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GENESIS
Bereishit
Noach
Lech Lecha
Vayeira
Chayei Sarah
Toldot
Vayeitzei
Vayishlach
Vayeishev
Mikeitz
Vayigash
Vayechi
EXODUS
Shemot
Vaeira
Bo
Beshalach
Yitro
Mishpatim
Terumah
Tetzaveh
Ki Tisa
Vayakheil
Pekudei
LEVITICUS
Vayikra
Tzav
Shemini
Tazria
Metzora
Acharei Mot
Kedoshim
Emor
Behar
Bechukotai
NUMBERS
Bemidbar
Naso
Behaalotecha
Shelach
Korach
Chukat
Balak
Pinchas
Matot
Masei
DEUTERONOMY
Devarim
Vaetchanan
Eikev
Reeh
Ki Teitzei
Ki Tavo
Netzavim
Vayeilech
Haazinu
Vezot Habrachah
j p
Lech Lecha
Overview
t would not be an exaggeration to state that the two words that open this parashah
and lend it its nameLech lecha, Go, to youare the most important words ever
spoken in history. With these words, God set Abraham on the course that would
reverse the process of degeneration that humanity had been locked into ever since the
expulsion from the Garden of Eden, a course that would eventually lead it to the Giving
of the Torah on Mount Sinai.
There were, as we know, a number of righteous individuals who preceded Abraham,
but none of them had been successfuland some of them not even interestedin stem-ming the tide of estrangement from God that had overtaken the earth. At best, they pre-served the old traditions within their sequestered hideouts, sheltered from a world antag-
lacked the courage or creativity necessary to resist and oppose this corruption and to try
Abraham, in contrast, was not fazed by the rampant corruption around him; on the
contrary, it was precisely the worlds depravity that inspired him to become an activist.
As we saw at the end of the preceding parashah, Abraham circulated among his contem-poraries, pointing out the illogic of their way of life and encouraging them to join his
monotheistic revival.
fact that he was speaking only from his personal convictions and out of the force of his
own reasoning. To the people whom he addressed, he merely represented a more intellec-tually honest and morally virtuous version of themselves. True, he and his contemporaries
had witnessed Gods miraculous intervention in life when he was rescued from Nimrods
furnace,1 so both he and they had been exposed to the existence of a transcendent God not
bound by the limits of nature or human reason. But Abraham had not yet reached the next
stagethe awareness that this transcendent God can be encountered within mundane life
as well. The prevailing notion was that God was immanent, assuming the guise of nature,
and transcendent, occasionally defying nature; but human intellect could not conceive of
the possibility that the transcendent God could also be found immanently within nature and
1. Above, 11:28.
ased on this opening, we would expect the rest of parashat Lech Lecha to chronicle
parashah, this is how we see Abraham, as he valiantly rescues his nephew from a foreign
Land of Israel.
parashahthe famine that
occurred immediately upon Abrahams arrival in the Land of Israelrather than augur-ing success, threatened to doom his entire enterprise to failure when he had scarcely
embarked on it. Firstly, the famine could have easily been construed by the local popula-tion as the vengeance of the gods of nature against the insolent missionary activities of
this newly arrived monotheist. Secondly, instead of being allowed to pursue his mono-theistic revival in Gods Promised Land, Abraham was thrust into the worlds greatest
bastion of paganism, a land so thoroughly steeped in idolatry that it considered its kings
to be gods. Egypts hopeless obsession with its gods surely dwarfed the purely utilitarian
worship of nature that Abraham had encountered in his native Mesopotamia and in his
new home in Canaan. How ironic, then, it must have seemed to witness this ambitious
monotheist, the self-proclaimed servant of the Almighty God, no sooner having begun
and accompanied by the Egyptian princess who would, in time, become the mother of his
further stage in Abrahams progression toward his goals, an integral part of his Divine
mission to go.
The lessons for us from parashat Lech Lecha
the worldneither by the world outside us nor by the world of personal desires, fears,
or preconceived notions within us. Abraham and Sarah were only two individuals, but
because they dedicated themselves to the truth, God became their partner and made them
into His emissaries. Secondly, once we answer Gods call to go, to youto yourself,
we are no longer bound by the limits of our own capabilities; even apparent regressions
will ultimately prove to be an integral part of the process leading to ever-higher levels of
Divine consciousness.2
2. Likutei Sichot, vol. 5, pp. 58-63, vol. 20, pp. 58-60, pp. 301-308.
X ONKELOS W
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X CHASIDIC INSIGHTS W
forever the Jewish land. Even during their exiles, the
Land of Israel remains the Jewish peoples land.8
[ INNER DIMENSIONS \
[1] Go from your land and from your birthplace:
go away from your fathers house, to the land that
I will show you: Metaphorically, this command is
given to every soul about to be born, which must
then descend from its source in the heavenly spheres
through progressively lower gradations, gaining
from God at each step, until it reaches the physical
plane. Its next step is to begin the process of ascent,
traveling back in the opposite direction to transcend
the shortsighted perspective of the body. Finally, it
must then transcend even its own holy inclinations.
This verse can thus be explained as follows:
156
Genesis 12:1
LECH LECHA
157
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[ INNER DIMENSIONS \
As
mentioned in the Overview, Abram had already
reached great spiritual heights long before God
spoke to him: At the age of three, he recognized
Gods existence24
commandments of the Torah that would later be
given to the Jewish people.25 As he grew older, his
perception of God reached even greater heights.26
He engaged in acts of kindness and taught others
about Gods existence.
the seven midot
development, each having been expanded into a
12.
, vol. 1, p. 42. 13. , vol. 20, p. 122, note 51. 14. This refers to the opening blessing of the
(standing [prayer]), the formal prayer that is the central element of the liturgy. The comprises nineteen blessings; the
closing. 15. See above, 9:7. , vol. 15, p. 63, note 6. 16. See Alshich on this verse. 17. Below, 18:27. 18. ,
10:2. 19. , vol. 20, p. 51. See below on 15:1. 20. Below, 27:29. 21. (), vol. 2, p. 372.
22. , vol. 7, p. 236. 23. , vol. 5, p. 143, note 16*. 24. Nedarim 32a. 25. Nedarim 32a. 26. ,
1:1. See also 30:8, and , Bo. 27.
, vol. 1, p. 271.
158
Genesis 12:2-4
LECH LECHA
2 God said,
environment of Charan.12 Secondly, even though traveling generally decreases the
odds of having children, and since you are childless you are hesitant to undertake
a journey, be assured that I will make you and your wife fertile in your new home,
whereas if you stay,13 you will continue to remain childless. Thirdly, if you undertake this journey, I will make you into a great
nation. Fourthly, even though traveling involves many expenses, I will bless you
lished in his new home, I will make your name great and famous there. And sixthly,
you shall become a source of blessingI will endow you with the power to bless
. In addition, you,
your son, and your grandson will be collectively considered the patriarchs of My
chosen nation, who henceforth will address their prayers to Me by invoking your
ing of their prayers, you alone shall be mentioned at the end of this blessing,14 in
recognition of the fact that you were the only patriarch whom I required to leave his
family.
3 I will bless those who bless you, and, I will curse he who curses you. All the
families of the earth will be blessed through, i.e., will be compared to you: when
someone wants to bless someone else, he will say, May you be like Abram.
4 Abram set out as G had directed him, and Lot went with him. Abram was in
Although his father, Terach, was 145
years old at the time and would live for another sixty years, the Torah tells us of
his death before it tells us of Abrams departure in order not to highlight the fact
15
[ A CLOSER LOOK \
[2] I will make your name great: God did not have
to promise Abram renown in order to entice him to
obey His instructions.16
who considered himself as lowly as dust and ashes,17
glory. Furthermore, he is described by Maimonides
as someone who served God without any care for
reward, physical or spiritual, who followed the
truth because it is the truth.18
to Abraham and Isaacs blessing to Jacob is that God
is beyond time. He can therefore bless those who
before they
actually do so.22
159
X ONKELOS W
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FIRST READING
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X RASHI W
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X CHASIDIC INSIGHTS W
devotion dormant in these people.
It was for this very end that God made Abram and Sarai descend to Egypt: to inspire whatever individuals
they could to cleave to their Godly source. Due to the
descend into Egypt, the most spiritually corrupt of environments, emerge unscathed, and even redeem these
people from the depths of depravity. As is known,33
The higher ones source, the lower he can descend.34
As descendants of Abram and Sarai, we are also called
upon to acquire souls in Charan: Inasmuch as the
word is related to the word for anger, Cha
hostile to holiness.35 Yet God sends the heirs of Abram
and Sarais legacy to Charan to seek out those who,
for whatever reason, have become alienated from their
roots and bring them under the wings of the Divine
Presence, re-connecting them to God by involving
commandments.
of making the world into a Godly placesince we
bring Divine awareness even to a Charanwe also
others, we
simultaneously learn from them, since the wise learn
from everyone they encounter.36 If we claim that there
is nothing to be learned from a particular individual,
we are merely revealing our own lack of wisdom.37
7 The Midrash
33. 40a; 3:37a, 3:38b, 4:99a, 5:9a, 5:23a, etc. 34. Sefer
(Rayatz), pp. 205-206. 35. See 11:32,
above. 36. 4:1. 37.
, vol. 1, pp. 558-559. 38. 39:8. 39. 25:3. 40. ,
vol. 10, p. 201.
160
Genesis 12:5-7
LECH LECHA
5 Abram took his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot, and all their possessions that
both the
followers they had persuaded to accept monotheism as well as the servants they
had purchased. They set out, following Gods directions and
6 Abram traveled through the land as far as the location of Shechem. He stopped
there because he perceived prophetically that his great-grandchildren would wage
war in the future
against the inhabitants of this city,28 and
he prayed for their
success. He had come
as far as the Plain
of Moreh, where
Shechem was located,
between Mount Gerizim and Mount Eival
(see 15a). God
informed him that it
would be at this place
that his descendants
acceptance of the Torah upon entering the
Land.29 ites were then in the
land, gradually conquering it from the descendants of Shem.
Figure 15a: Abram Enters the Land of Canaan
7 G appeared to
Abram and said, Even though, as you see, I am allowing the Canaanites to possess this land for the time being, I will eventually ,
thus returning it to the descendants of Shem, its rightful owners.30 God here
promised Abraham and his descendants national ownership of the Land of Israel.
So Abram built an altar there to G, who appeared
to him .
X CHASIDIC INSIGHTS W
4-5 And Lot went with himAbram tookhis nephew Lot: Lot was ambivalent about Abrahams beliefs
Charan. On the one hand, Lot went with him of
his own accord, as he had in the past. On the other
hand, Abram took his nephew Lot by the hand, so
to speak, having to persuade him to join him. This am-
28. See below, 33:18-34:31. 29. See Deuteronomy 11:29-30; Joshua 8:30-35. 30. , vol. 5, pp. 11-12. 31. Below, 13:6-11.
32.
, vol. 1, p. 101 (note 46).
161
X ONKELOS W
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FIRST READING
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X CHASIDIC INSIGHTS W
ing. Allegorically, this refers to the spiritual process of
running and returning (ratzo ),46 the two interdependent yet opposing thrusts that must constantly
and successively occur in order for life to continue and
for physical and spiritual growth to take place. For
example, the Divine energy that animates the world
as it does so, it complies again with Gods will and returns to its task of animating physical reality, only to
seek once more to ascend to its source. Similarly, in its
yearning to cling to its source, the soul leaves the body,
but as soon as it does so it immediately returns to continue with its mission. This constant spiritual oscilla
and lungs.
Our mission to unite heaven and earth must also comprise both running and returning, separating ourselves periodically from the mundane world by losing
ourselves in meditation, prayer, or Torah study, yet
Abram, too, served God in this way, going and traveling, running and returning.47
Toward the south:
warmth and kindness. Accordingly, Abrams moving
162
LECH LECHA
Genesis 12:8-11
8 From there he moved on to the mountains east of Bethel and pitched his tent.
Although a married couple generally lived together in the same tent, the wife
would typically have a second, separate tent in which to do her work.41 Abraham
common living tent. Bethel was to the west and Ai to the east. He built a second altar there and invoked G. He perceived prophetically that one of his descendants would commit a sin at this very locale42 that
would endanger the entire people, and therefore prayed in advance for mercy.
Indeed, when Joshua conquered Jericho, the
spoils were given to the treasury of the Tabernacle. An individual named Achan took a valuable garment for himself; because of this sin,
God withdrew His supra-natural protection
from the people, rendering them vulnerable to
their enemies.43
9 Abram then continued on his way, making
camp for a month or so in a number of places,
but always moving steadily toward the south,
in order to eventually reach Mount Moriah, the
future site of the Temple (see 15b).
Abram in Egypt
10 In that same year, there was a famine in the
land of Canaan. God wanted to see if Abram
would complain about having to leave the land
him. Abram did not complain; he went down
to Egypt to sojourn there for a time, since the
famine in the land of Canaan had grown seFigure 15b: Abram enters the Land of Canaan
vere. Lot accompanied Abram and Sarai.
11 Abram was always careful not to indulge himself in his wifes beauty. But when
in the least. So, as they approached Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, Look, I
know you to be a woman of beautiful appearance.
X CHASIDIC INSIGHTS W
inspired by his perception of God as the Creator, the
aspect of God that is evident (i.e., that appears)
within the world. The love that we feel for God as our
Creator is a love born out of self-love: we love the feeling of being alive and therefore love the source of that
life-force.44
41. Rashi on 24:28; , vol. 15, p. 169, note 38. 42. , vol. 30, p. 37, note 19. 43. See Joshua 7. See below, 38:30.
44. See Deuteronomy 30:20: To love G, your Godfor He is your life. 45.
, , vol. 4, p. 1368. Although both
verses refer to the Name
, they refer to two dimensions within the Name.
163
SECOND READING
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[ INNER DIMENSIONS \
[12] When the Egyptians see you: The sinful
lecherousness of the Egyptians caused the Divine
seventh.61
[13] Say that you are my sister: Allegorically,
Egypt in general, and Pharaohs palace in particular,
the physical world. Allowing Sarai to be taken into
expect to accomplish our Divine mission on earth by
living an ascetic life, seeking to avoid contact with
the physical world. Rather, our task is to sanctify
the physical world by using physical things for holy
purposes.
Our tool in this process is the body. The bodys
and promote materialistic values, both of which
are detrimental to Divine consciousness. However,
the body can be trained to allow the soul to use it
to elevate the physical world, and even more, to
actively pursue spirituality itself, to love God on its
own. Since the soul is a part of God, its love for
God is akin to the love of siblings for one another:
calm and consistent. In contrast, the physical body
is the antithesis of God, who is not a body and
has no bodily form.62 Therefore, when it learns to
love God, its love is like the love between spouses:
[ A CLOSER LOOK \
[13] Say that you are my sister: Abraham assumed
that despite their depravity, the Egyptians would
prefer the one-time sin of murder to the repeated
p
p
164
Genesis 12:12-16
LECH LECHA
12 The Egyptians are not used to beholding such beauty. Their women are all swarthy, and you are fair-skinned. When the Egyptians see you, they will say, This is
his wife, and they will kill me, since they will not expect me to surrender you to
them,51 and allow you to live.
13 I will try to smuggle you into Egypt in a crate. But if they discover you anyway, if you would, say that you are my sister, so that it may go well with me
for your sake.
through you my life will be
spared.
Second Reading 14 When Abram came to Egypt,
that he open the crate in which he had hidden Sarai, in order to inspect its contents.
The Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful.
r agreeing among
15 Pharaohs ministers of state saw her and spoke highly of her,
for Pharaoh, so the woman was taken into
Pharaohs palace.
16 When questioned, Sarai told Pharaoh that Abram was her brother. Lot did not
divulge the truth, either.52 As Abram had predicted, Pharaoh treated Abram well
because of her; in this way Abram
handmaids, she-donkeys, and camels.
X CHASIDIC INSIGHTS W
However, when he was about to descend to Egypt,
Abram had to prepare for the spiritual task he was going to undertake there, namely, disseminating Divine
awareness. This entailed familiarizing himself somewhat with Egyptian ways, by all means a most unpleasant and dangerous task, considering that Egypt
was the most depraved, immoral society of the time. Indeed, this submersion in the Egyptian psyche impaired
Abrams own superior spiritual awareness: (a) he now
became more aware of his wifes physical beauty,53 and
(b) in the metaphoric sense, he became more aware in
general of the bodys beautiful appearance, i.e., that
54
merely Egypt, we are certainly liable to be
cultural environment; on the contrary, we should in.56
13
Abram was not interested in material wealth as an end
in itself; he understood that the great wealth he had
been promised by God was to be elevated and used
for holy purposes, thus liberating the Divine sparks
buried within it. He further realized that the key purpose of his descent into Egypt was to acquire this great
wealth.57
Therefore, when he saw the opportunity to acquire
wealth by claiming that Sarai was his sister, he took
it as a Divine mandate to use the situation advantageously. According to the ,
58 Abram knew that
the merit of Sarais good deeds would protect her; he
therefore did not hesitate to expose her to the apparent
peril of being abducted into Pharaohs house. Furthermore, Abram knew that wealth comes to a husband in
the merit of his wife. He therefore saw that Sarai would
be the conduit through which they would receive their
wealth.
The Talmud59 similarly states that a husband should
always be heedful of his wifes honor, since blessings
rest on the home on her account.60
51. Seforno, cited as in
, vol. 2, p. 182, footnote. 52. Rashi on 19:29, below. 53. See Meor Einayim, end of ,
citing the Baal Shem Tov. 54. He therefore said: Say that you are my sister, alluding to the verse, say to wisdom you are my sister
(Proverbs 7:4): Abram sought to elevate himself once again and prepare himself for his descent into Egypt by cleaving to the level
of supernal wisdom. See Meor Einayim, loc. cit. 55. See on v. 5, above. 56. , vol. 5, pp. 301-306. 57. On a human level,
them. 58. 3:52a. 59. 59a. 60. , vol. 20, pp. 38-40. 61.
5:1;
, pp.
62. ,
1:7. 63. , vol. 20, pp. 40-44. 64. . 65.
, vol. 2, p. 182.
165
X ONKELOS W
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SECOND READING
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X CHASIDIC INSIGHTS W
17 At the word of Sarai: Sarahs resistance to Pharaohs
overtures gave her descendants, the Jewish women
in Egypt, the spiritual fortitude to resist the lure of
adultery even in the midst of the prurient Egyptian
culture.69 The sages point out that these womens righteous behavior was one of the four merits in which the
Exodus occurred.70
place.73
2 Abram was heavily laden with wealth: Abrams departure with great wealth presaged the wealth-laden
exodus of the Jews from Egypt some 400 years later.72
3 He continued on his travels: His travels can also
imply travels, meaning that it was Gods plan
166
LECH LECHA
Genesis 12:17-13:5
17 G then struck Pharaoh and his household with severe plaguesskin diseases that made carnal relations extremely painful. This plague was so severe that
faze Pharaoh however, so God sent Sarai an angel, who was invisible to Pharaoh;
the angel struck Pharaoh at the word of Sarai, the wife of Abram, whenever Pharaoh tried to approach her.
18 Pharaoh understood from all this that Sarai must be Abrams wife. He summoned Abram and said, What is this that you have done to me? Why did you
not tell me that she was your wife?
19 Why did you say, She is my sister, so that I took her to myself as a wife? Now
here is your wife; take her and go!
the Egyptians are a lecherous people and I cannot be held responsible for what
might happen to a woman as lovely as your wife.
20 Pharaoh charged men to escort and guard him, and they escorted him together with his wife and all that he possessed. Pharaoh gave his daughter, Hagar, to
Sarai as a handmaid, saying that it is preferable for his daughter to be a servant
to a woman like Sarai, who is so openly favored by God, than to be a queen elsewhere.66 By the close of this episode, Abram had been in Egypt for a total of three
months.67
66. Rashi on 16:1, below. 67. Rashi on 21:34, below. 68. Above, 12:8. 69. 32:5;
4:25. See also
Tzeror HaMor on Genesis 12:1. 70.
4:12. 71. , vol. 5, p. 61. 72. , vol. 5, p. 61. Exodus
11:2. 73. Sefer
, p. 51. 74. Commentary of Rabbi Zev Wolf Einhorn on 41:3;
5689,
p. 91.
167
X ONKELOS W
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[ INNER DIMENSIONS \
[5] Lot accompanied Abram: Lots name alludes to
his covert evil: the word lot is related to one of the
synonyms for the word curse (lut).77 This evil was
initially subsumed within Abrams holiness, like
168
Genesis 13:6-12
LECH LECHA
Third Reading 5 Lot, by virtue of the fact that he had accompanied Abram, also
6 The pasturage of the land between Bethel and Ai could not support them living together, for their possessions were so extensive that they could not remain
together.
7
Quarreling developed between the herdsmen of Abrams
over this issue: Abrams herdsmen accused
Lots herdsmen of robbery, while Lots herdsmen argued that the land rightfully
belonged to Lot since God had promised it to Abram, who had no heir other than
Lot. Their argument was faulty, however, since (i.e., some of the
nations descended from Canaan) and the Perizites (a non-Canaanite nation) were
then living in the land and Abram had not yet acquired it. Nonetheless, Abram
could not convince Lot that this argument was erroneous, and that his herdsmen
was quite wealthy in his own right, Lot savored the prospect of inheriting Abrams
wealth, as well.
8 Abram said to Lot, Please, lets not have contention between me and you, and
The two of
us even resemble each other enough to be mistaken for brothers.
9 Look, the whole land is before you. So please, separate yourself from me. If
Furthermore, wherever you go, I will remain close enough at hand to come to your
aid if you are ever in danger.
10 Lot looked up and saw that the entire Jordan Plain was well irrigated. Before
G destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah,75 it was full of trees like Gs own garden and full of vegetation like the land
of Egypt, and it extended as far as the
city of Bera, which would later become
known as Tzoar.76 But Lot saw that inhabitants of this region indulged in numerous forms of licentious behavior. As
Abrams strict standards of morality had
begun to seem extreme to Lot, he found
the looser, amoral behavioral standards
of this region appealing.
11 So Lot chose for himself the entire Jordan Plain. He journeyed from the east,
and they separated from one another
(see 17). Lots journey was ideological, as well: he had had enough of Abram
and his God, and was more than happy to
distance himself from them both.
Figure 17: Lot Moves to the Plain; Abram Moves to Hebron
75. Below, 18:20-19:28. 76. Below, 14:2. 77. See 9:18, 35. 78. 1 Kings 14:21. 79. 11cd.
169
X ONKELOS W
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X RASHI W
p r n o l~q s u
s j n n j q j n u rs u n n j s
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p z q j r
s
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X CHASIDIC INSIGHTS W
thank God for anything in particular, nor to prevent
some future calamity, but simply to express his oneness with God and his desire to glorify His Name.89
There he built a third altar to God: Abrams three al-
[ A CLOSER LOOK \
[18] There he built a third altar to God: Abram
descendants would inherit the land of Canaan;91
he built the second to atone for a sin of one of his
future descendants;92 he built the third solely as an
expression of his love for God and commitment to
Him.
The experiences of the patriarchs, especially
Abrams, presaged that which would occur to their
descendants, the future Jewish people.93 In this case,
94
on the altar.
he would receive, was a precursor of the peace
sustenance. His second altar, built to atone for the
sin of a future descendant, was a precursor of the
with no other motive than to glorify God, was a
the Jewish peoples unconditional love for God,
which in turn reciprocally evoked Gods love for
the Jewish people.95
89. , vol. 30, pp. 41-43. 90. See above, 12:7. 91. See above, 12:8. 92. 40:6. 93. See Ketubot 10b and Rashi
ad loc. 94. , vol. 30, pp. 36-40. 95. See commentators on 1:2.
170
Genesis 13:13-18
LECH LECHA
12
his herdsmens tents throughout the whole plain, as far as Sodom.
13 Lot did not shy away from living in these cities even though the inhabitants of
Sodom and its neighbors were wicked by engaging in immoral practices and sinners in that they also used their possessions for immoral purposes, as well. They
sinned against G deliberately, in order to anger Him.
14 Ever since Lot began to resent Abram and his God and to rebel against them
both, God refrained from communicating with Abram. But rated from him and Lots negative presence was no longer a factor, God resumed
negating the supposition that Lot would inherit him. G said to Abram, I have
already promised you national ownership of the Land of Israel. Now, I wish to
confer ownership of the land upon you and your descendants.80 Therefore, raise your eyes and, from the place from where you are, look to the north,
to the south, to the east, and to the west. Examine the land in detail, and see
parcel.
15
be countable.
17 In order to legally take possession of the land, rise, walk through the
land, along its length and breadth, for walking through an area of land with the
intent of thereby taking possession of it is a legal means of acquisition,81 and thus,
by your doing this, I will give it to you.82
18 Abram continued to explore the land, and eventually found a suitable place in
the Amorite, in Hebron (see 17, p. 83). There, in appreciation for having
begun to dwell permanently in the land, and in thanksgiving for the blessings that
God had recently bestowed upon him, he built a third altar to G
.83 He made allies of Mamre and his two brothers, Aner and Eshkol.84
X CHASIDIC INSIGHTS W
18 In Hebron: The name Hebron () is related to
the word for connect ().85 The city of Hebron,
both metaphorically and physically, expresses the
unity of the Jewish people as well as their unity with
God.86
[ INNER DIMENSIONS \
[13] Now the people of Sodom were very wicked
sinners against : Their sinfulness caused the
to the sixth.88
80. See on 12:7, above. 81. 100a. 82. , vol. 30, pp. 86-87. 83. , vol. 30, pp. 36-38. 84. Below, 14:13.
85.
5:1;
86. 1:122b and 125a. 87. See below, on 23:2. 88. 2 Samuel 5:3.
171
X ONKELOS W
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X CHASIDIC INSIGHTS W
us than the enticement of whatever transgression we
had succumbed to.
Abram built his third altar purely for the sake of glorifying God. This altar expressed yet a higher level of
connection to God: that of our ability to abandon our
104. See Tanya, chapters 18-19. 105. See , 10:2. 106. See Isaiah 52:8. 107. , vol. 30, pp. 40-43.
172
Genesis 14:1-6
LECH LECHA
need of Abrams assistance. This happened in the days of Amrafel, i.e., Nimrod,96
king of Shinar; Aryoch, king of Elasar; Kedorlaomer, king of Elam; and Tidal,
king of Goyim ([Many] Nations, a poly-national city).
2 they formed an alliance, headed by Kedorlaomer, and waged war against Bera, king of Sodom; Birsha, king of
Gomorrah; Shinav, king of Admah; Shemever, king of Tzevoyim; and the king
of Bela, which is Tzoar,
r and subdued them. The king of Sodom was nicknamed
Bera, to indicate that he sought to be evil (ra) to both God and humanity. The
king of Gomorrah was nicknamed , to indicate that he exceeded Bera in
wickedness () both to God and to humanity.97 The king of Admah was
nicknamed , to indicate that he hated (sana) God, his heavenly father
(). The king of Tzevoyim was nicknamed ,
to indicate that he set his
limbs () to rebel against God. Thus, the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah
sought to behave wickedly both towards God and humanity, while the kings of
Admah and Tzevoyim only sought to behave wickedly against God. The king of
Bela, in contrast, was not as wicked as his comrades; he merely joined in their alliance out of passive convenience. Therefore, no descriptive nickname was applied
to him and his city was eventually spared.
3 ([Many] Fields), which later,
as the Jordan River and other streams emptied into it, became the Dead Sea.
4 For twelve years served Kedorlaomer and
his allies, and for thirteen years (2009-2022) they rebelled.
5 In the fourteenth year of their rebellion (2023, the same year in which Abram
and Lot arrived in Canaan, and in which all the events related above took place),
Kedorlaomer and the other three kings who were with him came to quell the
rebellion. On the way, they defeated the Rephaim in Ashterot-Karnaim,98 the
Zuzim (later known as the Zamzumim99) in Ham, and the Emim100 in ShavehKiryataim, wiping out all but one of the giants (whose name was Og) that had
survived the Flood.101
6 They also defeated the Horites at their mountain of Seir, as far as the Plain off ElParan, which borders on the desert. They did not wipe out the Horites, however,
were defeated.102
X CHASIDIC INSIGHTS W
tionship with Godobserving His commandments
which gives life to the soul and sustains the souls connection to the body.103
Abram built his second altar to atone for the sin of one
of his future descendants. This altar corresponds to a
higher way of relating to God, that of repentance. In
sinned, we must surpass our previous level of com
not prevent us from sinning). In order to obligate ourselves to this stronger level of commitment, we must
deepen and intensify our relationship with God; we
must uncover in ourselves a level of consciousness in
which our relationship with God is more important to
96. Above, 11:28. 97. vol. 35, p. 72. 98. See Deuteronomy 1:4. 99. Deuteronomy 2:20. 100. See Deuteronomy 2:10-11.
101. Above, 7:23; Rashi on Deuteronomy 3:11. 102. See Deuteronomy 2:12, 22. 103. See Leviticus 18:5; 4:45c.
173
X ONKELOS W
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X CHASIDIC INSIGHTS W
on Abrams astuteness. Yet Abram did not totally sever
to send him away, he assured him that he would always remain in close enough proximity to protect him
if the need would arise, and when it did, Abram did
not hesitate to risk his life to save him.
Abram failed to reform him totally, Lot still maintained
112. Sefer
, vol. 1, pp. 100-102.
174
Genesis 14:7-12
LECH LECHA
7 They then turned back and arrived at Ein-Mishpat (The Well of Judgment), a
spring at whose edge the inhabitants of the area would gather to hold court cases,
and where Moses and Aaron would in the future be sentenced to not enter the
Land of Israel, which is also known as Kadesh.108
the Amalekites, as well as the Amorites who lived
,
later known as Ein-Gedi.109
8 The king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of
Tzevoyim, and the king of Bela, which is Tzoar, went forth and engaged them in
9 against Kedorlaomer, king of Elam; Tidal, king of Goyim; Amrafel, king of
Despite the fact
The answer is, no. We have seen Lots ambivalence toran.111 Already at that point, and perhaps even prior to
that, Lots incipient wickedness was certainly not lost
108. Numbers 20:1-13. 109. 2 Chronicles 20:2. 110. Below, 24:7. 111. Above, on 12:4-5.
175
X ONKELOS W
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[ A CLOSER LOOK \
[13] Ogcame and told Abram: The Midrash
relates that Og assumed that Abram would try to
save Lot by going to war against the four kings
Sarai.119 The Midrash further relates that when Og
came to Abram, it was Passover, and he found him
eating matzo.
In telling us that Abram was eating matzo at the
176
Genesis 14:13-17
LECH LECHA
177
X ONKELOS W
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X CHASIDIC INSIGHTS W
order to improve our lives and the lives of our loved
ones; if we have internalized the Torahs values, our
motivation becomes generalized into the desire to
make the world more Godly. Thus, such wealth is a
priori directed towards higher ends than pure sensual
indulgence.
Wealth that we do not earn, however, has no such implicit ontological direction; we are apt to relate to it
much more indulgently. By tithing the spoils of war,
which he received miraculously, Abraham demonstrated that the fact that all our possessions truly be-
129. 119a; 9a; Malachi 3:10. 130. , vol. 5, pp. 68-76.
178
Genesis 14:18-24
LECH LECHA
18 Noahs son Shem, who was also known as Malki-Tzedek (My King is Righteousness), King of Salem came to Open Valley and brought forth bread and
wine;
addition, this was Malki-Tzedeks way of demonstrating to Abram that he was
not angry with him for having killed his descendants, the Elamites,122 and indicat
Tzedek, besides being a king, was also a priest to God, the Most High.
19 He blessed Abram, and said, Blessed be Abram before God the Most High,
owner of heaven and earth.
20 And blessed be God the Most High, who delivered your enemies into your
hand. Abram then gave Malki-Tzedek a tithe of everything ing the Torahs requirement to give the priestly caste a tenth of ones produce.123
But whereas the Torah only requires giving a tenth of certain agricultural crops,
all
his possessions.124
21
that the four kings had captured and that he had returned.125 Regarding these articles, the king of Sodom said to Abram, Give me the people you have rescued
from my kingdom and keep the belongings you have retrieved for yourself. This
will be my reward to you for having come to my aid.
22 Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have raised my hand and sworn to G,
God the Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth,
23 that I shall not even retain a thread or a shoelace from among the returned
belongings! Nor will I take anything that your treasury as payment, so you will not be able to say, It was I who made Abram rich. God has
promised to make me rich;126 I rely solely on His promise.
24 That is, except for what the young men have eaten, and the share due the men
who came with me , as well as what is due Aner, Eshkol, and Mamre,
may
take their share. Abram was so insistent that the guards and combatants share
equally in the spoils of war that this eventually became a permanent custom among
his descendants, and King David eventually gave it force of law.127
X CHASIDIC INSIGHTS W
20 [Abram then] gave him a tenth of everything: All
commandments.128
cases in which a patriarch observed a certain commandment, it does so for two reasons: (1) to indicate
how doing so expressed his unique way of serving
God, and (2) to teach us how to perform these commandments the way the patriarchs did.
Tithing our wealth demonstrates that everything we
possess belongs to God and must therefore be used for
holy purposes. Generally, we seek to accrue wealth in
122. Above, 10:22. 123. Leviticus 27:30-32; Numbers 18:21-24. 124. , vol. 25, pp. 118-119. 125. . ,
vol. 25, pp. 118-119. 126. Above, 12:2. 127. 1 Samuel 30:24-25. 128.
82a; Yoma 28b.
179
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X CHASIDIC INSIGHTS W
140
[ INNER DIMENSIONS \
[1] I am a shield for you: Abram embodied the
saw everyone as good and therefore worthy of
receiving Divine sustenance.141 Thus, when God
refers to Himself here as a shield for Abram, it
allegorically means that He saw the need to spread
thereby sustain the world according to merit and
not indiscriminately. Inasmuch as Abraham is also
associated with the morning,142 the daily morning
sunrise alludes to Gods daily-renewed desire
when evil does not receive indiscriminate sustenance
can we eradicate it entirely from the world.144
140.
, p. 103; HaYom Yom, 6 Marcheshvan. 141. See below, 17:18: If only Ishmael would live. 142. Below,
19:27 and 22:3. 143. Psalms 84:12. 144. 12a.
180
Genesis 15:1-4
LECH LECHA
corresponding to the two aforementioned aspects of
the commandments. Abram, however, performed the
commandments before they were given by God. Be
131. , vol. 20, pp. 45, 53. 132. , vol. 35, pp. 164-165. 133. , vol. 25, p. 62, note 6. 134.
, vol. 1, pp. 441-442. 135. 4:36. 136. See on Exodus 20:15. 137. See 44:1. 138. See 44:1.
139. Sefer
, p. 84-89, Sefer
, vol. 1, pp. 703-710.
181
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[ INNER DIMENSIONS \
[5] Pay no heed to your astrological calculations:
As was mentioned above,158 God originally
gave humanity the choice to override the
natural mechanisms of predetermination and
predestination that become manifest in the world
via the celestial bodies. As history progressed
and people increasingly opted to forgo any close
relationship to God, they forfeited much of this free
choice and thereby subjected themselves to natural,
original close relationship with God, Abram earned
anew the ability to override predestination.
The uniquely close relationship with God that
Abram bequeathed to his progeny similarly raises
them above the natural order. Accordingly, we are
[ A CLOSER LOOK \
[9] The three calvesthe three goatsthe three
rams: Abraham was worried that his descendants
would sin and thereby forfeit the privilege of
inheriting the Promised Land. God therefore
assured him that He would let them repent and that,
once they repented, they would be able to atone
this way, they would remain worthy of possessing
the land. As will be detailed throughout the Torah,
about the nine types mentioned here is that they all
157. HaYom Yom, 5 Marcheshvan. 158. On 1:14. 159. 156a. 160. See 53b, 156a; Moed Katan 28a; 3:289.
161. Likutei , 4:17d; see Inner Dimensions on 11:30, above.
182
Genesis 15:5-9
LECH LECHA
5 He took him outside his tent and said, Look towards heaven and count the
starsiff you can count them! And He said to him, That is how your descendants will be: they will be so numerous that you will not be able to count them.145
And pay no heed to your astrological calculations. I am going to change your name
and your wifes name, and this will change your destiny. Moreover, if you are
connected to Me, you can transcend the celestial order. To demonstrate this, He
miraculously transported him outside the celestial sphere and told him, You are
higher than heaven and should look at it, not to it!
6 Abram believed in G and did not ask Him for any sign that He would keep
His promise. God accounted it for him as an act of righteousness. God would later transform this implicit trust in Him into an inherited character trait in Abrams
descendants. Therefore, the belief in Gods promises on their part would not be
considered a righteous act of free will, as it was for Abram.146
that He would give him the Land of Israel. When he was in the Land of Israel the
th of Nisan of the year 2018,147 God appeared to Abram and He
said to him, I am G who took you out of Ur of the Kasdites to give you this
land to inherit it.
8 O Lord God, replied Abram, by what sign can I know that I will inherit it?
9 And He said to him,
as part of their ongoing enhancement of their relationship with Me. To express
this merit tangibly, bring for Me three calves, three goats, three rams, a turtledove, and a young dove.Yom
,
148
with an erroneous ruling of the high court,149 and (3) the calf whose neck must be
broken when a murdered body is found and the murderers identity cannot be determined.150
,
151 (2)
152
153
154
155 and (3) the
156 Slaughter the animals
between the halves. This will indicate that I am bound by an inviolable covenant
to give your descendants the land.
X CHASIDIC INSIGHTS W
5 The Jewish people, the descendants
of Abram, are metaphorically compared to the stars
that sparkle in the sky; their light is so bright that even
those walking in the thick of night will not stumble. We
145. , vol. 19, p. 20, note 49. 146. , vol. 19, p. 566. 147. Rashi on Exodus 12:41; above, 11:31. 148. Leviticus 16:3,
6, 11, 14, 18-19. 149. Leviticus 4:13-21. 150. Deuteronomy 21:1-9. 151. Leviticus 16:9, 15, 18-19. 152. Numbers 28:22, 30, 29:8, 11, 16,
19, 22, 25, 28, 31, 34, 38. 153. Leviticus 4:27-31. 154. Leviticus 5:14-16, 20-26, 19:20-22. 155. Leviticus 5:17-19. 156. Leviticus 4:32-35.
183
X ONKELOS W
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SIXTH READING
w~_
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X CHASIDIC INSIGHTS W
dread: literally, a dread that was darkk and ominous
him. The Midrash comments that these
four expressions allude to the four exiles of the Jewish
people:
Dread: This refers to the Babylonian exile.
Dark: This refers to the Median exile.
Ominous: This refers to the Greek exile.
: This refers to the Edomite exile.171
The Torah alludes to these exiles in addition to the
root of the other four exiles, and therefore encompasses them all.
Similarly, these four exiles correspond to the four letters of Gods Name
(). The Egyptian
yud, which
172
Prophetically foreboding the horrors of exile: On the
one hand, God had just made an everlasting covenant
exile that his descendants would experience in the future. How can Gods essential love for Abram and the
Jewish people be reconciled with the horrors of exile
did Abram, who had argued so poignantly and tenaciously on behalf of the wicked inhabitants of Sodom,
Even if they deserved to be exiled, couldnt Abram
have convinced God to exonerate them, as he did in
The answer lies in the fact that, in its inner meaning,
exile does not express Gods estrangement from the
Jewish people but rather His essential love for them.
By way of metaphor: In the midst of teaching, a teacher
The deeper and more compelling the idea, the more
the teacher is engrossed by it. The student, not understanding the real reason behind his teachers distraction, only sees that the teacher has become distanced
from him. In fact, though, the disconcerting interrup
the teacher is concentrating deeply on the new idea
and developing it in order to transmit it to the student.
169. See below, verse 13. 170. , vol. 15, pp. 100-101. 171. 44:17. 172. Sefer
, p. 107.
184
Genesis 15:10-12
LECH LECHA
10 Following Gods instructions, Abram brought Him all of these, slaughtered the
animals, cut them in half, and placed each piece opposite its counterpart. The
birds, however, he did not cut in half. tions and the destiny of the nation that would descend from Abram. In prophetic
imagery, the gentile nations are represented by animals, while the Jewish people
are represented by birds.162 Dividing the animals thus indicated that the gentile nations will eventually cease to exist as nations; leaving the birds intact indicated that
the Jewish people will likewise survive intact into the messianic future.
11 This
was a prophetic vision of how King David (represented by the vulture) would
aspire to do away with the antagonistic gentile nations, but will not be allowed to.
Only his descendant, the Messiah, will be allowed to do this.
12 Then, as the sun was about to set, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and he was
overwhelmed by a dark and ominous dread, prophetically foreboding the horrors of exile his descendants were destined to experience.
X CHASIDIC INSIGHTS W
seems incomprehensible that the saintly Abram would
question Gods promise by asking for a sign. And indeed, this is not really what his question meant. Rather, Abram knew that Gods blessings do not necessarily
manifest themselves in our physical world; they can be
fore concerned that Gods promise to give the land to
able to perceive and appreciate it. He therefore insisted
on entering into a covenant made over a physical deed,
[ A CLOSER LOOK \
for the sins of the High Priest, thereby enabling
atonement for the people.
[continued...]
acts in accordance with an erroneous ruling of the
high court, the calf whose neck must be broken
they atone for communal sins and are paid for by
the community or their representatives.
up by any individual who inadvertently commits
people.169
This will indicate: In ancient times, a covenant
having the parties to the covenant walk in between
the severed halves. By so doing, they expressed the
notion that they are both incomplete by themselves,
just as an animal is complete only when its two
halves are connected to each other. In the present
as His representatives to pass through the halves
170
162. E.g., Psalms 22:13, 74:19; Daniel 8:20-21; Song of Songs 2:14. 163.
, , vol. 1, p. 82. 164. Nedarim 32a;
Abarbanel, and others. 165. Below, 15:18. 166. Above, 12:7 and 13:15. 167. Mizrachi. 168. , p. 103.
185
X ONKELOS W
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SIXTH READING
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X CHASIDIC INSIGHTS W
These sparks had thus become trapped and embedded within the depraved, materialistic civilization of
Egypt. By serving the Egyptians and therefore earning
as remuneration the vast wealth of the storehouses of
Egypt, the Jewish people were to liberate these sparks
and restore them to the realm of holiness.
In this vein, this verse can be interpreted allegorically,
as follows:
land, but the reason is
them or cleansing them of their sins, but rather so
that
The will enslave
the : they will assume dominion over all the
sparks of holiness embedded within Egypt
: The Hebrew word for to oppress
(inuy) can also be translated as to impoverish. Hence:
The Jews will Egypt by extracting all the
sparks of holiness, taking them along with them, and
departing with the great wealth which was imbedded in these sparks.
its primary objective is not to atone for sin, but rather
to enable us to redeem the holy sparks that were scattered around the world and which became embedded
individual to be exiled to a given country; in such a
case, God grants that solitary individual the capacity
to elevate all the sparks of that locale, thus preparing it
for the messianic age.181
Furthermore, Abram foresaw other positive byprod-
182
The people will enslave them: This statement seems
to imply that all of Abrams descendants would be enslaved, but we shall see later that the tribe of Levi was
not.183 However, the Levites did play a crucial role in
the exile: as the spiritual leaders, they made sure the
people remained loyal to their heritage, which in turn
bolstered their morale and enabled them to endure the
horrors of enslavement. Without this ongoing spiritual
guidance and encouragement from the Levites, the people were liable to become hopelessly resigned to their
misfortune and, as a result, opt to immerse themselves
in the depravity of Egypt. This, of course, would have
counteracted the whole purpose of the exile, which
184 God therefore made certain
that one tribe, the Levites, remained unenslaved, enabling them to become the spiritual leaders.
Due to the pivotal role they played in successfully
sidered to have themselves undergone actual enslavement along with the rest of their brethren; they there185
14 As
we have seen,186 the primary purpose of the Egyptian
exile was that the Jewish people extract the sparks of
holiness that the Egyptians had misused and which
thereby had become embedded within the fabric of
the depraved Egyptian civilization;187 likewise, the primary purpose of the present exile is for us to redeem
whatever sparks of holiness remain embedded within
186
Genesis 15:13-14
LECH LECHA
13 And God said to Abram, explaining this dread, Know for sure that your descendants will be foreigners in a land that is not theirs, and the people will enslave them and oppress them for 400 years.
ised Land.173
is born, for even now, in Canaan, you are considered a foreign resident.174 Your
grandson and his children will actually be exiled to another country altogether,
Abrams son, Isaac, was born on the 15th of Nisan, 2048, and the Exodus from Egypt
took place on the 15th of Nisan, 2448.
14 When they leave that land, I will also execute judgment upon the nation
whom they shall serve
ten debilitating plagues. Similarly, in the messianic future, I will execute judgment
upon those nations that oppressed them during their other exiles.
will leave with great wealth.
X CHASIDIC INSIGHTS W
The seeming aloofness and estrangement stem purely
from the teachers love for the student and his desire
like a terrible reality. But exiles true purpose is to
serve as a preparation for a greater revelation that will
take place in the future redemption, a revelation that
of exile.
moment of the sealing of the covenant expressing
Gods great love for the Jewish people. For in its purest
Furthermore, this also explains why, during the de-
[ A CLOSER LOOK \
[13] The people will enslave them: If God Himself
promised that the people would eventually be
enslaved, it seems unjust that He subsequently
punished the Egyptians for implementing His
promise. Maimonides explains that God did not
designate any one Egyptian to participate in the
enslavement and persecution of the Jews; each
individual Egyptian was free to refuse to do so,
through another person.177 By following their own
evil inclinations and willingly oppressing the Jews,
they became liable to punishment, even though they
were the instruments Gods will.178 Even Pharaoh,
who was singled out by God as the only one who
173.
, , p. 11. 174. See below, 21:34, 26:3, Psalms 105:23, and below, 47:4, where the verb to
sojourn is applied to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Jacobs sons, respectively. 175. Yoma 54a, even though they would generally be
facing away from each other, God was unhappy with the Jewish peoples behavior. 176. , vol. 2, p. 359. 177.
, 6:5. 178. See
25. 179. 1:27b. 180. , vol. 27, pp. 152-155.
187
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fore, the Jews assumed control of the land by simply
wresting ownership from anyone else; it therefore established Jewish ownership of the land as an actual
197
In other words, even though the land became the possession of the Jewish people as soon as God gave it
to Abrams descendants, this premise for their ownership was not activated until they took possession
of the land the second time. For this reason, the lands
acquisition did not negate its acquired holiness, and
the legal obligation to observe the commandments
foreign occupation.
the Land of Israel by Joshua. His third promise, however, refers to the Jews reacquisition of the land in the
188
Genesis 15:15-18
LECH LECHA
15 And as for you, you will not live to see any of this; before it happens you shall
join your fathers in peace for, as you know,188 your father, Terach, is
And you
will be buried good old age, i.e., you will live to witness your children and grandchildren remaining loyal to your ideals. Indeed, although Abrams
son Ishmael was wicked for much of his life,189 he repented before Abram died.190
191
16 The fourth generation will
return here, for not until then will the sin of the Amoritestion they will conquer192have run its course and will the Amorites have accrued
enough demerits to warrant their being supplanted by your descendants.
17 Having informed Abram about the future exile of his descendants, God proceeded to implement the covenant as He promised. The sun set, it became very
animal pieces.
18 On that day,
G made a covenant with Abram, saying, To your descendants I have given
this land, from the Egyptian River (Wadi el-Arish) to the Euphrates, which, since
it is now serving as one of the borders of the Promised Land, can be termed the
great river.
X CHASIDIC INSIGHTS W
material reality.
The task of liberating these sparks is not merely a collective mission. We have each been assigned a unique
connection to a particular spark that only we, and none
other, can free from bondage. Divine providence leads
us to our spark; if we redeem these sparks, we redeem
ourselves from our personal, private exile, as well.
This is the reason God promised Abram that his descendants would leave Egypt with great wealth:
their liberation depended on their success in extracting
the wealth of Egypt.193
15 You will be buried in good old age: Metaphorically, this means that Abram would reach a state of
spiritual awareness during his lifetime in which neither his body nor the world around him would obscure
Divinity at all. He would thus achieve the transcendent
this world.194
18 To your descendants I have given this land: In
His earlier promises of the land,195 God used the future tense (I
Abrams descendants ownership of the land as an inheritance. Here, He uses the past tense (I
this land) and tells Abram that his descendants will
inherit the land.196
acquired holiness.
The second time the people assumed control of the
land was when Ezra returned with the exiles from
Babylonia. This was not a conquest; the Persians, who
had conquered the Babylonians, voluntarily granted
the Jews semi-autonomy within their empire. There-
188. , vol. 5, p. 307. 189. Below, 16:12, 21:9-14. 190. Below, 22:1, 25:9. 191. 192. Numbers 21:13
, vol. 32, pp. 95-96. 193. , vol. 3, p. 827. 194. , vol. 5, p. 306. 195. Above, 12:7, 13:15.
According to Rashi, these promises, although chronicled in the Torah before
e
the promise in the present passage, actually took place
chronologically it. 196. 15:7-8. 197. on 15:7, above.
189
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[ INNER DIMENSIONS \
[21] In the messianic future, they will possess
Allegorically, conquering the
land of Canaan and transforming it into the Land of
Israel means conquering the animalistic side of our
personalities and reorienting it toward Godliness.
Just as our godly souls comprise ten holy faculties,
which derive from the ten , so, too, our animal
souls comprise ten materially-oriented faculties.
pagan nations whose territories were promised to
Abraham.
levels of the intellect; the other seven nations
correspond to the seven emotions. The fact that
in his lifetime, King David played a seven-stringed
harp, whereas we are taught that in the messianic
future, King David will play a ten-stringed harp.208
We are further taught that whereas the territories of
peacefully.209
Ammonites211
(Kenites)
Hod
Hivites
Keter
Edomites
(Kadmonites)
Tiferet
Amorites
Yesod
Jebusites
Moabites212
(Kenizites)
Perizites
Girgashites
190
LECH LECHA
Genesis 15:19-16:2
19 This Promised Land comprises the territories off the Kenites, the Kenizites, the
Kadmoniteswhich will in the future be occupied respectively by the Ammonites,
the Moabites, and the Edomites198
20
part of
the territory presently occupied by the
Rephaim,199
21 the territory of naanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites (see 19). I will give the
last seven lands to your descendants as
198.
, , pp. 10-11. 199. See Deuteronomy 2:11, 20, 3:13. 200. See Isaiah 11:14. 201. ,
vol. 15, pp. 204, 206. 202. Above, 12:20. 203. , vol. 15, pp. 100-109. 204. 45:1. 205. Below, 25:1.
206. , 8. 207. , vol. 1, p. 19. See below, 17:18. 208. 13b. 209. Sefer
, pp.
98-99, 189a. 210. These correspondences between the nations and the are taken from
, under
system followed here is that of his mentor, Rabbi Yaakov Yosef (the seer) of Lublin. , vol. 21, p. 229, note 40. 211. See
above, 13:5. 212. See above ,13:5.
191
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192
Genesis 16:3-11
LECH LECHA
3 Abram and Sarai knew that the Torah requires a man who has been married for
ten years and has not fathered children to take an additional wife to try to have
children through her. Although they had been married for a number of years prior
manded them to move to Canaan, so they understood that they should calculate
these ten years only beginning from that point in time. Therefore, it was only in the
year 2033, that they decided upon
the following plan: His wife, Sarai, convinced Hagar the Egyptian, her handmaid, to marry Abram by telling her how fortunate she is to have relations with
. In this way she gave her to her
husband, Abram, as a second wife.
4 He married her, and she conceived immediately. When Hagar later saw that she
was pregnant, she regarded her mistress with disdain. She concluded that Sarai
was a hypocrite: if she was really as righteous as she pretended to be, why didnt
God bless
5 When Sarai heard Hagars words, she said to Abram, I do not blame Hagar for
feeling this way; you are to blame for the wrong of my humiliation and deserve
to be punished for it! When you entreated God for children,213 you prayed only for
yourself instead of for both of us as a couple! Moreover, you see that it was I who
placed my handmaid in your bosom, and now that she sees that she
is pregnant, she regards me with disdain and yet you do not admonish her! Let
G judge between me and you! She then turned to Hagar and said again, As
for your accusations against me, let G judge between me and you! and Hagar
miscarried.
6 Abram replied to Sarai, Here, your handmaids fate is in your hands. Deal
giving her hard work in
order to break her ego. So Hagar ran away from her and went into the desert.
7 An angel of G found her by a spring of water in the desert, next to the
spring on the road to Shur. Hagar was accustomed to seeing angels in Abrams
tent, so she was not afraid.
8 He said, Hagar, handmaiden of Sarai! From where are you coming, and where
are you headed? Obviously, the angel knew where Hagar was coming from, but
he used this question to initiate a conversation. She replied, I am running away
from Sarai, my mistress.
9 A second angel of G appeared and said to her, Return to your mistress, and
submit yourself to her dominion.
10 A third angel of G appeared and said to her, I will grant you a multitude
of descendants; they will be so numerous that they will be uncountable.
11 A fourth angel of G appeared and said to her, You will again conceive,
and will give birth to a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for G [El] has heard
[] your outcry.
213. Above, 15:2.
193
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X CHASIDIC INSIGHTS W
13
Although Hagar was speaking with an angel and not
with God, the Torah nevertheless refers to the angel
as God. The reason for this is that when an angel
is engaged in a Divine mission, it is at that moment a
duit for Gods will, possessing no separate identity of
its own.
Even human beings can achieve this spiritual transparency. When Moses was conveying Gods promise
so oblivious to his own existence that he addressed
will give you
217. Deuteronomy 11:15. 218. Exodus 34:23. 219. 2:38a. 220. Habakkuk 2:20. 221. Y. Bikurim 3:3 (11b). 222. Sefer
, p. 167-168. , vol. 3, pp. 510-511.
194
Genesis 16:12-17:1
LECH LECHA
12 He will be a wild savage; he will be a robber, so his hand will be set against
everyone, and therefore everyone will hate him and their hand will be set against
him . But moniously with one another, so he will dwell near all his relatives.214
13 Hagar called
by name upon
G who had
spoken to her,
saying, You are
the God of Seeing, who mercifully saw my humiliation!
For
she said, Would
I have even dared
to think that I
would be privileged to see angels here, too,
by myself,
having seen in Figure 20: Hagars Wanderings
Abrams tents that one must be very righteous in order to merit such a privilege?
Certainly not! It is only out of Gods mercy that He sent me these angels. Hagars
declaration proved that she had repented of her previous haughtiness and had
thereby earned the right to now return to Abrams household.
14 (the well where the living
[angel] appeared). It is between Kadesh and Bered, i.e., Shur215 (see 20).
15 Hagar again conceived and bore a son to Abram. Although Hagar never told
Abram that the angel had instructed her what to name the child, Abram was
invested with Divine inspiration and gave the name Ishmael to his son whom
Hagar had borne.
16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram in the
year 2034.
214. Cf. 25:18, below. 215. Onkelos here and on 20:1, below. 216. See below, 18:1.
195
X ONKELOS W
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X CHASIDIC INSIGHTS W
be proven genuine, we should constantly strive to enhance the quality of our relationship and commitment
to God.224
Be perfect: The word for perfect (tamim) has three
meanings:
without blemish,225
of extraordinary quality,226 and
possessing unquestioning faith227 and commitment
to God under all circumstances.228
need to eliminate our imperfections; next, we must de
strive to apply this perfection to all aspects of our lives
and to all situations we encounter.
sure of completion that goes beyond being faultless.
To achieve the third level, however, we must invoke
undergo a symbolic act of circumcisionby having
removed his ability to hear from the ear that was closest to the distracting noise.232
196
LECH LECHA
Genesis 17:1-2
and your organ of procreationyou have no control over what you see or hear nor
over how your body reacts to erotic stimuli. But now, I will grant you control even
over these organs, and thus you will be perfect: you will be able to ignore inappropriate sights and sounds, and control your erotic drive. Your present control
over 243 of the parts of your body is alluded to by the fact that the numerical value
of your name, Abram ( () to your name,
thus increasing its numerical value to 248.
1
200
200
40
40
(alef)
f
(beit)
()
(mem)
()
Total
248
5
243
2 I will make a covenant between Me and you to love you and, in the merit of
your observing the commandment of circumcision, to give you the Promised Land,
and I will make you exceedingly numerous.
X CHASIDIC INSIGHTS W
1 Walk in My ways: Abraham had been walking in
Gods ways for virtually his whole life. But the level of
Divine living to which God wished to elevate him now
only now begin to truly walk in Gods ways.
dicated that, retroactively, he had not really been walking in Gods ways all these years, but had evidently
been motivated by other concerns. Passing this test
would prove that Abraham had indeed been walking
in Gods ways all along.
[ INNER DIMENSIONS \
[1] Walk in My ways: Until now, Abraham possessed the consciousness of the world of Atzilut. At
this level, we are not aware of ourselves per se; we
are aware only of ourselves as part of God, and we
therefore identify totally with God. However, in
(loving-kindness), his
197
To become perfect here means that God planned
which transcends that of the world of Atzilut.
As we will explain further, this ascent of consciousness was necessary in order for Abraham to father
Isaac.223
X ONKELOS W
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[ INNER DIMENSIONS \
[5] Your name shall be Abraham: Spiritually, Abra
ab, means father, referring to
of insight that fathers emotions and expression;
the second syllable, ram, means sublime or exalted, indicating that the reference is to supernal
, the supra-conscious of
thus refers to abstract insight, a level
of perception too high to be applied to any situation
or manifest in the world in any way.
alludes
to
Abrams name enabled him to articulate this sublime consciousness in a way that made it accessible,
revealed, and relevant to everyone.
Yet Abrahams new name still retained the of
the syllable ram; this indicates that even in its practical manifestation, nothing of his original, abstract
Divine consciousness was lost. He did not need to
spective on life to be able to transmit it to the common folk.240
198
Genesis 17:3-10
LECH LECHA
237
233. See , vol. 25, p. 62, note 6. 234. Above, 11:26. 235. Rashi on 28:21, below. 236. , vol. 25, p. 69.
237. , vol. 25, p. 65. 238. , vol. 25, p. 69. 239. See Otzar Yisrael on circumcision.
199
X ONKELOS W
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SEVENTH READING
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X CHASIDIC INSIGHTS W
mandment that embodies the empirical synthesis of
and why this pain is inexorably intertwined with the
deed itself, which is also why the use of anesthesia is
prohibited).249
It is not readily understood why experiencing pain
should be a requisite of a Divine commandment,
thermore, one would think that Abraham would have
mandment that he would have been oblivious to the
pain.250 Yet he did experience pain,251 and even fell ill
from it.252
The answer is that circumcision is a commandment
man being, whose nature is to feel pain. So although
Abraham could have remained oblivious to the pain,
he not to, since otherwise his circumcision would
253
15 For Sarah, meaning princess in general, is her
name: Although both Abrahams and Sarahs names
of nations, whereas Sarah is called a .
[ A CLOSER LOOK \
[12] When he is eight days old: In general,
we become obligated to perform the Torahs
commandments only when we reach legal maturity
in Jewish law (the age of bar or ). This
is because before the age of maturity, children do
not understand the implication of their actions
and therefore cannot be obligated to act a certain
way nor held responsible when they do not. True,
parents are required to train their young children to
observe the commandments, but only in educational
247. 130a. 248. 26. 249. See , vol. 10, p. 48. 250. See
, 288:3.
251. 47:9. 252. 18:1, below. 253. Sefer
, vol. 1, p. 45. 254. 3:49. 255. See 8:21,
above. 256. , vol. 4, p. 1249. See also on 17:18, below.
200
Genesis 17:11-15
LECH LECHA
11
sign between Me and you.
12 Throughout your generations, every male among you shall be circumcised
when he is eight days oldincluding a servant born to a handmaid in your
household, as well as anyone bought for money from a stranger as a bondman,
who is not one of your descendants.
13 However, although anyone born in your household or bought with your money shall surely be circumcised, a purchased bondman should be circumcised immediately upon purchase, even if he is older or younger than eight days old. My
covenant shall thus
14 An uncircumcised male who does not circumcise his foreskin before he reaches legal maturity: he shall die prematurely and childless, for he has breached My covenant.
15 God said to Abraham, Regarding Sarai, your wifeyou shall not call her
anymore by the name Sarai, meaning My princess, the ruler of only my kingdom, for Sarah, meaning princess in general, is her name. Like you, she shall be
the progenitor of many nations. Unlike you, however, I will
her name that is unrelated to its new meaning. In your case, the fact that you remain the ruler of Aram does not limit your greatness; in her case, the implication
of My princess is that she is only
yud from her name. But in the future I will add it to the name of another leader of
the Jewish people.241
X CHASIDIC INSIGHTS W
acts by screaming because he does not understand
the value of what is being done to him. Similarly,
toil and hardships, but the more we appreciate the
convenience.
(d) The Jewish people accepted upon themselves the
commandment of circumcision with joy; they actually gave up their lives for it in times of religious
persecution.242
commandments with joy and be willing to give up
anything to do so.243
13 God chose
ure the Giving of the Torah, since it is the only com-
[ A CLOSER LOOK \
[10] Our present-day
obligation to circumcise our sons does not stem
from Gods command to Abraham, but rather
from Gods command to Moses at Mount Sinai,
like all the Torahs commandmentseven those
of the Torah.244 Gods instructions to observe these
commandments did not yet transform Abrahams
family into the Jewish it only made them
into a special subset of Noahides. 245
even today that the act is very much associated
performed, the father of the baby recites a blessing
that refers to circumcision as the commandment to
241. See Numbers 13:16. Rashi on v. 5, above; , vol. 25, p. 65. 242. Maimonides, , 7:6.
243. , vol. 5, p. 7. 244. Such as the prohibition on eating the sciatic nerve (32:33, below) or the commandment to dwell
in huts on Sukot (Leviticus 23:43). 245.
29a. 246. Leviticus 12:3. , vol. 30, pp. 53-56.
201
X ONKELOS W
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X CHASIDIC INSIGHTS W
years of Abrahams two sons. Firstly, Ishmael was
born under natural circumstances, whereas Isaacs
birth was entirely miraculous. Secondly, Ishmael was
circumcised at thirteen, an age at which he was fully
cations of the act, whereas Isaac was circumcised as an
infant, before his conscious mind could even grasp its
importance.
sons: Ishmaels birth and spiritual development followed a natural and logical order. His connection to
God hinged on his own understanding. Isaac, who was
conceived and born by Divine intervention, was circumcised at eight days of age, signifying that his eter-
202
LECH LECHA
Genesis 17:16-19
16 I will bless her by restoring her youth to her, and will also give you a son from
her. I will also bless her with abundant lactation.257 She will give rise to nations;
kings of peoples shall issue from her.
17 Abraham threw himself on his face in joy and laughed in joy, saying to himself, Previous generations indeed procreated at such an advanced age. But nowadays, were it not for God, would a child be born to a man of a hundred?! And
would Sarah, at ninety, give birth?!
18 And Abraham said to God, I am unworthy of such a miracle. I would be content if only Ishmael would live in awe of You and succeed me!
19 God said, Still, Sarah your wife will indeed bear you a son, and you shall
name him Isaac [will laugh].
name allude to the 10 trials by which I will test you , the 90 years of Sarahs
age , the 8 days from Isaacs birth until his circumcision , and the almost-100 years of your age .
Allusion
(Yud)
10
Ten tests
(Tzadik)
90
Sarahs age
()
Days to circumcision
(Kuf)
f
100
Abrahams age
X CHASIDIC INSIGHTS W
Sovereigns remain aloof from their subjects and in fact
257. See below, 21:7. 258. , 11:4. 259. , 12:5. , vol. 35, pp. 97-100.
203
X ONKELOS W
j r
s j nou q ~o r j z n q j
u r
o
z o u ~q j u r
o
n o ru ~r
{ q lo ~
ju lr q~lr q u r
o o j ~q j
n q q j ou u nju ~p j ns n j j q
n rj n n o l~ rn j r j
~r u q z
u j o ~r
r j n jr
{ r j r nj
u o u n ~ rr q j
n
o z j ~r u jq m~r
n
s r n o rq ~r r j q q u j ~n j
r r j ~q j
SEVENTH READING
_ n o j n j R s~ n j ] q o * ] on M M n j q j h~ or n
j jv 20
T~
n n j ^r rwvo j ~s L j ~s ] j n Q s~
_ n oj n j V s~
w~p ] n ~r
Q n n w
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p v p ~q Q
v r r r qOp q] o qTr r ^ jo b c
o p l~Lr nj
v r r j ~Q
q q o
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n o q jQjq q 22
X RASHI W
s
r
p z s u j q j
p
n nuq q
p z
u j q rj
~
n n{ j
s
j
n n{ j
{ r o
r
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rn
j z oo q~
j u
r n js z j r r j ~
q q o
q u j
[ INNER DIMENSIONS \
[continued...]
moods, we can rise above these personal preferences by remaining true to our Divine
mission consistently throughout the year.
Tabernacle.
his children. When Jacob said to God, I am no longer worthy due to all the kindness You have done
for me,272
Gods display of favor to him make him feel even
more unworthy.273
ness that is both the key to rectifying reality and the
274
267. 14:18. 268. 24:5. 269. Genesis 22:20-24. Perhaps it was out of this desire to father twelve sons
270. Genesis 17:20, 25:1316. 271. Genesis 37:35. 272. Genesis 32:11. 273.
2. 274. 3:94ab;
, Bo, pp.
254-255; a 125b, etc.
204
Genesis 17:20-22
LECH LECHA
And although it may seem that I applied My covenant to all your descendants,262
any woman other than Sarah,263 I now clarify that I will maintain My covenant
only with Isaac as an everlasting covenant, for his him.
20 Regarding Ishmael, I have heard you: I have blessed him, and will make him
fruitful and extremely numerous. He will beget twelve princes, and I will make
him into a great nation.
greatness,
21 for I will maintain My covenant with Isaac, whom
your circumcision, and who will thus be holy when Sarah will bear him to you at
this time next year. Only Isaacs descendants will be required to circumcise themselves, and just as I promised to multiply Ishmaels descendants, I will multiply
Isaacs to an even greater degree.
22 God was directly above Abraham when communicating with him, for Abraham
for the revelation of Gods presence in the world.
[ INNER DIMENSIONS \
[20] He will beget twelve princes: When God expelled Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, He
told them that humanity would at some point be
restored to its intended, idyllic spiritual level, and
that this would entail the construction of a Temple
that would channel the Divine presence into the
world, just as the Garden of Eden had.
Inasmuch as the Temple was to serve as the lightning rod that would draw the Divine Presence into
the world, it would have to be both a microcosm
monthly changes to run their course before beginning again. Although we all have personal preferences for particular months and their associated
262. V. 9, above. 263. 264. Rashi on 5:3. 265. , p. 116. See also Maharal on 5:3
regarding the ten generations between Adam and Noah. 266.
, vol. 2, pp. 188-190.
205
X ONKELOS W
SEVENTH READING
T o
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j
or n
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p r W r j ~
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u o jj r j
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j
or n
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o n j u
o o
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wqj
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q r j 27 vj ~Qo r n
j j
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XJLJXJLJXJL
X RASHI W
s rj
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o s
s u n u j r u
q
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n z o
uj
s u
n
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p z n j ~
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j
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z n j z q o j q o r j n rj
p z
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j
n
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n
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pz
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us
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pp u j r u
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n z o
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rz
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s
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q j nn q s z j rr u q
s r
p z
s rj n oo q ju s u n
r r j ~
q q r~r j r u n
uj
s
j
s lr n uj s
s u n u j
j
rr
p z ~o rj n rr j su j q r r j
s rj r uj q ~r j n q
s ~
uj
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q
s u n n
r z o j{
p sz j z
s u
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j
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rz
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pz
X CHASIDIC INSIGHTS W
, which literally reads, circumcise, yes, you shall circumcise. On the contextual
level, this expression refers to the two aspects of cir
it refers to the two levels of spiritual circumcision.285
circumcision. He therefore waited for an explicit command from God since, had he not waited, he would
voice in this verse alludes to the fact that Abraham did
indeed merit that his heart be circumcised by God.286
282. Deuteronomy 10:16. 283. Deuteronomy 30:6. 284. Verse 13. 285.
, vol. 1, p. 37-38; see
4.
286. 13ab.
206
Genesis 17:23-27
LECH LECHA
23 Abraham consulted with his allies, the three Amorite brothers, Aner, Eshkol,
and Mamre,275 about circumcising himself. Aner said to him, You are almost a
276 Abraham
then took Ishmael his son, and all those born in his household, and all those
he had bought for moneythat is, every male among the people of Abrahams
same day
on which God gave him the commandment, as God had spoken with him. He
performed the circumcisions in broad daylight, being afraid neither of the pagans
vented him from doing so had they seen him doing it.
24277 Abraham was ninety-nine
When he was about to
circumcise himself, it suddenly occurred to him that he might not be able to hold
the knife steadily because of his advanced age, so God steadied his hand. Since
Abraham was already an old man, he did not have to peel back the upper layer of
the foreskin, for it had already been worn away; all that was required was to cut
the foreskin away.
25 In contrast, Ishmael his son was only
foreskin was circumcised, so the upper layer of his foreskin did have to be peeled
back. To his credit, Ishmael did not cry out in pain when he was circumcised.278
26 On the very day that Abraham turned ninety-nine and Ishmael turned thirteen,
Abraham was circumcised, along with Ishmael his son,
27 and all the men of his household, whether home-born or bought for money
from a stranger, were circumcised with him.
The
for may be found on p. 338.
X CHASIDIC INSIGHTS W
23 Abraham consulted with his allies: Why would
Abraham have needed anyones advice to follow Gods
279
Abraham wanted his circumcision to be more than a
personal, isolated event. He wanted this event, which
would mark the beginning of the Jewish nation, to resonate within the world around him. Abraham therefore consulted with the leaders of his time in order to
involve them and to demonstrate that they approved
of the circumcision.280
275. Above, 14:13. 276. Rashi on 18:1; 14:8. 277. , vol. 5, p. 77, note 5. 278. Rashi on 16:16, above.
279. See and others. 280.
, vol. 1, p. 359. 281.
, vol. 1, p. 396.
207
Isaiah 40:2741:16
Parashat Lech Lecha opens with Gods call to to be a source of blessing for all In this ,
God the exiled Jewish people that they are the heirs of (41:8) and to give
the strength and inspiration to carry out their Divine
L~o r n
j Qo q
j ls O vq T~
q s ^r r40:27
lv vq _ n rj
n
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q s L ]n lvq Q n t~ j nO ~n T q~o ^ n l
v q 41:1
^ n 2 rv r j n _r j n q Q r qj o O jq ]~r Tjn
^ r r j nbo L jq j ]~o r nj p Q p jO r n n Tn o
Q r n _ q j O j q T r rv p ^o n j Oj q ]n r
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vr k~vp q Q j
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hand. 11 All who were incensed against
you will be shamed and disgraced; those ]n r Q r r
j ~oO rn
q ] j Tjo
n 16 v n r
who quarrel with you will be as nothing
Q o r n
j _ j n O r v q ]n r Tr ~q j Lr s~
and will perish. 12 You will seek them, ~
your men of strife, but you will not
v r qj n
them; those who against you will
be as nothingness and naught. 13 For I am
G, your God, who holds your right hand, and who tells you, Fear not; I will help
you.
14 Fear not, Jacob, even though you are weak as a worm, and your only power is prayer.
Fear not, Israel, whose number is , for I have helped you, declares G, your
redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. 15 Behold, I am making of you a newly-grooved
threshing disk used for straw into pieces, with many sharp teeth; you will
thresh mountains, i.e., kings, and crush them, and turn hills, i.e., princes, into
16 You will winnow them; a wind will carry them away, and a storm-wind will
them to Purgatory. But as for you, you will rejoice in G and glory in the Holy One of
Israel.
Nathan, Yitzchok,
Moshe Lev,
and Gilana
May you continue to grow in the ways
of our holy Torah