Chasidut zu Bereschit 12:4
וַיֵּ֣לֶךְ אַבְרָ֗ם כַּאֲשֶׁ֨ר דִּבֶּ֤ר אֵלָיו֙ יְהוָ֔ה וַיֵּ֥לֶךְ אִתּ֖וֹ ל֑וֹט וְאַבְרָ֗ם בֶּן־חָמֵ֤שׁ שָׁנִים֙ וְשִׁבְעִ֣ים שָׁנָ֔ה בְּצֵאת֖וֹ מֵחָרָֽן׃
Da zog Abram hinweg, wie der Ewige zu ihm gesprochen; und mit ihm zog Lot. Abram war fünfundsiebzig Jahre alt, als er Charan verließ.
Kedushat Levi
Up until the time when Avram left Charan he had served G’d by engaging the three attributes we just mentioned. Now that his quest to be near to his Creator would be reinforced by his being on holy soil, he would qualify for more comprehensive revelations from G’d, enabling him to proceed from serving G’d out of feelings of awe to serving Him out of feelings of love.
We have already explained why G’d promised Avram that He would make his name great, that he would be a source of blessing to all with whom he would come into contact and that his name would be “great.” (pages 41-44) We ask ourselves, that if Avram had followed G’d’s instructions to set out into a new and unknown land without having first been given these assurances by G’d if he would not have earned a great deal more merit than he did after being “armed” with these promises?
In fact, the reverse is the case. When the Torah tells us that Avram set out in accordance with the instructions he had received from G’d (Genesis 12,4) the reason the Torah adds the words: “as G’d had commanded him,” is to inform us that the only reason Avram emigrated from Charan was because G’d had told him to. It did not occur to Avram that the promises G’d had made to him would be fulfilled by his obeying G’d. [Compare Or Hachayim on this verse, or my translation of his commentary on page 123 Ed.] Accordingly, if Avraham had not known that he would receive a reward for undertaking this journey and all that it entailed, it would not even have rated as one of his “ten trials,” so that his reward would have been much less. Being able to serve the Lord after having received promises from Him, without these promises affecting the quality of his service, was a far greater ethical achievement than serving the Lord altruistically, but not knowing that such service carries the promise of a reward. G’d’s challenging Avram to do just this was the essence of the trial.
We have already explained why G’d promised Avram that He would make his name great, that he would be a source of blessing to all with whom he would come into contact and that his name would be “great.” (pages 41-44) We ask ourselves, that if Avram had followed G’d’s instructions to set out into a new and unknown land without having first been given these assurances by G’d if he would not have earned a great deal more merit than he did after being “armed” with these promises?
In fact, the reverse is the case. When the Torah tells us that Avram set out in accordance with the instructions he had received from G’d (Genesis 12,4) the reason the Torah adds the words: “as G’d had commanded him,” is to inform us that the only reason Avram emigrated from Charan was because G’d had told him to. It did not occur to Avram that the promises G’d had made to him would be fulfilled by his obeying G’d. [Compare Or Hachayim on this verse, or my translation of his commentary on page 123 Ed.] Accordingly, if Avraham had not known that he would receive a reward for undertaking this journey and all that it entailed, it would not even have rated as one of his “ten trials,” so that his reward would have been much less. Being able to serve the Lord after having received promises from Him, without these promises affecting the quality of his service, was a far greater ethical achievement than serving the Lord altruistically, but not knowing that such service carries the promise of a reward. G’d’s challenging Avram to do just this was the essence of the trial.
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