Kohen - First Aliya - 13 p'sukim - 12:1-13 [SDT] "Leave your land, birthplace, father's house." Ramban explains that each "point of departure" was progressively more difficult for Avraham. Leaving one's land is difficult, even more so if he was born there. Leaving one's family is most difficult. Ramban says that the Torah is showing us the great extent of Avraham's love of G-d. Someone raises a question on this Ramban. What was so difficult in Avraham's leaving the place where he was ridiculed, persecuted and thrown into a fiery furnace for his beliefs. Would he not have left joyfully? The question actually carries the answer. The Ramban was pointing out a significant aspect of human nature. No matter how bad conditions are, how much a person wants a better life, there still will always remain a sadness and regret for the "good old days" - even when there weren't many. This feature of human nature explains a lot of Jewish History. G-d promises that a great nation will descend from him (Avraham) and that he will be a blessing for all (his descendants and all the world). [SDT] Avra(ha)m is promised great rewards and benefits for listening to G-d. Yet pasuk 4 testifies that he went "as G-d had spoken to him". His "aliya" is considered a test of his faith. He passed this test because he came to the Land because G-d asked him to, not for any material promises. The call to the Jew to come on Aliya continues. THE only real "right" reason to come is because it is a mitzva and this is what G-d wants of us. All blessings that will follow are fringe benefits. We have much to learn from Avra(ha)m Avinu. Avra(ha)m was 75 years old at the time he came to Israel with Sarai, nephew Lot and many people who were brought over to monotheism by Avra(ha)m and Sarai. [SDT] Commentaries speculate as to what happened to these people subsequently. Some suggest that after Avraham's death they refused to stay with Yitzchak because his approach to "religion" was vastly different from his father's and not very "appealing" to these people. Others suggest that they became the various G-d-fearing individuals scattered among the nations of the world. [SDT] The Gemara teaches us that sometimes, if a person moves to a different place, his evil decree in Heaven can be "torn up". Avraham and Sara were both barren from birth. "Lech L'cha" gave them the miraculous opportunity to have a child. Whereas this idea might not usually apply to miraculous changes in a person's life, there is definitely something to be said for the new start in life that a change of venue to Eretz Yisrael facilitates. Driven from the Land by a famine, Avraham and Sara go down to Egypt. Their plan is to identify their relationship as brother and sister, rather than risk Avraham's being killed. [SDT] Ramban states that "Avra(ha)m sinned a great sin (inadvertently)" by leaving the land to which G-d had sent him (even though it was due to the famine) and by risking Sarai's life and honor by asking her to say that she was his sister. Ramban also says that as "punishment" for going down into Egypt, Avraham's descendants were destined to go down into Egypt. The implication is very strong - had Avraham not left Israel for the famine, we would have been spared the Egyptian exile and oppression. On the other hand... Other sources teach us that we derive halachic permission to leave Eretz Yisrael in the event of severe famine BECAUSE that's what Avraham Avinu did. And - still on the other hand - we learn that a person can risk his life to save another from Sarah Imeinu saying that she was Avraham's sister thereby risking herself to save Avraham. There is a halachic Midrash that uses "Please say that you are my sister" to teach us that one may "violate" Shabbat (for example) to save someone else. (To violate to save oneself is learned from "V'CHAI BAHEM", that we are to live with the mitzvot, not die because of them, but we needed an extra LIMUD to teach us that one can violate to save another person.) Furthermore (still on the same other hand), Pirkei Avot testifies that Avraham Avinu "passed" all his "tests of faith". Being driven out of E. Yisrael by the famine and having to subject Sarai to the perils of Paro's Palace are both counted (by some) among the Ten Tests of Faith. The apparent contradictions can be attributed to MACHLOKET, dispute among commentaries, but that doesn't seem to a solid answer, because Ramban can hardly argue against a Mishna. And it is unlikely that he would not include the famine among Avraham's tests. A better answer might be that how a person behaves in a difficult situation is one thing, and how the situation affects his faith in G-d is another thing. G-d sends SOMEONE to a new land, and then hits him with a famine. Regardless of how the SOMEONE handles the situation, he might be disillusioned, to say the least. That would mean failing a test of faith. That didn't happen to Avraham. His faith was as strong as ever. Ramban thinks that he erred in judgment as to what he should do. Avraham chose the self-help, HISHTADLUS option. His choice was "approved of" by the subsequent halachic ruling. Maybe he should have chosen the stay-put and trust in G-d option. Ramban thinks he should have. An inadvertent sin, says the Ramban. But not a deterioration of Avraham's faith.
[SDT] Avraham on the run from his hometown, a stranger in a strange land, has its challenges and tests. Avraham loaded with wealth and prominence, has new challenges and tests. Poverty is a test; so is wealth. And it is hard to know which is harder. In the opening passage of Rosh Chodesh Benching, we ask G-d for many things — long life, a life of peace, blessings, etc. There is one thing we ask for twice - YIR'AT SHAMAYIM, fear of G-d. Why? Because after asking for it the first time, we ask for a life of wealth and honor. If we are blessed with that, then we must humbly ask for YIR'AT SHAMAYIM again, because wealth sometimes blinds a person to his obligations to HaShem. [SDT] On a different level, Avraham's descent into Egypt and his subsequent emergence from there with great wealth are seen a precursors of the future, when Bnei Yisrael (Yaakov and his family) will go down to Egypt because of the family, they will grow to a large multitude, be oppressed and enslaved, and "afterwards, they will leave with great wealth".
The Torah makes a point of telling us of the wickedness of S'dom society, an obvious criticism of Lot's distorted priorities. (This, too, is a recurring theme in Jewish life, containing warnings for us all - sadly, many Jews moved away from Jewish neighborhoods to places with country clubs, golf courses, and other "important" things.) Only after Avra(ha)m is rid of Lot, does G-d once again appear to him, encouraging him to look over the whole land to the north, south, east, and west, which will some day belong to his descendants. G-d also tells him that his descendants will be too numerous to count. (Hidden message: They will sometimes be lowly, like the dust of the ground, trodden underfoot by our enemies.) [SDT] One commentary says that although Avraham knew that his spirituality was compromised by Lot's presence, he nonetheless did not chase Lot away until he had no choice. Avraham felt a moral obligation to take care of Lot (including saving him after they parted) even though he knew that G-d was "keeping His distance" with Lot around. Ponder, if you will, the ramifications of this for us today. Maybe this can be seen as a "sort of" application of the principle we learn from the beginning of Yayeira - Greater is hospitality than receiving the Divine Presence. Why should one "waste his time" with entertaining guests when he can be learning Torah.
The Gemara suggests that Avraham took only his servant Eliezer with him to rescue Lot. The numeric value of the name Eliezer = 318. As G'matriya go, this is one of many. What makes it unusual, is that it is based on a number in the text of the Torah. Avra(ha)m launches a successful surprise attack and frees the people of S'dom. Victory is celebrated with a religious ceremony of thanking and blessing G-d in the presence of Malki-Tzedek (a.k.a. Shem b. Noach). A tithe of the spoils of war is given to this servant of G-d.
Avra(ha)m did accept payment on behalf of his allies who helped him. Afterwards, G-d appears to Avra(ha)m in a vision and again promises him great rewards for his faithfulness. Avra(ha)m, still childless expresses his disappointment, but resignation, that Eliezer will be his heir. G-d assures Avra(ha)m that he will indeed have his own child to follow in his footsteps. G-d then takes Avra(ha)m outdoors and promises him that his descendants will be as countless (and exalted) as the stars in the heavens. The Vilna Gaon cites the Talmud's mentioning that Avraham Avinu was the first person to address G-d as "Adon" (Master). We acknowledge this by beginning Shacharit - Avraham's davening - with the poem "Adon Olam".
Sarai, being barren, gives her handmaiden Hagar to Avra(ha)m to bear him a child. When Hagar becomes pregnant, she taunts her mistress. Hagar then flees from Sarai's retaliation. An angel finds her, promises that her child, too, will sire a countless multitude, that her son to be born shall be called Yishmael, and that she is now to return to Sarai. Yishmael is born when Avra(ha)m is 86 years of age. When Avra(ha)m is 99, G-d appears to him and asks him to "be complete". G-d changes Avra(ha)m's name to Avraham, symbolizing Avraham's role as father and spiritual guide to great nations. Once again Avraham is promised "countless" progeny.
MITZVA WATCH The mitzva is ideally performed on the 8th day, counting the day on which the baby was born - even if he was born 5 minutes before sunset. Mila may not take place at night. Only an 8th day Mila (as opposed to a Brit that was postponed because of health reasons, for example) can be held on Shabbat. A baby delivered by C-section on Shabbat, will have his Brit on the following Sunday (the baby's 9th day). Due to a technicality based on the analysis of the text in Tazria, only a Brit of a natural birth can take place on Shabbat. The mitzva of Mila is "repeated" in parshat Tazria. Its specific wording there, teaches us some of the mitzva's details. With the two texts dealing with BRIT, it is noteworthy that most mitzva-counters count MILA from LECH L'CHA rather than TAZRI'A. Lech L'cha's context is the story of Avraham Avinu. In Tazri'a we have a straightforward command — Speak to the people of Israel and say to them... on the 8th day, you SHALL circumcise... Most significantly in the matter of Brit Mila is this: The physical removal of the foreskin is only part of the mitzva of Mila. This can be seen by looking at the brachot that are said for the Brit. The first bracha is AL HAMILA. This bracha is immediately followed by a second Birkat HaMitzva (very unusual to say two mitzva-brachot for the performance of one mitzva), "to enter him into the covenant of Avraham". This is not just a HINENI MUCHAN U'MEZUMAN type of introduction to a bracha, not a peripheral concept, but an integral part of the mitzva. The challenge of raising the child to be a good Jew and a good person is an obligation of the parents which is part of MILA (we can say) and THE part of the mitzva that takes much more time and energy than "the cut". The context of Lech L'cha says it all. Its choice as the "official source" of the mitzva of Mila helps us understand this very significant mitzva. G-d then changes Sarai's name to Sarah. Name changes represent changes in character, role, and destiny. G-d promises that Sarah will bear the true heir of Avraham. Avraham laughs with joy upon hearing that he will be a father at 100, and Sarah a mother at 90. He thought that Yishmael was the son that G-d had repeatedly promised him, but G-d assures him that it will be Yitzchak who will fill that role. Yishmael will also be blessed and give rise to great nations, but the Covenant will be passed down through Yitzchak. Avraham circumcises himself at age 99, Yishmael at age 13, and the other male members of his household, in fulfillment of G-d's command.
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