Chasidut zu Bereschit 14:20
וּבָרוּךְ֙ אֵ֣ל עֶלְי֔וֹן אֲשֶׁר־מִגֵּ֥ן צָרֶ֖יךָ בְּיָדֶ֑ךָ וַיִּתֶּן־ל֥וֹ מַעֲשֵׂ֖ר מִכֹּֽל׃
Und gelobt sei der höchste Gott, der deine Feinde in deine Hand geliefert! Und er gab ihm den Zehnten von allem.
Me'or Einayim
The meaning is that there are many channels of abundance through which the abundance travels by any means until it arrived below to the person. But the person’s corruption below causes blockage in the channels; and that is how he comes, by way of his corruption, to the place of the judgments. The judgments stand and accuse and do not allow the life-force, the abundance, to travel to this person; and this is called “blocking the channels.” The virtue of tithing is to transcend the judgments and sweeten the judgments until the judgments consent to the influence of the blessing below, on account of their having been sweetened. And we must understand why this is: for it is known that “In the measure with which a man measures, so is he measured” (Sotah 8b); however a person behaves below, in a certain characteristic, so is it aroused above. If he arouses [in himself] the characteristic of compassion, the same is aroused above as well; and through this he causes sweetening of the judgment. But if, God forbid, the opposite, etc. And therefore through tithing – which is tzedakah – this also causes compassion above on account of his arousing the characteristic of compassion below. And so it is for all the characteristics: a person must offer himself to the Good and imitate his Creator as our Sages of Blessed Memory said, “Just as [God] is compassionate, etc.” (Massekhet Soferim 3.13). Now, regarding Abraham it says, Abraham was old, well advanced in days, which is duplicative language. But it is known that the upper characteristics are called the “thirteen arrangements of seniority;” and that is the connotation of old, that he had arrived at all the “arrangements of seniority,” which are called old. In upper days, he offered himself, with all the characteristics and days, to the upper Good – the place where there are no judgments at all. And that is [the meaning of] “By what merit:” “merit” [z’khut] connotes success as in, “I did not succeed [zakhiti] etc.” (Mishnah, Berakhot 1.5). Surely there is not a righteous man on earth [who does good and never sins] (Ecclesiastes 7:20), but here it is written, and the LORD, “He and His house of judgment,” implying that [the judgments] consented to bless [Abraham]! And is it possible that there would not be a single judgment to obstruct the descending of abundance? So they taught, “By the merit of tithing” as it is written, And Abram gave him a tenth of everything (Gen. 14:20); as is stated above, that this sweetened the judgments until they consented, “He and His house of judgment” all together, to a complete blessing as we have explained.
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Kedushat Levi
Genesis 14,19-20 “Blessed be Avram to the Supreme G’d,….and blessed the Supreme G’d Who has delivered your oppressors into your hand.”
It is a rule that when G’d deals with a person on the basis of מדה כנגד מדה, “measure for measure,” reward or punishment will be in a reciprocal relationship to one another. However, when G’d does not apply this method in dealing with an individual, and He does man a favour-that he has not earned,- he is the recipient of a gift from G’d. Since Avram was a person whose very personality exuded loving kindness, it is clear that G’d reciprocated in equal measure. In this instance, -the victory of a few men under Avram’s command over mighty armies, was something he considered as way in excess of his input thus far. In other words, G’d had given Avram a gift that he had not deserved.The Ari’zal writes that when we recite three times daily the words מלך עוזר ומושיע ומגן, “King, Helper, Saviour and Shield,” our sages used this formulation to describe such an undeserved gift from G’d. We also find that Onkelos translates the word חנם in Genesis 29,15 and in Exodus 21,2 as מגן. By using this formulation, Malki Tzedek gave Avram a hint that he had received an undeserved gift from G’d. This hint was reinforced by Malki Tzedek referring to G’d as the “Supreme G’d owner of heaven and earth.” What man possesses he does not have to acquire. When he needs something that he does not own, he has to acquire it. Avram did not need to acquire the virtue of loving kindness, as apparently, he personified this virtue since birth; However, the characteristic of גבורה, the kind of bravery and heroism needed to wage war successfully, was not a quality he possessed from birth, so that he had to acquire it. Malki Tzedek blesses G’d for having provided Avram with this quality at a time when he was really in need of it. Seeing that G’d “owns” heaven and earth, He is able to bestow this quality on people whenever it suits Him.
It is a rule that when G’d deals with a person on the basis of מדה כנגד מדה, “measure for measure,” reward or punishment will be in a reciprocal relationship to one another. However, when G’d does not apply this method in dealing with an individual, and He does man a favour-that he has not earned,- he is the recipient of a gift from G’d. Since Avram was a person whose very personality exuded loving kindness, it is clear that G’d reciprocated in equal measure. In this instance, -the victory of a few men under Avram’s command over mighty armies, was something he considered as way in excess of his input thus far. In other words, G’d had given Avram a gift that he had not deserved.The Ari’zal writes that when we recite three times daily the words מלך עוזר ומושיע ומגן, “King, Helper, Saviour and Shield,” our sages used this formulation to describe such an undeserved gift from G’d. We also find that Onkelos translates the word חנם in Genesis 29,15 and in Exodus 21,2 as מגן. By using this formulation, Malki Tzedek gave Avram a hint that he had received an undeserved gift from G’d. This hint was reinforced by Malki Tzedek referring to G’d as the “Supreme G’d owner of heaven and earth.” What man possesses he does not have to acquire. When he needs something that he does not own, he has to acquire it. Avram did not need to acquire the virtue of loving kindness, as apparently, he personified this virtue since birth; However, the characteristic of גבורה, the kind of bravery and heroism needed to wage war successfully, was not a quality he possessed from birth, so that he had to acquire it. Malki Tzedek blesses G’d for having provided Avram with this quality at a time when he was really in need of it. Seeing that G’d “owns” heaven and earth, He is able to bestow this quality on people whenever it suits Him.
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Kedushat Levi
Another approach to Malki Tzedek’s blessing. There are problems [i.e. obstacles erected by Satan’s involvement in our region of the universe, Ed,] in this “lower” part of the universe that most people are able to deal with on their own if they really put their mind to it. There are other problems that man, without direct help from G’d, cannot deal with irrespective of how well intentioned and capable he is. In such instances, when warranted, G’d has to “kill,” i.e. neutralize the obstacles facing deserving individuals. When Avram, representing “loving Kindness,” killed the four kings who had defeated the Kings of Sodom and his allies, he did so by garbing himself in a halo of heroism, appearing to be a powerful warrior, since he was engaged in battling pagan forces, active deniers of the concept of monotheism. By engaging in such a battle, he acted against all his natural instincts, on behalf of a higher ideal.
Malki Tzedek praised G’d, the Supreme G’d, Who had enabled Avram to prevail over his oppressor against what must have seemed like impossible odds. Although G’d owns the whole universe, on this occasion He had allowed or enabled Avram to assume powers that normally are reserved for the Supreme G’d, exclusively. It was clear to Malki Tzedek that Avram on his own could never have achieved such a stunning victory unless G’d had actively intervened on his behalf.
As soon as Avram had completed his victory, after having temporarily set aside his natural tendency of relating to all phenomena in the universe only with loving kindness, he was given G’d’s promise that he would sire a son, who in due course would personify this virtue of גבורה that Avraham had been able to acquire when he thought that the situation demanded it. Until Avram had demonstrated this ability to garb himself in גבורה, the conditions had not been ripe for him to sire a son such as Yitzchok. Up until now, had Avram sired a Yitzchok, his son’s major characteristic would have been the opposite of that of his father. This, in due course, would have resulted in an estrangement between father and son. Now that Avram had learned to appreciate the value and necessitude of this personality trait, the conditions had been created for father and son to coexist harmoniously.
Malki Tzedek praised G’d, the Supreme G’d, Who had enabled Avram to prevail over his oppressor against what must have seemed like impossible odds. Although G’d owns the whole universe, on this occasion He had allowed or enabled Avram to assume powers that normally are reserved for the Supreme G’d, exclusively. It was clear to Malki Tzedek that Avram on his own could never have achieved such a stunning victory unless G’d had actively intervened on his behalf.
As soon as Avram had completed his victory, after having temporarily set aside his natural tendency of relating to all phenomena in the universe only with loving kindness, he was given G’d’s promise that he would sire a son, who in due course would personify this virtue of גבורה that Avraham had been able to acquire when he thought that the situation demanded it. Until Avram had demonstrated this ability to garb himself in גבורה, the conditions had not been ripe for him to sire a son such as Yitzchok. Up until now, had Avram sired a Yitzchok, his son’s major characteristic would have been the opposite of that of his father. This, in due course, would have resulted in an estrangement between father and son. Now that Avram had learned to appreciate the value and necessitude of this personality trait, the conditions had been created for father and son to coexist harmoniously.
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