Spiritual and
Ethical Issues in the Historical Books of Tanach;
SPIRITUAL AND ETHICAL ISSUES IN THE BEREISHIT STORIES These four books ostensibly are merely the history of Israel from the entry into the Promised Land until the destruction of the Temple and the temporary loss of independent statehood. In fact they are actually, in a specifically Jewish sense, the most deeply religious and spiritual books of the Bible. One does not have to be specifically Jewish to see or feel the religion and spirituality in the revelations of the prophetic writings or in the words of the Tehillim. They speak to all people, as evidenced by the fact that the Bible is still the world's bestseller and there are millions of non-Jews who regularly recite the Psalms. However, it is specifically and intrinsically Jewish to understand that G-d is revealed in the prosaic material, in the political, social and military events in the lives of ordinary men and women, kings and leaders that are described in the Nevim Rishonim. Here are described the ideology and religious thoughts in Judaism, while in Chronicles we have the purely historical. "To find a wife for my son,
for Yitzchak" [1] We refer to the G-d of the Avot but also to the G-d of Avraham, of Yitzchak and of Yaakov, demonstrating that while they share many characteristics, they also have their individual strengths and contributions. Avraham is Midat HaChesed, Yitzchak is Midat HaDin and Yaakov is Midat HaEmet; Chesed may be exaggerated and solead to injustice, while justice by itself may lead to cruelty. However, in Emet, the positive of both merge, without any negative potential. So Yaakov alone of the Patriarchs has no P'solet (chaff) and merits the 12 Tribes that are Israel. This shidduch between Rivka and Yitzchak is the one that will lead to Yaakov. We may see the importance of this shidduch in the fact that the Torah devotes more verses to it [67] than those of the first Shabbat, the creation of Adam and Chava, Gan Eiden, the sin of Adam and Chava, their punishments and the expulsion from Gan Eiden combined [49]. Our story begins with a verse that seems to be irrelevant, and yet is actually the basis for any marriage and for that matter for all Jewish living. "And Hashem had blessed Avraham in everything, 'bakol'" (B'reishit 24:1). This theme recurs in the other Avot: "[Yitzchack] did eat of everything, mikol" (27:33); [Yaakov said to Eisav] "I have everything, Kol" (33:11). These verses that are part of our Birkat HaMazon, not only sum up the essence of the lives of all three Patriarchs but are essential for the moral and ethical living of all Mankind. "Avraham's happiness was due to the fact that Hashem blessed him in and with everything. A person can be blessed with everything and still be within himself unhappy; they have prospered but have not grown through all the blessings. To those who look on life from the point of doing their duty - a mitzva, everything is good; from the greatest trouble they extract the duty that it entails, and fulfilling that duty is their happiness. This is Yitzchak, who drew sustenance from everything - did eat from Mikol. The greatest blessing is Yaakov's Kol; he has everything because he wants nothing more than what he has - to do, not to have" (Rabbi S.R. Hirsch). These three verses all express the concept of enough. The major cause of immorality in all aspects of life is always wanting more and never knowing the restraints of having enough. While it is difficult to define what is enough in regard to money, unless each individual is able to define it for himself there will be constant pressure to make more whether by legal and ethical means or illegally and unethically. This may be expressed by greed - "He who has 100 dinarim wants 200". Furthermore, there is a constant human fear of uncertainty in the future, so we use every means available to safeguard ourselves and our children no matter how much wealth we possess. We do exactly what our forefathers did in the desert and for the same reason; "Israel collected Manna (on Shabbat) in disregard of the Divine commandment, since they needed to provide for themselves and their children in case Moshe erred and tomorrow there would not be anything" (S. R. Hirsch, Ex.). Irrespective, never having enough must lead to theft, robbery, fraud, tax evasion, exploitation and sometimes even bloodshed. In the case of nations, it has caused corruption, colonialism, war and conquest. Never having enough money makes difficult or sometimes impossible, even the observance of Torah restrictions on economic activity like Shabbat, the Chagim, Shmita and Yovel, Tzedaka, and not taking interest from a fellow Jew, which presupposes a loss of the profit that could be earned from our alternative use of the loan-money. It may even be a cause of inter-generational conflict and divorce. Similarly, always needing more also leads to gluttony and sexual immorality. However, the Avot were not only expressing their acceptance of enough, they were bearing witness to the fact that all their blessings came from Hashem, that He was the source of Kol. The attainment of that knowledge and acknowledging that source are the purpose of many mitzvot - Bikurim, Birchot HaNehenin, Pe'ah, Omer,etc. Furthermore; "All our commerce has to be b'Emuna, in faith; this means in the faith that Hashem provides all our needs" (Orech HaShulchan, Orech Chaim 266). There is an additional way in which "Hashem blessed Avraham Bakol" has been a sign for his descendants all through the generations, one that highlights two perspectives on the mission of the Abrahamic Nation to the rest of the world. "'Bakol, the blessing was that he had no daughter [R. Meir]; he had a daughter named Bakol [R. Yehuda and others]' (Bava Batra 16b). Now surely nobody could wish to see the greatest blessing as having no daughter. Rather, Rabbi Meir sees G-d's blessing in saving him from the grief of finding a husband from the pagan Canaanite or Aramaic men, for a daughter who would thereby be lost to the Abrahamic spirit in the house of her in-laws. However, Rabbi Yehuda sees a daughter as being be a blessing, since she would form a bridge that would plant the Abrahamic spirit in the non-Abrahamic world of her husband" (Rabbi S. R. Hirsch). Accordingly, the mission was to be realized either through separation from the nations [R. Meir] or through the building of bridges with them [R.Yehuda]. This is the 115th installment in Dr. Tamari’s series on “Tanach and its messages for our times” [The
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