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" [2] First, there is the oath that Avraham requires of Eliezer who is his disciple but also major domo of all his household and affairs. In it he was to go to Avraham's family to bring back a wife for Yitschak but also to promise that he would not send his son there on any count. The oath was taken by placing his hand under the thigh of Avraham, either as Rashi explains because an oath requires an article of mitzva like the Mila (Sh'vuot 38b) which was observed both by Avraham and Eliezer with much physical pain, or as Ibn Ezra and Abarbanel teach was a sign of submission to his master. In contrast, Yosef, when asked by Ya'akov to swear not to bury him in Egypt, never placed his hand beneath Ya'akov's thigh, both because it is immodest for a son to witness his father's nudity and because the submission did not befit a king, and therefore his promise alone sufficed. Nowhere in the story is Eliezer mentioned by name. Accordingly, Chazal see this as evidence of his devotion to Avraham, a devotion that led to the sublimation of his whole being to merely be his servant; so reflecting his master's learning and his ways that his features even resembled those of Avraham. In that case why was an oath necessary? "Everybody has within them- selves strengths and power of which they are often unaware, that they can draw upon in times of crisis to overcome them. Avraham knew that Eliezer's task would be beset by great difficulties and pitfalls so that he could in good faith and sincerity decide that he had no chance of success. The oath would provide Eliezer with the spiritual strength, selflessness and power to overcome his doubts and succeed in his task" (Shem Mi Shmuel). Perhaps, there was the potential danger of greed? "Avraham feared that after his death, perhaps a Canaanite, coveting Avraham's great wealth and status would bribe Eliezer to agree and marry his daughter to Yitschak" (Abarbanel). There is in all people the rationalizing away of our self interest, so, "There was the danger that Eliezer, himself a scion of Canaan, would desire after Avraham's death to arrange a marriage between his own daughter and Yitschak" (Or Hachaim). If there were good reasons for imposing an oath on Eliezer, the question of why Avraham was so determined that his son Yitschak should not marry one of the daughters of Canaan still remains. We continue to be puzzled as to why the wife of the heir to the spiritual and national Divine Promise of the Abrahamic Mission should have to come from Aram Na'ariim - Mesopotamia but not from Canaan. "Avraham's descendants were to inherit the Land as a result of the Divine promise that Yitschak would inherit him. Now should Yitschak marry a daughter from Canaan it would appear instead that the Land came to them as an inheritance from Canaan" (Chizkuni). Furthermore, "Bnei Canaan were accursed stock (B'reishit 9:25)and it was not fitting to merge blessed seed with them, for the descendants of Avraham were to inherit the Holy Land and how could accursed seed be partners in that inheritance?" (Abarbanel). Avraham himself, in accordance with Hashem's commandment, left Ur of the Chaldees where he had been born, and from Haran where, together with his father Terach and Nahor his brother, he had settled before going to Eretz Yisrael. "In the verse (7), describing how Hashem had taken him from his home, Avraham refers to Hashem as " G-d of heaven" rather than of heaven and earth, since before Avraham appeared men had forgotten about His sovereignty over earth as well. That is why in the first b'racha of Shemonei Esrei we do not say "Master of the World but immediately G-d of our fathers" (Chizkuni). So why should he now instruct Eliezer under oath to go back to Haran and find a wife for Yitschak there? Perhaps, the question would not have existed had the people of Haran and the Abrahamic family there not been idolaters just like the Canaanites, yet they were, so why were they more suitable for Yitschak? However, we find that despite the seeming similarity between them, the Canaanites were substantially different from Avraham's family, and it was those differences that made them unsuitable for Yitschak. Ham and his descendant Canaan were immoral and perverted (B'reishit 9:22). We know how evil and sinful, both socially and sexually, the people of Sodom and her neighbors were, so that they merited destruction. Canaanites, especially those conquered by the Tribes of Israel were far more corrupt than the any other nation (Vayikra 18:3, Rashi). In contrast, the people of Haran, the descendants of Shem despite their idolatry had moral and social merits. "You should know that the mitzvot and the aveirot that are written in the Torah are of two kinds, one the deeds and midot that are reflected in both the body and the nefesh, whereas the other like beliefs and ideologies that are reflected only in the nefesh. Now the effects of the former are easily transferred to the future generations whereas those that affect the nefesh only remain with each generation. So the evil traits of Ham and Canaan were transmitted from generation to generation whereas the philosophy of idolatry of Bethuel and Lavan were not passed on to their children but their good midot were" (Rabbeinu Yona). Of all the good midot to be found in Avraham's family, that of chesed pre-dominated. Indeed, we find even in Sodom, his nephew Lot, at risk to his safety and that of his family, concerns himself with the welfare of strangers; an inheritance passed on to Ruth of Moav. "Idolatry is an error of the intellect and the mind; as such it can be corrected by logic and wisdom. However, chesed and other good midot cannot be taught by scholarly study, but rather they are something inbred in us through the generations, a spiritual inheritance from our mothers and fathers. So while Rivka could unlearn the idolatry of Beit Betuel, the chesed of Avraham and Sara she brought to Yitschak from her inheritance" (Shem Mi Shmuel). It is fitting to Avraham, whose merit is chesed, that his servant's test of the suitability of the bride should be an act of chesed. It is equally fitting that he should pray: "Hashem do chesed with my master Avraham". This is the 116th installment in Dr. Tamari’s series on “Tanach and its messages for our times” [The
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