(Midrash Aggadat Bereishit 64).

 

 

Our Father Abraham: Loner and Leader

Aviad Stollman

Scripture portrays our Father Abraham as someone who is not very good at forming strong social ties. Abraham does not hesitate from cutting himself off from his land, his birthplace, and his father's house in order to trek to a distant and unfamiliar land. He even neglected his wife when they neared Egypt, telling her to present herself as his sister to the Egyptians. Even if his calculations were correct, they were still cold and utilitarian, and he gave them precedence over his feelings towards his spouse. When controversy arose between his shepherds and those of his nephew Lot, Abraham suggested to him that they separate immediately: if you take to the left, I will take to the right; and if you take to the right, I will take to the left. Abraham did not seek compromise between the two sides, and even though he was dealing with his own blood relative - apparently the only such relative to accompany him on his travels from the distant east - Abraham preferred to disengage from him.  This line of behavior is further exemplified by Abraham's treatment of Hagar, Ishmael, and of course - Isaac, whom he was prepared to offer up as a burnt offering.

The Sages added depth to Abraham' s story by describing the background to this behavior. According to Midrash Rabbah, already in his youth Abraham displayed a lack of concern for social norms and conventions. In an especially well known episode found in Bereishit Rabbah (section 38, pp. 361-4 in the Theodore-Albeck edition), Abraham smashes his father' s idols, thereby challenging not only his immediate circle but even King Nimrod himself. The midrash describes how Terah repeatedly left Abraham alone in charge of his idol shop. Abraham took a hammer and smashed the idols, leaving the hammer in the hand of the largest of them. When his father returned, he asked: "Who did this to them?" Abraham answered: "A woman came bringing a plate of fine flour, asking me to offer it up to them. I offered it before them, and one of them said'I shall eat first'  and another one said'I shall eat first.'  The biggest of them stood up and took a hammer and smashed them." Terah said: "Why are you fooling with me as if they know [what is happening]." Abraham said to him; "Will your ears not hear what your own mouth says?!" Terah took him and handed him over to Nimrod. Nimrod and Abraham engaged in a pointed theological debate, at the end of which Abraham was cast into the fiery furnace and saved by God. I believe that the Archimedean point in this midrashic story occurs when Abraham' s father Terah hands him over to Nimrod. Not only did the father fail to protect his son - he actually took the initiative and handed him over to the cruel Nimrod, who, true to character, did not flinch at casting young Abraham into the fiery furnace. Psychologists may find in this story, and especially in this particular moment of the story, a psychological explanation for the adult Abraham' s behavior towards those around him - and even perhaps towards his two sons, Ishmael and Isaac.

Another famous midrash, also found in Bereishit Rabba (section39, pg. 365), tells us how Abraham reached the conclusion that the world has a Creator. He once saw a building that was lit-up inside. Abraham said: "Could it be that this building has no owner?" The owner of the building looked [out the window] and said to him: "I am the owner of the building!" The midrash continues to explain the analogy: "So it was that Abraham our Father said'Perhaps the world has no ruler,'  and the Holy One blessed be He looked out and told him'I am the ruler, master of the entire world.' " According to the author of this midrash, Abraham was unique in his generation in having the ability to look at reality and derive highly significant conclusions from it. Abraham was like a scientific genius who looks at the same data as do all the other members of the scientific community but is able to deduce revolutionary consequences from them. To this intellectual trait was added the social trait discussed above. Together they allowed Abraham to persist in holding opinions that were not accepted in his milieu and to stand up for his own world view. In this spirit Rabbi Yehuda said (Bereishit Rabba section 41, pg. 414) that the name Avraham ha' Ivri [Abraham the Hebrew] attests to his ideological isolation: "All the world on one side [ever] and he on the other side."

RaMBaM developed these midrashim and reformulated them in the opening section of Hilkhot Avoda Zara of his Mishne Torah, placing specifically Aristotelian arguments in Abraham' s mouth:

After Abraham was weaned, while still an infant, his mind began to reflect. By day and by night he was thinking and wondering: "How is it possible that this [celestial] sphere could continuously be guiding the world and have no one to guide it and cause it to turn round; for it cannot be that it turns round of itself." He had no teacher, no one to instruct him in thought. He was submerged in Ur of the Chaldees, among silly idolaters. His father and mother and the entire population worshipped idols, and he worshiped with them. But his mind was busily working and reflecting until he had attained the way of truth, apprehended the correct line of thought, and knew that there is one God, that He guides the celestial sphere and created everything, and that among all that exist, there is no god beside Him. He realized that men everywhere were in error, and that what had occasioned their error was that they worshiped the stars and the images, so that the truth perished from their minds. Abraham was forty years old when he recognized his Creator. Having attained this knowledge, he began to refute the inhabitants of Ur of the Chaldees, arguing with them and saying to them, "The course you are following is not the way of truth." He broke the images and commenced to instruct the people that it was not right to serve any one but the God of the universe, to whom alone it was proper to bow down, offer up sacrifices and make libations, so that all human creators might, in the future, know Him; and that it was proper to destroy and shatter all the images, so that the people might not err like these who thought that there was no god but these images

That is to say, that according to the midrash and RaMBaM in its wake, it was precisely this aspect of Abraham' s psyche that might be seen as a "personality defect" that allowed him to attain his intellectual, spiritual, and political achievements. His ability to disconnect from his surroundings and cast off deep-rooted world-views granted him the ability to leave normative positions behind him and adopt new ones. Similar abilities sometimes help political leaders, military commanders, scientists, artists, and philosophers to take on new stances even when these are opposed to popular opinion. Sometimes one needs a certain degree of social isolation in order to be brave and non-conformist; one needs a certain degree of social isolation in order to chart out a path that is independent, opposed to the "tribe" and the family that nourished the individual and in which he grew. The proof of intellectual courage is that you cling to the truth even when it is not convenient for those around you.

However, as RaMBaM next describes, Abraham was also blessed with an additional ability that allowed him to promulgate his new ideas. Abraham possessed an impressive talent for leadership that allowed him to gather people around himself, to influence and lead them towards belief in his novel views:

He then began to proclaim to the whole world with great power and to instruct the people that the entire universe had but one Creator and that it was right to worship Him. He went from city to city and from kingdom to kingdom, calling and gathering together the inhabitants till he arrived in the land of Canaan...When the people flocked to him and questioned him regarding his assertions, he would instruct each one according to his capacity till he had brought him to the way of truth, and thus thousands and tens of thousands joined him. These were the persons referred to in the phrase, "men of the house of Abraham." Abraham implanted in their hearts this great doctrine, composed books on it, and taught it to Isaac, his son. Isaac settled down, instructing and exhorting. He imparted the doctrine to Jacob and ordained him to teach it. He, too, settled down, taught and morally strengthened all who joined him... And so it went on with ever increasing vigor among Jacob' s children and their adherents till they became a people that knew God.

We find that when Abraham wanted to influence many people he was well served both by his organizational, pedagogical and political talent as well as by his ability to reject incorrect yet popular ideas. It is not possible to go into any further detail in the framework of this derasha, but scholars have already noticed that these two character traits - that which is inward-directed as well as that which acts outwardly - have a place in RaMBaM's philosophical doctrine, especially as it is expressed in his philosophical works. On the one hand RaMBaM praises isolation in the Guide of the Perplexed (3:51) as a means for religious meditation, while on the other hand he speaks of the role of the prophet who reached the highest level of spirituality - in order to lead his people (e.g., Guide 2:40). This is like the Platonic parable about the prisoner who escapes the cave and investigates the outside world but who is morally obliged to return to enlighten those still chained up in the cave - even at the price of being physically attacked by the latter. A balance must be struck in the religious life of each individual between the life of inward-directed isolation and outwardly directed religious and moral action that benefits society in general. RaMBaM expresses this in the first chapter of Hilkhot Talmud Torah when he binds together the command to study Torah with the duty to teach Torah.

Rabbi Dr. Aviad Avraham Stollman serves as rabbi to the Zemer Hzayit congregation in Efrat.   

 

Abram, Sarai and Pharaoh - a Different Angle on the Episode

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korha said: Sarah was Pharaoh' s wife; in his love for her, he wrote in her ketuba (a commitment of) all his wealth, silver and gold, servants and lands. And he wrote for her the Land of Goshen as an estate; therefore the Children of Israel [later] dwelt in the Land of Goshen, in the land of their mother Sarah, and he also inscribed that Hagar, his daughter through his concubine, be her maidservant.

And from where do we know that Hagar was Pharaoh' s daughter through his concubine? For it is written, And Sarai, the wife of Avram, did not bear him children, and she had an Egyptian maidservant and her name was Hagar. And Pharaoh awoke in the morning, and he was frightened by the fact that he could not approach her, so he called for Abraham and said to him "Here is your wife before you'  and all [payment promised] in her ketuba. Take it and leave, do not tarry in this land, as is written Now here is your wife, take her and leave, and Pharaoh put men in charge of him to prevent him from coming to the land of Canaan, "Dwell in the land of the Philistines to rest there" and Abraham left.

(Pirkei d' Rabbi Eliezer, Chapter 26)

 

"The Deeds of the Fathers are a Sign for the Sons": Israel's Flight as a Moral Consequence of Hagar's Flight

It is from the presence of my mistress Sarah that I flee [borahat]: It [the word borahat] occurs twice in the Masoretic biblical text. Here, and there [i.e., in the verse:] All of the city flees from the sound of cavalry and bowman (Jeremiah 4:29). Since Sarah caused Ishmael to flee, Israel had to flee from him; for bowmen refers to Ishmael, as he is called a shooter of bows (21:20).

(Ba'al Ha'Turim Bereishit 16:8)

 

And you shall come to your ancestors in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age

You shall be buried at a good old age: He revealed to him that Ishmael would repent during his lifetime.

(Rashi on Bereishit 15:15, following Bereishit Rabbah 38)

 

...here the deeds of the fathers are a sign for the sons. It hints at how the children of Ishmael will draw near to the truth and believe in one God in the end of days, and separate themselves from the idolaters, as our rabbi [the RaMBaM] wrote. That is what Isaac meant when he pleaded for Esau: Let the scoundrel be spared [yet he learns not righteousness; in a place of integrity he does wrong - He ignores the majesty of the Lord] (Isaiah 26:10); [Isaac pleaded] that he [Esau] would also separate himself from idolatry in the end of days, but the answer [to his plea] was in a place of integrity [he does wrong] therefore he ignores the majesty of the Lord, and will worship idols until and in that day the Lord shall be one.

(Rabbi Meir Simkha Mi'Dvinsk's Meshekh Hokhmah on Bereishit 15:15)

 

Remember... do not forget (Motza' ei Shabbat Parashat Lekh Lekha, nightfall of Heshvan 5756)

"Later troubles cause the earlier one to be forgotten" and so, with the passing of years, a different perspective has been created and different narratives have developed in regard to the murder of Yitzhak Rabin, z"l.

The media reports on the relationship between the murderer and his wife in a nearly pornographic vein. There was a political attempt to grant an equal status in the educational system to the murder of Gandhi at the hands of a terrorist; talk began of "heritages."

I came across a school where, on the Rabin Memorial Day, they described Yitzhak Rabin' s life story but, for some reason, they hid the fact that he was murdered by a Jew who acted in the name of a religious ideology. One could have received the impression that an endearing Palmachnik, a devoted soldier, a heroic and victorious Chief of Staff had died naturally or from serious illness.

Jewish tradition commands us to remember all kinds of events. In order to remember we are obligated to "tell the tale" so as to learn the necessary lessons from it. We are required to remember our servitude in Egypt and the Exodus also in order that we treat fairly the strangers living in our midst. The memory of Amalek serves, among other things, to help us overcome the universal tendency of all individuals and societies to exploit and oppress the weak and to help us gain victory over the evil in our midst.

Therefore, it seems important to me not to hide the simple and painful fact that on the night of the 12^th of Heshvan 5756 Yitzhak Rabin, the prime minister of Israel, was murdered because one young man believed on the basis of his twisted religious belief, that he was obligated to do so in order to save the Jewish People.

The ideological and political disagreements surrounding the future of those parts of the Land of Israel lying beyond the "green line" and surrounding our relations with the Palestinians are just as alive today as they were in the period leading up to the murder. Like denial of the Holocaust, denial of the murder can, God forbid, create an atmosphere that justifies violence as an expression of political protest. Will we know to remember this, to remind ourselves and warn of the dangers that are no less serious than the Iranian threat?

Pinchas Leiser, Editor

 

 

 

If you enjoy Shabbat Shalom, please consider contributing towards its publication and distribution.

• Hebrew edition distributed in Israel $700
• English edition distributed via email $ 100

Issues may be dedicated in honor of an event, person, simcha, etc. Requests must be made 3-4 weeks in advance to appear in the Hebrew, 10 days in advance to appear in the English email.

In Israel, checks made out to Oz VeShalom may be sent to Oz VeShalom-P.O.B. 4433, Jerusalem 91043. Unfortunately there is no Israeli tax-exemption for local donations.

US and British tax-exempt contributions to Oz VeShalom may be made through:

New Israel Fund, POB 91588, Washington, DC 20090-1588, USA

New Israel Fund of Great Britain, 26 Enford Street, London W1H 2DD, Great Britain

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE NEW ISRAEL FUND IS NO LONGER ACCEPTING DONATIONS UNDER $100.

PEF will also channel donations and provide a tax-exemption. Donations should be sent to P.E.F. Israel Endowment Funds, Inc., 317 Madison Ave., Suite 607, New York, New York 10017 USA

All contributions should be marked as donor-advised to Oz ve'Shalom, the Shabbat Shalom project.

 

About us

Oz Veshalom-Netivot Shalom is a movement dedicated to the advancement of a civil society in Israel. It is committed to promoting the ideals of tolerance, pluralism, and justice, concepts that have always been central to Jewish tradition and law.

Oz Veshalom-Netivot Shalom shares a deep attachment to the land of Israel and it no less views peace as a central religious value. It believes that Jews have both the religious and the national obligation to support the pursuit of peace. It maintains that Jewish law clearly requires us to create a fair and just society, and that co-existence between Jews and Arabs is not an option but an imperative.

5,000 copies of a 4-page peace oriented commentary on the weekly Torah reading are written and published by Oz VeShalom/Netivot Shalom and they are distributed to over 350 synagogues in Israel and are sent overseas via email. Our web site is www.netivot-shalom.org.il.