Musar zu Bereschit 12:22

And our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, stated (Avot 5:19), "Whoever possesses these three things, he is of the disciples of Abraham, our father [...] A good eye, a humble spirit and a moderate appetite." And the meaning of a humble spirit is that he does not follow his physical desire even with permissible things. [This is] like we find that Abraham stated (Genesis 12:11) "Behold I know what a beautiful woman you are" - as he had not stared at her until that day, to contemplate the character of her beauty. And our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, stated (Yerushalmi Sanhedrin 2:3) about that which is written (II Samuel 20:3), "and they remained in seclusion until the day they died, in living widowhood" - that each day David would command that their heads be beautified and that perfumes be given to them to adorn them in order to provoke his desire and to [then] subdue it, when he would conquer his impulse for them, in order to atone for himself about the matter of Bathsheba.

The first quality: Know that the love of Abraham, peace be upon him, was to teach all those who came into the world the service of the Creator, blessed be He, and proclaim His name always, as it is said (Genesis 13:4), “And Abraham called there on the name of the Lord.” It is also said (ibid., 12:8), “And he built an altar unto the Lord, Who appeared unto him.” And it is said (ibid., 21:33), “And Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and called there on the name of the Lord.” These verses are to let you know that every place that Abraham went he would call on the name of the Lord and would occupy himself with service to Him. He was not restrained from doing so by the fear of the nations of the world.

The third quality: The pious man rejects all those who reject the Creator, blessed be He, and he loves all those that love the Creator. For the Creator, blessed be He, said to Abraham (Genesis 12:1), “Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house,” and he rejected his family and the house of his father because God, blessed be He, had rejected them. As it is said (ibid., 12:4), “So Abraham went, as the Lord had spoken unto him.”

From the line הנה נא ידעתי כי אשה יפת מראה את, "Here I know (now) that you are a very attractive looking woman," we learn that Abraham was so chaste that up to that point he had remained unaware of Sarah's physical attractiveness. This quality of chastity is most inspiring.

This is what Solomon referred to in his prayer in Kings 18,12: "Then Solomon declared: 'The Lord has chosen to abide in a thick cloud. I have now built for You a stately House, a place where You may dwell forever'" It is further written as part of Solomon's prayer in Kings I 8,26: "Now, therefore, O G–d of Israel, let the promise that You made to Your servant my father David be fulfilled. But will G–d really dwell on earth? Even the heavens to their uttermost reaches cannot contain You, how much less this House that I have built!" At this point David's prayer in Psalms 132,8-11 is invoked by Solomon in Chronicles II 6,40-41. When Solomon completed his prayer, fire descended from heaven and consumed the total offering and the meal offerings; the glory of G–d filled the House (Chronicles II 7,1). It was then that the relationship between G–d and earth (Man) was restored to the level prior to Adam's sin. The conduits from heaven poured their blessing on mankind via the Holy Temple. This is the true meaning of Psalms 133,3: "Like the dew of Hermon that falls upon the mountains of Zion. There the Lord ordained blessing, everlasting life." It is also written in Psalms 50,2: "From Zion, perfect in beauty, G–d appeared."

For the man who curses his fellow is hated by the Holy One Blessed is He, who promised Avraham, “I will curse those who curse you and those who bless you I will bless” (Bereishis 12:3). Thus He put a hook into the mouth of the wicked Bila’am, who wished to curse Israel, transforming his curses into blessings.

Know further that there are those with an evil temperament, Heaven spare us, whose eyes, mouths and hearts are rooted in the Sitra Achra. The curses of such individuals are extremely dangerous. Rabbi Yehudah HaChassid writes that malignant spirits called chitzonim are prepared to actualize these curses by lodging accusations against the victim. If the Holy One Blessed is He did not shield him on account of His promise to Avraham, “And you will be a blessing” (Bereishis 12:2), the curses would take effect on that person, Heaven forbid.

The Temple was the focus where all G–d's blessings were first received; thence they were distributed to the seventy nations of the world corresponding to the seventy "princes" in the Celestial Regions. All these nations received a "reward" from Jerusalem, i.e. all mankind benefited from the Temple of the Jewish people. This was a promise G–d had already made to Abraham in Genesis 12,3: "And all the families of the earth shall bless themselves through you." Solomon knew how G–d directed these blessings via various conduits, and this is why he made gardens, planted orchards and trees etc. as described in Kohelet 2,5. It was patently impossible for Solomon to have planted all these various plants in a single location, [many require different climates in order to grow properly. Ed.] Solomon knew which of the various conduits led to which part of the earth. He therefore strategically placed the various plants near these different conduits so that their seeds would be carried to those areas of the earth where they could flourish best. This is the deeper meaning of Psalms 50,2 quoted earlier. Zion is perceived as the foundation of the earth. The שכינה dispatches blessings to various parts of the earth, to each in accordance with the deserts of its inhabitants.

Here is an instance that shows that the sequence in which the Torah reports events is not necessarily the chronological order in which things occurred. Remember that Abraham was seventy years old at the time of the covenant between the pieces in 15,18 (as we know on the authority of סדר עולם). Our sages also consider the count of the four hundred years that the Torah mentions in that covenant (15,13) as commencing with the birth of Isaac. When Exodus 12,40 mentions a period of 430 years that the Israelites "resided" in Egypt, our sages compute that period as having commenced at the ברית בין הבתרים "the covenant between the pieces," i.e. when G–d revealed Himself to Abraham in 15,1. [Rashi's commentary that this number includes the years spent elsewhere as strangers by Abraham and his descendants, may be based on the letter ו (and), before the word מושב in 12,40. Ed.]

We therefore see that the patriarchs by their very lifestyles reveal the mystical aspects of Creation through their lifestyles as reported in the Torah. Bereshit Rabbah 1,10, commenting on why the Torah commences with the letter ב instead of the letter א, mentions several reasons. The Torah wishes to indicate that there are two worlds, the עולם הזה, and the עולם הבא. The letter ב symbolises ברכה, blessing. The letter א would have been inappropriate, because it is the first letter of the word ארור, cursed. Had the Torah started with א, many would have thought that this was proof that the whole enterprise of Creation was doomed to failure, i.e. cursed. As a result of such considerations, G–d decided to create the universe by using the letter ב first, hoping that the universe would endure. We see that both the Creation and (the lives of) the patriarchs express the concept of ברכה, blessing. It is fitting then that the source of, or better key to, blessings should have been placed in the hands of the patriarchs. G–d first told Abraham about this in Genesis 12,2 when He literally commanded him to become a source of blessing by telling him that he had become the repository of blessings. Isaac inherited this gift from his father as we see from Genesis 25,11 where G–d passed on Abraham's blessing to Isaac after Abraham's death. The competition between Esau and Jacob was about which of the two would be the heir to this power to bless with which G–d had invested Abraham and subsequently Isaac. Jacob became the heir to this power to bless, and he in turn bequeathed it to his children. Abraham did not personally bequeath these blessings to his son Isaac but waited for G–d Himself to do so. The reason for this will be explained when we deal with the blessing that Isaac bestowed on Jacob. We will also quote the comments of Bereshit Rabbah on that subject.

Nonetheless, there was a partial rehabilitation through the construction of the Tabernacle called מקדש, Sanctuary, which served as an illustration of how the material and spiritual worlds are inter-related, as I have explained on פרשת תרומה and on פרשת ויקהל-פקודי. It was equivalent to a new act of creation, a rejuvenation of the universe as it were. In that rejuvenated universe Aaron took the place of Adam. Of Aaron the Torah writes specifically that he should be brought "close," i.e. that he should personify what Adam had personified prior to the latter's sin. (cf. Exodus 28,1 and the Midrash I have quoted in connection with that verse). In our physical universe Aaron's function as High Priest corresponds to the function of the High Priest in the Celestial Region who offers the souls of the righteous on an altar (Chagigah 12). We have illustrated this by quoting כי היום ה' נראה אליכם (Leviticus 9,4) and showing that the words נראה אליכם nhna comprise the same letters as אהרן , מיכאל. This is an allusion to Aaron's function here on earth being similar to that of the archangel Michael in Heaven. Aaron was to bring about the closest rapprochement possible between man and G–d Instead of offering the souls of the righteous, Aaron could only offer animal sacrifices i.e. from the domesticated beasts such as the cattle and the sheep. This was basically no different from what Adam himself had done after he had sinned, when he sacrificed the ox which is reputed to have had a single horn on its forehead (Shabbat 28). Noach offered animal sacrifices in expiation for a corrupt human society which had been punished. Abraham did likewise in order to obtain forgiveness for the sin of the generation of the Tower of Babel. It is written of him ויבן שם מזבח לה' ויקרא בשם ה', "He built there an altar for the Lord, and proclaimed the name of the Lord" (Genesis 12,8). Not only did Abraham offer animal sacrifices, but he even offered his only beloved son Isaac as a sacrifice.

All these three gifts are directly related to the patriarchs. The gift of Torah commenced during the lifetime of Abraham, as we know from Sanhedrin 97, in which the 6000 years designated for the history of man in this world are divided into 2000 years of Tohu, followed by 2000 years of Torah. This latter period began when the Torah reports both Abraham and Sarah as having converted people to belief in monotheism in Genesis 12,5: ואת הנפש אשר עשו בחרן. The gift of ארץ ישראל began to be real when Isaac was forbidden to leave that country even during periods of famine, and G–d explained that this was because this land was given to him and his descendants (Genesis 26,2-3).

When we look at certain individuals who lived prior to the time the Tabernacle was erected, we find that נח, אדם and אברהם respectively personified the concept of עשן, i.e. שנה,עולם , and נפש. Adam represented עולם, seeing he was the product for whose sake G–d had undertaken to create the universe. Noach personified the concept of שנה, seeing that during his lifetime the world underwent cataclysmic changes. He witnessed a world which functioned; he then witnessed a world that was destroyed; finally he witnessed a world rebuilt. Our patriarch Abraham, inasmuch as he personified absolute faith in G–d, comprised within himself all the spiritual powers connected with the soul. The Torah testifies that while still in Charan he and Sarah "made" souls, created people who possessed spiritual values, i.e. a soul (Genesis 12,5). Vayikra Rabbah 1,9 comments on Leviticus 1,1 ויקרא אל משה, "He called upon Moses," that whereas G–d called upon Moses, He did not call upon Adam. This seems peculiar in view of ויקרא ה' אלוקים אל האדם, in Genesis 3, 9! Obviously G–d did call upon Adam! We must answer by stating that it is not a disgrace for the king to speak to his tenant. The Midrash goes on: G–d spoke to Moses, i.e. וידבר ה' אליו, whereas he did not speak to Noach. How are we to understand this in view of Genesis 8,15: וידבר אלוקים אל נח! We must answer that it is no disgrace for a king to speak to his herder.

There are three kinds of generosity : generosity with money, generosity with one's body, and generosity with one's wisdom — and all three were found in Abraham, our father. He was generous with his money, as it is written, "And he planted a tamarisk" (Gen. 21:33). He was generous with his body, for he saved his nephew, Lot, and fought for his sake. He was generous in his wisdom, for he taught everyone the right path until they became converted, as it is written, "And the souls that they had gotten in Haran" (Gen. 12:5).

The Gentile slave obtains his release in the event any of 24 types of his limbs have been destroyed (Kidushin 24, Baba Kama 75). This is to remind us that man was created in the image of G–d (Genesis 1,27). Our sages explain that man's 248 limbs correspond to the number of the Torah's positive commandments. These in turn are symbolic of the 248 joints in the אדם העליון, man's spiritual counterpart in the Celestial Regions, who sits on the throne. This is why the first of the patriarchs, Abraham, was called אבר מה (the letters in his name being re-arranged). The מה, corresponds to the numerical value of the word אדם, which in turn is equivalent to the four lettered name of G–d spelled in letter form. =ה-א ,13=ו-א-ו ,6=ה-א ,20=י-ו-ד6, total=45. Abraham did not want to be associated through marriage with אליעזר, who is ארור, cursed, having been a descendant of כנען, who was cursed by Noach to remain a slave permanently (Genesis 9,25). It is not possible for ברוך and ארור, the blessed and the cursed, to be paired successfully. Abraham of course, was blessed, and so were his descendants (Genesis 12,2). Kabbalists perceive of ראשי אברים as referring to man at his moral best, i.e. אדם הפנימי, as well as a corresponding type of ראשי אברים, of the אדם החיצוני, man at his moral worst, i.e. man under the influence of Noach's curse. By destroying the ראש אבר of a Gentile slave, one releases that person from the influence of that curse. Therefore, he no longer needs to be a slave (as per Genesis 9,25). As a result, such a person can join the ranks of the free, the ones subject to G–d's blessing.

They commenced sinning by considering their personal standing in the community. What concerned them was that Joshua was among those who had been selected to be spies. We know of Joshua that he never moved from the tent of Moses, was his personal valet, etc. (compare Exodus 24,13, and 33,11). The spies reasoned that his inclusion could only be because he would lead Israel in battle to conquer the Holy Land, and that on account of this Moses had also sent him on this mission. G–d had done something similar when He had told Abraham to traverse the land of Canaan (Genesis 13,17), since it would be given to his descendants. Abraham was to be a model for his children, etc. This thought had occurred to the spies only after they had heard Eldad and Meidad prophesy about Moses dying and Joshua leading the Jewish people. This is the reason this portion follows the report of the selection of the seventy elders without an introduction about Israel having requested this mission, as reported in Deuteronomy. Rashi had pointed out already in Exodus 17,14, when G–d instructs Moses to “put it in the ears of Joshua,” that there will be an ongoing war between G–d and Amalaek, but that G–d will wipe out every vestige of Amalek. The reason it was necessary for Joshua to know all this first hand, was a hint to Moses that Joshua would one day become the leader. The eventual mission of the spies was already being prepared at that time.

The second "day" followed later when G–d told Abraham to go to the land of Israel. This represented the fulfilment of the first part of G–d's promise. The extra letter ה in the description of יום הששי, refers to the day when Israel accepted the Torah at Mount Sinai.We are told in Avodah Zarah 9 that the two thousand years of "Torah" commence with the time that the Torah mentions Abraham and Sarah as having succeeded in converting people to monotheism, i.e. ואת הנפש אשר עשו בחרן (Genesis 12,5). [The foregoing is based on the tradition that mankind prior to the Messiah experiences three periods of 2000 years, the first period described as "Tohu," the second as "Torah," and the last as "days of the approach of the Messiah." Ed.] Abraham and Sarah respectively had proselytized, he the men and she the women. Abraham was 52 years old at that time.

G–d answered Satan at that time, that Abraham already had offered such a sacrifice at the time he circumcised himself and again when he circumcised Isaac, seeing that circumcision rates as a major sacrifice. When he did this he fulfilled the commandment of Leviticus 1,2: אדם כי יקריב מכם קרבן, "when someone offers a sacrifice it should be part of you," i.e. part of your very self. We have an allusion to this in Genesis 12,11 ויהי כאשר הקריב לבא מצרימה, when the use of the word הקריב instead of קרב, indicates that he brought himself closer to G–d (see our commentary page 80). G–d compensated the Jewish people for Abraham's devotion at the appropriate time. We know that circumcision itself rates as a major sacrifice from the boast of Ishmael to Isaac that whereas he, Ishmael, had submitted voluntarily to that painful procedure at the age of thirteen, Isaac as an eight day old baby had not suffered, nor had he accumulated a merit for consenting to that act. Isaac responded that if G–d were to ask him to sacrifice his entire body he would be prepared to do so (compare Sanhedrin 89). According to this last version the words אחר הדברים האלה in 22,1 refer to this conversation between Ishmael and Isaac. We will demonstrate that both approaches are true and reflect valid Torah viewpoints.

Abraham planted an אשל, (another word for orchard); he entered and emerged spiritually whole. Abraham traversed the whole land of Canaan (Genesis 12,6) descended into the land of Egypt, a country filled with all sorts of impurities. He was saved from being affected by any of them, and the Torah reports him as having ascended again from Egypt "southward" (Genesis 13,1). [The term "southward" is geographically incorrect as the land of Canaan is situated north of Egypt. Ed.] All of Abraham's ascents were "southward," in line with the statement of our sages that he who wishes to acquire true wisdom should turn "southward." (Baba Batra 25b). Rabbi Akiva, too, entered the orchard spiritually whole and emerged whole.

As stated, the three letters in צחק allude to the respective ages of Sarah (90) and Abraham (100) when Isaac was born; the letter ח in the middle alludes to the number (8), the day on which Isaac was circumcised. When we write the word in מלואים, i.e. צדיק-חת-קוף, we have an allusion to the three gifts i.e תורה-ארץ ישראל-עולם הבא. Abraham and Sarah were צדיקים. He converted the men, she the women.

The fact that her age is alluded to first in the name צחק is to indicate that she was not merely an appendix to her husband. We have a similar situation when the Torah reports that Moses first relayed G–d's words to the women at Mount Sinai. We read in Exodus 19,3: "Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob (women), and tell the children of Israel." The reason that the women were addressed first, and of course expressed their willingness to accept Torah first, was to prevent anyone thinking they had done so only to please their husbands rather than to please G–d. Sarah similarly proselytized independently from her husband. Since Genesis 12,5 is the beginning of the gift of Torah, it is appropriate to mention the part a woman played first. The word צדיק spelled as words, צדיק-דלת-יוד-קוף, contains an allusion to the giving of the Torah as we know from ה' חפץ למען צדקו יגדיל תורה ויאדיר.

Concerning the interval of a year until such shoots take root, or, allegorically, until Abraham's physical transplantation to the land of Canaan is reflected in his entry into the ארץ ישראל העליון, the celestial counterpart of the land of Israel, the Torah goes on to say in 12,6: וירא ה' אל אברם ויאמר לזרעך אתן את הארץ הזאת, ויבן שם מזבח לה' הנראה אליו. "G–d appeared to Abram saying: To your descendants I shall give this land. He (Abram) built an altar there for the G–d who had appeared to him." Why does the Torah in this instance preface G–d's appearance with the words וירא ה' ויאמר, something that we do not find in 12,1?

On that subject, the Zohar (Sullam edition Lech-Lecha page 44) comments on 12,11: ויהי כאשר הקריב אברם לבא מצרימה, "It was when Abram came close to arriving in Egypt," that the word the Torah should have used for approaching is קרב. Why then did the Torah use the word הקריב? The answer is that the Torah used an expression it uses about Pharaoh in Exodus 14, 10 when the latter was in hot pursuit of the Israelites. Pharaoh caused Israel to become ready to repent when they realised the immediate danger Pharaoh's pursuit posed for them. This is the meaning of the causative form הקריב. In Abraham's case too, his experiences in Egypt brought him closer to G–d, seeing that all his calculations about protecting himself and Sarah had not prevented her from being taken to the King's palace to become his concubine. Abraham took a closer look at the inadequacies of the Egyptian culture and separated himself from that culture.

First we must know what Nachmanides has written on the subject of the Torah's reports about our patriarchs' experiences. On 12,6"Abraham traversed the land," Nachmanides writes as follows: Let me tell you a general principle that applies to all the stories of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, something that our sages expressed very concisely when they said מעשה אבות סימן לבנים, that "the experiences of the patriarchs foreshadowed the experiences of the Jewish people later on." This is the principal reason the Torah spends so much time on telling us of the journeys, the digging of wells and similar details in the lives of the patriarchs. Those who ponder these details think at first glance that these stories are superfluous and do not serve a useful purpose. Actually, all these events foreshadow events in the future. When these events occur to a prophet in the future they will be understood as something that had been decreed by G–d a long time ago during the lives of the Patriarchs as ordained to happen to their descendants. Whereas during the lives of the Patriarchs these were merely potential happenings in the history of the descendants, they became reality in their respective eras by means of the prophets. This is why the prophets performed certain deeds such as Jeremiah (51,63) ordering Baruch to tie his book to a stone and upon having finished reading it to throw it into the river Euphrates. He added that that act symbolized the descent of the Jewish people into the Babylonian exile. A similar reason prompted Elisha in Kings II 13, 17 when he told King Joash to take a bow and shoot arrows, an arrow of victory for the Lord, an arrow of victory over Aram. Subsequently, Elisha told the king to strike the ground with the arrows. The king did so, but only three times. Elisha was very angry and told him that if he had struck the ground five or six times this would have resulted in the king annihilating Aram in battle totally, but now, Israel would prove victorious over Aram in three wars only. G–d made Abraham experience certain things in the land of Israel in order that these experiences might serve as the forerunners of the later experiences of the Jewish people. [Rabbi Chavell in his commentary on Nachmanides points out that it was not Baruch but the ministers who had been commanded to throw the book into the river. Ed.]

On the verse "There was famine in the land" (12,10), Nachmanides writes as follows: Abraham descended to Egypt on account of the famine, in order to spend some time there to keep alive during the drought, and the Egyptians oppressed him by robbing him of his wife. G–d took revenge on them by striking them with great afflictions and G–d led Abraham out from there with livestock, silver and gold. Pharaoh even ordered his men to make sure that Abraham would depart. Abraham's experience was repeated when Jacob and family descended to Egypt to escape the famine in Canaan, when they were eventually oppressed and the Egyptians separated them from their wives. The Israelites were eventually liberated but only after the Egyptians had been smitten with many plagues. Everything that their patriarch Abraham experienced, his descendants experienced on a national scale. The whole matter is explained by Rabbi Pinchas in the name of Rabbi Oshiyah in Bereshit Rabbah 40,6 who has G–d tell Abraham that he should pave the way for his descendants, and that as a result you find that Abraham's experiences foreshadowed those of his descendants. Example: Abraham experienced famine and moved to Egypt; Joseph told his father Israel that there would be five more years of famine (Genesis 45,6).

In connection with the debate in the Talmud (Shabbat 55a) whether זכות אבות, reliance on the merits of our patriarchs is still effective today, and if not, when it ceased to be so, the author makes the following observations: Tosafot quote a verse proving that even nowadays, i.e. after the destruction of the second Temple, this merit has not expired, and that we mention it in our prayers in order to remind G–d of it. I believe (author) that there is a difference between someone saying: "Please remember so and so," and someone saying: "Please do not forget so and so." The opinions in the Talmud which try and determine the merit of the forefathers ceased to be effective refer to G–d no longer actively remembering the merit of the patriarchs but simply not having forgotten them. The author of our prayer therefore refers to the merits of our forefathers כלא היו, "as if they had never existed," as distinct from "never having existed, having been used up." This is the difference between אין, and כאין. The חכמים mentioned in our prayer are the twelve sons of Jacob, all of whom accumulated powerful merits, so much so that Solomon describes them as a source of joy to their father (Proverbs 10,1). We also have a verse in Proverbs 24,3: בחכמה יבנה בית, "a house is built by wisdom," which is a reference to the house of Jacob. There used to be a period when the merits of the forefathers were constantly on G–d's mind. This was when the High Priest wore the breastplate. During those years the knowledge of what G–d desired flowed to us through the אורים ותומים, the oracle contained in that breastplate. Nowadays, alas, we are as if bereft of knowledge, i.e. כבלי מדע.

אבל אנחנו עמך – It is a fact that the merit of our patriarchs will assist us, provided we conduct ourselves as their true descendants and follow in their footsteps. We are urged to do so in Songs of Songs 1,8: צאי לך בעקבי הצאן, "Contemplate the actions of your ancestors" (cf. Rashi). When we do this their merits will be merged with all those described by the author of our prayers as בני בריתך, because we are בני אברהם אהבך. The prayer continues to cite the promises G–d made to Abraham in return for his offering Isaac on the altar. The mystical dimension of humility is deeply intertwined with the mystical dimension of love. The three patriarchs symbolize the three kinds of perfection we have discussed, that of the soul, that of the body and that of the way we handle money. Abraham demonstrated the perfection of the soul when he offered Isaac, his only beloved son, as a total offering, something which entailed a total abrogation of self.

The message in our case is that Abraham's entire striving from then on was to achieve a position on the right side of G–d. He constantly moved in a spiritually "southward" direction, i.e. striving to come closer to G–d. This is expressed in the Torah by the words 12,9) הלוך ונסוע הנגבה). He achieved his goal: though he sat on G–d's left side, G–d portrayed Himself as sitting on Abraham's right side. Performance of acts of kindness, charity, hospitality, etc. are all expressions of drawing people near with one's right hand, i.e. a symbolic way of expressing one's desire to sit on the right side of G–d. All of the Messiah's eventual accomplishments are merely an extension of a process that Abraham had set in motion, a process of drawing near to G–d. This is the reason that Psalm 110 which the Yalkut quoted commences with words indicating that G–d invites Abraham to sit on His right, meaning that since Abraham had activated G–d's "right," the position of David (the Messiah on G–d's right side) is due to Abraham's accomplishments.

Let us now get back to our previous statement that when at the beginning of our פרשה G–d asked Abraham to move to the land of Canaan and promised possession of that land to him and his descendants, this was already the second time G–d promised him ארץ ישראל, the first time having been five years earlier at the ברית בין הבתרים. The first promise corresponded to the "first" part of Creation; the second promise was in respect of the "second" part of Creation, i.e the period in history that represents "Torah." That period commenced with the verse telling us that Abraham and Sarah had "made souls in Charan," i.e. had converted pagans to the belief in the One and Only G–d who created the universe (12,5). We have explained the principle that Abraham represents the סוד (real reason) for the creation of the universe as alluded to in the spelling of בהבראם. When G–d speaks about making Abraham's name "great" in 12,2, using the expression ואגדל-ה, this is an allusion to the addition of that letter ה to his name אברם, the way his name would have been spelled in Genesis 2,4 without the "small" letter ה. G–d tells אברם in 12,5 that when in the future he would be ready to be circumcised (17,5) his name would be changed to אברהם.

Fourth — Upon his death his soul will be escorted through thirteen gates of the supernal worlds and no one will object. Concerning such a one was it said, “My covenant was with him, of life and peace” (Malachi 2:5). But on top of this he earns an even greater reward. Indeed, an angel named YHODAYS — יהודעי"ת, has been appointed over the souls of those who issue rebuke for the sake of Heaven (Zohar, 2:129a). This angel takes the visage of the one who benefited the public with his rebuke and inclined the world to the side of merit and brings it before the holy King. He then bestows upon it all the blessings that the patriarch Avraham received for having led idolaters to the worship of the Holy One Blessed is He, as it is stated, “And the souls that they made in Charan” (Bereishis 12:5). Afterwards that visage is allowed to enter seventy hidden worlds to which no one is admitted other than those who benefited the public through their rebuke.