Shabbat Parshat Lech Lecha - 5763
“And I will Set My Covenant Between Me and You...” (Bereshit 17:2)

In Parshat Noach, the “Mabul,” the Great Flood, was followed by the “Brit,” the Covenant, of the “Keshet,” the Rainbow, that represented HaShem’s promise that He would never again destroy the world by a cataclysmic flood. Parshat Lech Lecha opens with a promise by G-d to Avram, “Go forth from your land, from your birthplace, from your father’s house...” (Bereshit 12:1). Be My representative in the world, “And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make for you a great name, and you will be a blessing” (Bereshit 12:2). In Parshat Lech Lecha, we find the “Brit bein HaBetarim,” the Covenant Between the Parts, in which HaShem promised Eretz Yisrael to the true heirs of Avram, and “Brit Milah,” the Covenant of Circumcision, in which HaShem laid down the first requirement for a man to achieve physical holiness. In fact, “Brit” is a central theme in Sefer Bereshit, in that it represents the means by which a relationship can be established between HaShem and humanity, between the infinite and the finite, between the Eternal and the mortal.

(A substantial amount of the following essay consists of the translation of a small amount from a small number of the sources cited by Rabbi Samuel Avraham Adler in his compendium “Aspaklarya,” on the term “Brit.”)

What was the first “Brit” between HaShem and His Creation? In Zohar Chadash (Bereshit 274), we find, in the name of Rabbi Abba, that the first “Brit” was with “Eish,” Fire, as it says in our Parshah, with regard to the “Brit bein HaBetarim,” “...Behold a smoking furnace and a burning torch that passed between those pieces” (Bereshit 15:17). And this is indicated clearly in the first word of the Torah, “Bereshit,” where the third and fourth letters, “Aleph” and “Shin,” spell “Eish,” Fire, which is surrounded by the first and second, “Beit” and “Reish,” and the fifth and sixth, “Yud” and “Toff,” spelling “Brit.”

The RADAK comments on the verse in Yeshayahu 42:6 “And I will make you a covenantal nation” – “For the continued existence of the nations, for every ‘Brit’ involves preservation, and Israel will cause the continued existence of the nations by means of the era of universal peace that will be inaugurated by the Mashiach, and also because of the positive moral influence of the Jewish People, that the nations will observe the ‘Seven Commandments of the Sons of Noach.’ ”

Sefer HaIkarim (Maamar 4, Chapter 45), in his comments on the “Brit bein HaBetarim,” writes that a connection is established by the “Brit” between the two parties, the closeness of which is suggested by the metaphor of the parts of the animals, whereby “...nothing was able to separate between these parts of the living organisms, besides death.”

The MAHARAL writes in Chidushei Aggadot Nedarim 31:2, “And Rabbi Yishmael continued to speak, ‘Great is the Covenant of Circumcision, for thirteen covenants were established in connection with it’ (the word ‘Brit’ is mentioned by HaShem thirteen times in the Section where HaShem introduces the idea to Avram, corresponding to the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy. – PF) ‘And this is because the foreskin is like a shell, as we have said, and the shell constitutes a separation, and when the foreskin is removed, there remains a complete covenant with HaShem, Blessed is He... That is to say, a complete covenant from all sides, and this reflects the fact that this covenant is complete with a Singular Being Who is a source of love, and a complete covenant is not possible to be made with two lovers... And the ‘gematria’ of the word “Echad,” One, is in fact, thirteen.’ ”

The Ktav V’HaKaballah (Bereshit 15:18) cites the GR”A (the Vilna Gaon), who describes the role of the Torah as a “covenant” by the following metaphor: “Someone who loves another with all his heart, whom he wants not to leave him, but it is impossible for them to actually be together, gives his beloved friend something in which he has invested all his longing and desire, and they are connected by means of that gift. And even though the giver is separated from his gift, all his thoughts are centered in it. And that is the meaning of “Brit;” that is to say, a ‘Promise,’ that through the existence of the Gift of the Torah, G-d will never separate Himself from His beloved friend, Israel.”

Rabbi Shimshon Rephoel Hirsch writes in his commentary on Bereshit 6:18, the verse in connection with Noach, “But with you will I establish My covenant,” as follows: “... A covenant is an unconditional promise; it will be fulfilled without any dependency on external factors, and even in the face of external factors. The promise of a ‘Brit’ is absolute...”

At this point in history, pregnant with great promise as well as great danger for the Jewish People, as well as all of humanity, we offer again a Prayer of Rosh HaShanah:

“Remember for us, HaShem, our G-d, the covenant, the kindness and the oath, that You swore to our father Avraham on Mount Moriah. For it is You Who eternally remembers all forgotten things, and there is no forgetfulness before Your Throne of Glory. And may You mercifully remember today the Akeidah of Yitzchak for the sake of his offspring. Blessed are You, HaShem, Who remembers the covenant” (from the “Zichronot Prayer” of the Rosh HaShanah Mussaf Service)

Rabbi Pinchas Frankel

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