"These are the generations of earth and heaven when they were created (be'hibaram)." Read "be'Avraham," (for Avraham). Everything was created for the sake of Avraham (Midrash Rabbah 12:9 on Bereshit 2:4). "Bara," the word of creation out of nothing, implies something hidden, locked, unopenable. Without a rectification there is Tohu (chaos) that hovers over everything - the world does not yet have real existence. This is the state of things until Avraham appears, as it's written, "Now, these are the generations (the unfoldings) of the earth and heavens from creation (b'hebaram)." And these unfoldings are able to take place because the word-phrase, "b'hebaram," contains within it the letters of "b'Avraham," he through whom the transformation from chaos to meaning begins. For through Avraham, for the first time, the earth and heavens become fruitful. Because Avraham is the conduit, the one within creation that connects the world to Hashem Who is the source of blessing. Thus, the name Avraham contains the letters of the phrase "aver mah," the channel that confers blessing from the highest Source. Through Avraham, Gd joined above and below, completing His Name and causing the world to unfold towards it purpose (Zohar 3b). Avraham, before he was tested, resembled a phial of myrrh closed with a tight-fitting lid lying in a corner (Midrash Rabbah 31:2).
Lech Lecha
Reb Shlomo Minyan HarNof
(R. Raphael, email: [email protected])
Nimrod, The Cloak Of Decency, And Yearning
The history of Nimrod and the Tower of Bavel starts with the cloak of Adam HaRishon. Hashem gave Adam a coat that showed the creation in all its splendor. But it was stolen away by the hunter Nimrod who used its amazing beauty to deceive and trap. On a deeper level the Zohar understands that Nimrod took the outer wisdom from what Hashem had shown to Adam and used it to bring people into his orbit of control. This is why the Ari calls Nimrod keter of the klipot (the highest manifestation of the shells). Nimrod took the shell or outer concept of Adam's close relationship with Hashem in order to create his own controlling order in the world. And Nimrod's magnum opus was Tower of Bavel which he built at the low point of the world in a move meant to cut off man's order from the Heavenly influence. "Let us make a name for ourselves." Let us replace "The Name," Hashem, with a concept that will hover over us like the tall tower. And even though "name" refers to something that has real life, their goal was to build an idolatry that would substitute for this.
Thus, while Nimrod had something of the outer teaching of Adam, he used it to cut things off from the root. The Torah calls Nimrod a hunter - he dressed himself in words and concepts that deceived people spiritually. This is like the hunter who dresses himself in skins putting the animals at ease when they see something familiar while behind the facade the hunter intends to trap their victim. Nimrod used the categories and language of spirituality that he got from Adam but his real intention is to build a grandiose structure of control with himself at the head. This is why Nimrod's name is related to the word for rebellion, "mered." His was the primal rebellion claiming that he, and not Hashem, is the real authority.
Nimrod goes to Babel or Shinar because it is low down and muddy. And there he builds the great fire which his followers worshipped, the oven that was source of the bricks used to build the illusory edifice of permanence replacing the tents that had hitherto been used for dwellings. By doing this he shut out the vulnerability of connection, dwelling within the closed solidity of his own system and the Gemora tells us that the Tower was suspended in air, it lacked connectedness (Sanhedrin 109). Structures of order that have no source in Oneness bring to forgetting - the tiredness of carrying a lifeless burden (see Maharal, on the Agadata).
This caged paradise is where Avraham awakens, finding himself conflicted between what he sees on the outside versus an inner voice. He sees a contradiction between the structures of Nimrod that proclaim peace and resolution and a fire of desire for a higher oneness that continues to burn. Thus, the midrash says that Avraham saw that the building was burning. Within the man made order there was still a yearning for the ultimate source of things.
It is from this place of turmoil that Hashem first "peeks out" at Avraham. His question sprung from desire is the beginning of an "answer," the radical opening of Avraham to the quest that will give form to his destiny. Hashem says, "Don't you see that you alone are asking? That the need to relate to the Creator is uniquely your question? That only in your eyes has the pushing off of the Creator become amazing?" Hashem is telling Avraham to use the yearning to search for the One Who surrounds (or suffers) all the worlds and fills all the worlds; the one who awakens the heart and soul. In this life, the questioning itself is the seed of the answer (Mei Shiloach).
Avraham is the return of the individual that finds his destiny in the oneness of Hashem; he is the beginning of the chosen people, the first of the Avot. Because the inner longing of the Jewish people will never be merely to create a new world order or even an old one. Their longing is for direct relation to Hashem The Torah tells us how to build a society based on this. This began with Avraham's opening, his standing apart from the man made order even if it aped the outward form of Hashem's design. "Go for yourself," Hashem says to Avraham. Only through you who sees that within the structure there is a burning desire for Hashem can the world truly be built up.
Remember, You Go Through The Journey
There is an outward aspect of Avraham's journey which is the going and an inward aspect: "for yourself." One needs to journey out in order to find the vessels of expression but at the same time we have stay in touch with the innermost point that is the self. This is why we need to look towards Hahsem to take us the next step in the outward journey. Because the connection between inwardness and the world is not always clear. We have to be open to the holiness of the land that Hashem is showing us. Because even our inward compass is really a response to what we are being shown.
We are not looking for a particular place in the world. We are looking for how to Hashem's will is being revealed to us. That's why the pasuk says, "To the land I will show you." Because as much as Avraham is heading for Canaan, he cannot really arrive there without the vision that comes from Hashem. In beginning the journey out, we focus on our desire for destination but at the same time we stay open to what we are being shown by Hashem. In this way, the finding unfolds from the going.
Thus R Levi says: "When Avraham was travelling through Aram Naharaim and Aram Nahor, he saw its inhabitants who were eating, drinking and reveling: 'May my portion not be in this country.' But when he reached the promontory of Tyre and saw them engaged in weeding and hoeing at the proper seasons, he exclaimed, 'Would that my portion might be in this country!' And Hashem proclaimed, 'Unto your seed have I given this land'" (Bereshit 15:18 from Midrash Rabbah 39:8)
Around And Around, Till We Make The Choice
People think that what happens to them is this world is determined, whether they attribute the cause to their parents or the constellations they were born under. But Avraham went beyond this, as it says, "And Hashem brought Avraham 'outside' and said to him, 'Gaze from here upon it.'" Because Hashem grasped Avraham's desire and took him outside the cycles of determination that are fixed in the stars. Avraham who attached himself to the Oneness of Hashem was no longer under the influence of these forces.
For a person who doesn't follow in the footsteps of Avraham and doesn't attach himself to Hashem through the Torah, Gd forbid, will indeed live a life that is "determined by the constellations" and he will go through a series of reincarnations till he frees himself from this. We see this also in regards to a generation. The Dor HaMabul had the potential to receive the Torah through Moshe and thus we see Moshe hinted to in the pasuk, "Hashem said, My spirit will not judge man forever because he is also (b'sh'g'm) flesh and his days will be 120 years." "B'sh'g'm" is numerically equal to Moshe. Because the Torah could have been given to the Generation of the Flood if they had not turned their potential towards evil. Moshe was ready but the generation wasn't fitting. Even so, Hashem said, I will not withhold the Torah forever: in a future generation Moshe will live again for a full 120 years and so we see that then Torah was given to Klal Yisrael.
The reality of Torah begins with Avraham who was the first to free himself from the wheel of the constellations and reincarnation. This is why his name was changed from Avram to Avraham, adding the letter hey to his name, hinting to the five books of the Torah. Because the source of blessing comes from the first or upper hey (which corresponds to bina) of Hashem's name and is brought down to this world, through the lower hey (malchut), at Sinai through Moshe. This process has its origin in Avraham who was the first to reach above the influence of the stars towards the unity of Hashem (Zohar 216b).
The Real Obstacle To Growth Is Complacency
Why did Hashem not reveal himself to Avraham immediately? Because the essence of a Jew is to bring all of his senses and desires to serve only the will of Hashem. As it says, "Go from your 'eretz,'" from your present involvement with the world, go to your true self. That is, unbind yourself from your attachments to externals in order to come to the will of Hashem. This is when Hashem reveals His will to man. For the will of man must be always to listen to Hashem and receive from Him, for there is no limit to the depth we can reach in our connection to Hashem and we are continuously in the process of bringing our will toward His. We need to constantly listen out and look for Hashem so we can receive what is above the limit of our present understanding (Sefat Emet 41).
BRINGING OUT The Shine
Our forefather Avraham stood through ten tests. This was in order to make known how beloved he was to Hashem (some say how beloved Hashem was to Avraham) Pirkei Avot 5:3). The Rav MiBartenura on the Mishnah enumerates the tests:
The Midrash Rabbah gives three different analogies of how Hashem tests the tzaddikim which are explained by the Maharal.
When a potter examines his pots, he ignores most of them, but the sound ones he taps many times. Maharal: The rashayim (evil ones) are incapable of standing in judgment. But Hashem tests the righteous to bring their potential into the world.
A flax worker with good flax beats it till it glistens. Bad flax he leaves lest it splits.
Maharal: The tzaddik has trials of love in order to break down and purify his soul. Thus the flax man who pounds the good flax until it is white and shiny is like Hashem, Who tests the righteous ones in order to make their souls clear and pure.
When a man has two cows, one strong and one weak the yoke is placed on the strong one:
Maharal: The strong ox represents the tzaddik who takes on himself the harmful edicts that Hashem wants to bring. The tzaddik suffers for the sake of the world (Maharal, Derech Chayim, p. 222, explaining Midrash Rabbah 55.2).
Even though all three Avot are called strong, standing alone in their generation, Avraham is the one who epitomizes this quality. For the other Avot had prophesy and also received the prophetic wisdom that Avraham gained later in his own life. But Avraham was the only one who stood against his entire generation before he had had still prophetic visions, acting solely according to his insight about Gd's existence - even to the extent of being willing to sacrifice his life in the fiery furnace of Nimrod. This courage of Avraham's became the spiritual inheritance of the nation that sprang from him. Every Jew is willing to give up his life rather than serve idols. And the brit milah (circumcision) manifests this power as well, because the word "brit" comes from the word "bara" (to create something from nothing). Thus, even people who were ruined spiritually can still find a connection to Hashem within themselves, a yearning for teshuvah that seems to come out of nowhere. (Shem MiShemuel)
In his tests Avraham had to struggle to unite the contradictions of who he was. To serve Hashem he needed to strike out on his own to Canaan, leaving his father Terach in Charan. But to do so was to neglect the obligation of honoring his parents. We see something like this again when Avraham separates from his nephew Lot after leaving Mitzryim. Only when Avraham did this did he regain his prophetic visions. But now we see something amazing. When the Four Kings capture family member Lot at the defeat of the Five Kings, Avraham risks his life and everything he has built in order to help his family, even though Lot has separated himself to the side of bad. This means that once Avraham had established himself spiritually in Canaan, the family question had to be answered anew. That's one reason why this is considered a test. It required him to overcome a past judgment in order to save the life of Lot - someone he could have easily condemned.
We can see this kind of overcoming of contradictions in the Lech Lecha test as well. Avraham is told to leave his land, his birthplace, the house of his father. We are then told that Hashem gives Avraham three blessings, parnasah, offspring, a good name. These two groups of things mirror each other. Avraham is first told to seek a higher truth away from everything he knows. But his birthplace is where he is established, it is where he can succeed materially; his family has its reputation there, his father is a powerful minister of the king. By leaving Ur Casdim, Avraham is not simply letting go of societal and material benefits. These things are integral to his spiritual call. He needs them in order to carry out his destiny. In his essence he knows he must become a nation, a chosen nation that will serve Hashem in the world. But if he leaves his whole support system, how will that ever come to pass? That is why this is such a test. Can you choose one part of your destiny over another? But Avraham realizes that by staying in Casdim he cannot attach himself to Hashem as he needs to. The call to leave is a call to find a place of beginning from which he can begin to build with lasting foundations. And he is then promised that by going in the way of Hashem he will achieve all the things he needs only now they will come through Hashem's blessing.
Considering the difficult life decisions that Avraham was confronted with, we can now understand why the Midrash says, "Avraham stood (amad) in the face of all ten tests." As the Maharal says, this represents prayer, "amidah." Avraham's power of perseverance came from prayer, connecting to Hashem in the deepest way before acting.
Brit Milah
From the womb of the world I sought for you.
Like dew, the sins of your idolatrous youth have evaporated.
But like the dew which brings blessing
I bring blessings to the world through you.
(adapted from Midrash Rabbah 39,8)
Adam was born mahul (circumcised). It was only because of the sin that it was necessary for later generations to do milah. Milah means cutting away that which blocks the sign of the covenant. On the physical level this means removing the orlah (foreskin). On the spiritual level it means fixing the character traits of the person. Fixing one's character has to do with teshuvah which reaches all the way to binah, the eighth, the hidden purpose of the world. Milah is therefore done on the eighth day even when this comes out on Shabbat. This is because milah represents a fixing which is drawn down from an even higher level than the seventh which represents the tzaddik. Thus, the Talmud says, "In the place of one who has done teshuvah a tzaddik cannot stand." Since Avraham drew down a whole new path from above, he was able to go in Hashem's ways and be complete even after the sin of Adam.
Milah represents the revealing of Hashem's rulership in the world, giving it expression even in our bodies where our sensual appetites are strongest. Cutting away the orlah or foreskin represents our ability to separate ourselves from the overabundance of life force which, by its very power, seems to negate our ability to choose holiness. By doing milah we empty ourselves of our overpowering drives in order to make room for good character traits. By so doing we complete within ourselves the act of creation began by Hashem, Who revealed His middot in creating the world. The kingship which Hashem expressed in creating the world is related to the lower heh of Hashem's name, Haveyeh. When we express His kingship by creating good middot within ourselves, then Hashem's will, expressed in potential in the upper heh of His name Haveyeh is united with the lower heh in its expression in the world (Reb Natan, Lekutei Halachot, Milah 2).
The Sefat Emet relates the removing of the orlah to Avraham's separating from the generation after the flood. The initial act of separation, as we said before, is negative, a will to remove oneself from untruth as much as finding truth. This will only becomes positive when it embraces expression of holiness in this world by bringing into existence the chosen nation. The Sefat Emet says that initially Avraham had thought to bring the whole world directly to Hashem, but Hashem told him that blessing would come through a holy nation by removing themselves from the corrupt society around them. This separation is another manifestation of removing the orlah, a step necessary before the conception of Yitzchak by Avraham and Sarah.
Mitzvot
According to Sefer HaChinuch there is one mitzvah in parashat Lech Lecha, the mitzvah of brit milah, circumcision.
Bereshit 17:10 and this is repeated again in parashat Tazriya, Vayikra 12:3. This is considered the completion of the form of the body. This hints that just like Gd left it up to us to complete the body so too he left it to us to perfect our soul through how we choose to act in this world.
At A Glance