Chasidut zu Bereschit 13:11
וַיִּבְחַר־ל֣וֹ ל֗וֹט אֵ֚ת כָּל־כִּכַּ֣ר הַיַּרְדֵּ֔ן וַיִּסַּ֥ע ל֖וֹט מִקֶּ֑דֶם וַיִּפָּ֣רְד֔וּ אִ֖ישׁ מֵעַ֥ל אָחִֽיו׃
Da wählte Lot den ganzen Kreis des Jordan und zog gen Osten. So trennten sie sich von einander.
Kedushat Levi
A different approach to the verses commencing with אהיה אשר אהיה. What follows is based on the common perception that the name of G’d (tetragram) known as הויה, refers to His activity in the present, whereas the name אהיה suggests G’d’s being active in the future, as we know from Sotah 14 where the Talmud quotes Deuteronomy 3,25 in which Moses pleads to be allowed to cross the Jordan before his death. The Talmud there examines what prompted Moses to be so anxious to cross the Jordan, and concludes that Moses was concerned to perform commandments of the Torah that are only capable of fulfillment when on the soil of the Holy Land.
From this we learn that the Jewish people while in Egypt had acquired only the potential merit of performing these commandments, a merit which could not be fully acquired until after their arrival in the Holy Land. G’d explains this to Moses when He tells him in verse 12 that once He will let Moses take the people out of Egypt, this is preparatory to their serving the Lord i.e. בהוציאך את העם ממצרים תעבדו את האלוקים. He thus links the people’s serving G’d to Moses’ taking them out of Egypt and (presumably) bringing them to the Holy Land where they will be able to claim the credit for fulfilling the Torah. Actually, it had been G’d’s desire to bring the people to the Holy Land in order that they could “cash” His I.O.U. there by performing the commandments. Seeing that the capacity of the Jewish people to understand such lofty ideals was limited by their present sorry condition, G’d first stressed the physical qualities of the land of Israel, comparing it favourably with the land of Egypt which has been described in Genesis as “like a garden planted by G’d.” (Genesis 13,11) By describing the land of Israel as a land flowing with milk and honey, a land in which rain falls regularly, without farmers having to bring water for irrigation to their fields, G’d had to arouse the people’s desire to leave a land which was as excellent for its owners as Egypt.
[We know that even after the Egyptians had been drowned in the sea the Israelites wanted to return there and take over that land, rather than to march through the desert to a land they did not know. (Compare Exodus 15,22, ויסע משה את ישראל “Moses forced Israel to journey forward.”)] Once the Israelites would reach their destination they would appreciate that life in the land of Israel involved much more than their bodies being “elevated;” their spiritual horizons would be broadened due to their performing the commandments applicable only in that land. This is the reason why in verse 13 in our chapter G’d stresses the fact that the patriarchs had lived in that land, i.e. the fact that they lived in that land had enabled them to become the founding fathers of this holy nation. This is why in connection with the patriarchs we find the name of G’d, i.e. הויה, present tense, whereas in respect to their descendants, at this stage G’d has to speak of His name as something primarily still in the future, אהיה.
From this we learn that the Jewish people while in Egypt had acquired only the potential merit of performing these commandments, a merit which could not be fully acquired until after their arrival in the Holy Land. G’d explains this to Moses when He tells him in verse 12 that once He will let Moses take the people out of Egypt, this is preparatory to their serving the Lord i.e. בהוציאך את העם ממצרים תעבדו את האלוקים. He thus links the people’s serving G’d to Moses’ taking them out of Egypt and (presumably) bringing them to the Holy Land where they will be able to claim the credit for fulfilling the Torah. Actually, it had been G’d’s desire to bring the people to the Holy Land in order that they could “cash” His I.O.U. there by performing the commandments. Seeing that the capacity of the Jewish people to understand such lofty ideals was limited by their present sorry condition, G’d first stressed the physical qualities of the land of Israel, comparing it favourably with the land of Egypt which has been described in Genesis as “like a garden planted by G’d.” (Genesis 13,11) By describing the land of Israel as a land flowing with milk and honey, a land in which rain falls regularly, without farmers having to bring water for irrigation to their fields, G’d had to arouse the people’s desire to leave a land which was as excellent for its owners as Egypt.
[We know that even after the Egyptians had been drowned in the sea the Israelites wanted to return there and take over that land, rather than to march through the desert to a land they did not know. (Compare Exodus 15,22, ויסע משה את ישראל “Moses forced Israel to journey forward.”)] Once the Israelites would reach their destination they would appreciate that life in the land of Israel involved much more than their bodies being “elevated;” their spiritual horizons would be broadened due to their performing the commandments applicable only in that land. This is the reason why in verse 13 in our chapter G’d stresses the fact that the patriarchs had lived in that land, i.e. the fact that they lived in that land had enabled them to become the founding fathers of this holy nation. This is why in connection with the patriarchs we find the name of G’d, i.e. הויה, present tense, whereas in respect to their descendants, at this stage G’d has to speak of His name as something primarily still in the future, אהיה.
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