הלכה על בראשית 12:22

The first personal mitzvah given to the first Jewish person was the mitzvah of circumcision. However, according to all [other opinions] it was the mitzvah of going up to the land [of Israel], as it is said "Ad-nai said to Abram, 'Go forth from your native land and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you.'"However, the mitzvah of settling the land is a collective mitzvah, that encompasses all those living in the Jewish people in general, and the life of every Jewish individual in particular, but as a personal mitzvah the circumcision is the first mitzvah. There is a connection between the mitzvah of settling in the land and circumcision, since through those two mitzvot holiness reveals itself both in body and in physicality. Through settling in the land it becomes clear that there is value in every act of work that is connected to the building of the land, and through the brit milah it becomes clear that there is holy value to the body, therefore the orlah needs to be separated from it.

If one was reclining and eating at the table, and the time for minhah came, if there isn’t enough time to wait before it’s too late, he interrupts his meal and prays. But if there is enough time to wait, he finishes his meal and then prays.¹²⁸B. Shabbat 9b, and so the Tur and Orah Hayim 232. And likewise if during the festival of Sukkot he forgot to wave the lulav, and he is standing over his table, if there is enough time in the day to wait, he finishes his meal, and then waves it, but if there is not enough time in the day to wait, he interrupts his meal and waves the lulav.¹²⁹B. Sukkot 38a, because one must wave the lulav during the day time.

You already knew from “The Wisdom of Formation”¹⁵⁴I.e., Sefer Yetzirah, 4:7. that a human being has seven apertures: two ears, two nostrils, two eyes, and the seventh is the mouth. And the “sevenths” are what the Holy One Blessed be He has “chosen.” He created the heavens, and chose the seventh one, which is “aravot” (“deserts”),¹⁵⁵According to B. Hagigah 12b, “Resh Lakish said: There are seven heavens. Vilon, Raki’a, Shekhakim, Z’vul, Ma’on, Makchon, and Aravot.” as it is said, “Cast up a highway for Him who rides through the deserts [aravot].”¹⁵⁶Ps 68:5. He created seven days of the week, and chose the seventh day, which is Shabbat, as it said, “the days were formed, and for Him there was one among them.”¹⁵⁷Ps 139:16. He created seven climates, and chose the seventh one, which is the land of Israel, as it is said, “For the Lord has chosen Zion.”¹⁵⁸Ps 132:13.And meditate well on this verse: “The Canaanites were then in the land.”¹⁵⁹Gen 12:6. The secret meaning of the verse is “and a girdle she gives to the merchant [la-kana’ani –‘to the Canaanite’]”¹⁶⁰Prov 31:24. “Canaanite” can be a generic term for “merchant” in Biblical Hebrew, just as “gypsy” can generically refer to any wanderer in English, though this is not how R. Bahya reads “kana’ani” here. – a girdle is put on the middle of a body.¹⁶¹In other words, the Cana’anites were originally given the “girdle” – the land, that like a girdle, is in the “center” of all the other lands; its centrality is proof that God prefers it over other lands. Chavel suggests that R. Bahya alludes to a mystical interpretation found also in his contemporary R. Menahem Recanati’s comment on Gen 12:6. Recanati says that “The Canaanites were then in the land” hints that even before God handed the land of the Canaanites over to the Israelites, it was his “chosen” land. For Prov 31:24 says to the Canaanites was given the “girdle” – the center of all the lands. This was when God assigned to each nation a piece of the earth, and an angel above to rule over it. However, no nation below falls from power until its ruling angel above falls – hence “the Canaanites were then in the land.” Eventually this does occur, and so the Israelites get the “girdle” that had originally been assigned to the Canaanites and their ruling angel. He created seven apertures in the head, and chose the seventh one, which is the mouth. And it is well known that he did not choose it because it eats and drinks, but rather because of the Torah and the mitzvah to bless His Name and declare His praise, just as the heavens and their hosts declare His glory, as it said, “The heavens declare the glory of God, the sky proclaims His handiwork.”¹⁶²Ps 19:2. And thus it is written, “This people I formed for Myself, that they might declare My praise.”¹⁶³Is 43:21. It is obvious that all that the Holy One Blessed be He created in the world, He created only for His glory, and so the prophet proclaimed: “Everyone who is called by My Name, I created for My glory,”¹⁶⁴Is 43:7. and it is written, “The Lord made everything for a purpose – le-ma’anehu,” to praise Him, like in the expression, “And Miriam chanted – ve-ta’an – for them.”¹⁶⁵Ex 15:21, i.e., led the women in a song of praise after God saved them at the Red Sea. R. Bahya interprets le-ma’anehu and va-ta’an midrashically as if they came from the same verb. So if everything was created to praise Him, it goes without saying that the mouth, which is the particular instrument for praising Him, was created for none other than this.

That is that He commanded us about loving Him, may He be exalted. And that is that we think about and contemplate His commandments, His statements and His actions until we comprehend Him and derive the greatest pleasure from that comprehension. And that is the love that is obligated. And the language of the Sifrei (Sifrei Devarim 33:1) is, "Since it is stated, 'And you shall love,' I would not know how a man is to love the Omnipresent. [Hence] we learn to say, 'And these things that I command you today shall be upon your heart' (Deuteronomy 6:6) - that through this, you will recognize the One that spoke and the world [came into being]." Behold we have explained to you that comprehension will come to you through contemplation and you will [then] come to pleasure, and perforce the love will come. And we have already clarified that this commandment also includes that we call all people to His service, may He be exalted, and to believe in Him. And that is since when you love a person, you will recount his praises and magnify him, and call on other people to love him. And this is, by way of analogy, the same with true love of Him, may He be exalted: When comprehension of His truth comes to you, you without a doubt call out to the fools and silly ones to know the true knowledge that you know. And the language of the Sifrei (Sifrei Devarim 32:2) is, "'And you shall love the Lord, your God' - cause Him to be loved by the creatures, like your father Avraham (did); as it is stated (Genesis 12:5), 'and the souls that they had made in Charan.'" And it means to say: Like Avraham who loved [God] - as Scripture testifies, "Avraham, who loves me" (Isaiah 41:8), and this was from his great comprehension - to the point that he called people to Him. (See Parashat Vaetchanan; Mishneh Torah, Foundations of the Torah 2.)

It is a positive commandment to love God, may He be blessed, with all one's heart, and all one's soul, and all one's might. As it is said (Deuteronomy 6:5): "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might." The way to love Him is to meditate on His acts until one contemplates them to the degree to which he is able - when the heart is aflame with the love of Him. This is the love which is incumbent upon us. One should direct all of his thoughts toward the love of God, may He be blessed. A person can only love the Holy One, blessed be He from the knowledge with which he knows Him, so in proportion to that knowledge will be the love: if [the knowledge is] small, [the love will be] small; if great, great. Therefore, a person needs to focus himself on understanding and comprehending, through wisdom and known philosophies, the honor of his Master, in proportion to the ability which he has to understand and attain. This is one of the commandments which a person is obligated in at all times, at every moment. Included in this commandment is [the requirement] to bring people close to His service, may He be blessed, and to love Him for what he has created, as our forefather Avraham, peace be upon him, did, as it is said (Genesis 12:5): "And the souls which he created in Haran." Because of this, the Holy One, blessed be He, called Avraham His beloved, as it is said (Isaiah 41:8): "Avraham my beloved."

And so we find that the sages said about Avraham our Father, who worried about getting out of Haran and abandon his father Terach on his old age, and God said to him "Go forth from your native land and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you" (Gen. 12:1), and [God] exempted him with this from the mitzvot related to honoring parents (Bereshit Rabbah 39:8). And so our sages said that Yaakov our Father was punished through his son Yosef abandoning him for 22 years, because he himself abandoned his parents and went to Haran for 22 years. And even though Yaakov was compelled to flee his brother, who wanted to kill him, and did this because his parents commanded him to; due to the fact that nevertheless he did not honor his parents during that many years, and also due to the fact that he did not return quickly when he was able to, he was punished. Despite all this, for the needs of studying Torah a person can leave their parents: we find that Yaakov our Father went to the house of study of Shem and Ever, and learned there for 14 years, and was not punished for that (see Megilah 17a).

The Gemara, Ta'anit 10a, declares that in Erez Yisra'el bounty flows directly from God Himself, whereas in other lands it is channeled through a "messenger." Avnei Nezer, Yoreh De'ah, II, no. 454, sec. 14, amplifies this comment by stating that in other lands divine beneficence is transmitted through angels while the Land of Israel is subject to the immediate and direct concern of God.¹⁴Cf., R. Moses Sofer, Teshuvot Ḥatam Sofer, Yoreh De‘ah, no. 234, who develops a similar thesis but speaks of other lands as being “nurtured” by, and as deriving their “vitality” through, the intermediacy of the Land of Israel which by virtue of its sanctity is the source of such beneficence. Even though subsequent to the destruction of the Temple Jerusalem has lost its special status insofar as fulfillment of miẓvot uniquely associated with the holy city is concerned, Jerusalem is to be preferred over other cities in Israel because of its enhanced holiness. Similarly, Avnei Nezer, sec. 33, asserts that Jerusalem enjoys special status by virtue of the presence of the divine shekhinah. In this vein may be understood the Sages' comment, "One who dwells in Erez Yisra'el is comparable to one who has a God, but one who dwells outside the Land is comparable to one who has no God" (Ketubot 110b).¹⁵See also the statement found in Arakhin 32b regarding enhanced efficacy of prayer in Ereẓ Yisra’el due to the zekhut of the Land. The comments of the Zohar on Genesis 12:1 make it clear that God's special relationship with Erez Yisra'el predates sanctification of the land and that it was in order to enjoy this unique form of Providence that God commanded Abraham to journey to the Promised Land.

R. Danzig, to whom the earlier responsa dealing with this subject were apparently unavailable, quotes an intriguing midrashic comment on the verse "Go you from your land and from your birthplace and from your father's house" (Gen. 12:1). Noting the seemingly redundant inclusion of the word "you—lekha," the Midrash declares that this word was added for a specific purpose. "Our father Abraham was afraid and said, 'I will go and through me the Divine Name will be profaned; [people] will say he left a father and went away in his old age.' The Holy One, Blessed be He, said to him, 'Go you; you I exempt from the precept of honoring father and mother, but another I do not exempt from honoring father and mother.' " The exemption granted to Abraham, R. Danzig notes, was for the express purpose of dwelling in the Holy Land. Since this dispensation was granted solely to Abraham, it would appear that others must give priority to honoring parents over fulfillment of the commandment concerning settlement in Israel. Rabbi Schepansky, emphasizing the contrary rulings of the earlier authorities previously cited, observes that the evidence adduced from the midrashic comment is not conclusive. Abraham required special dispensation because, at the time of his departure from his parental home, settlement in the Holy Land did not yet constitute the fulfillment of a mizvah. The Holy Land was not yet his possession and had not as yet become the "Land of Israel." Only with the granting of the Land of Canaan to Abraham as the homeland of the Jewish people did settlement in Israel constitute fulfillment of one of the commandments of the Torah.^2aMore fundamentally, it is doubtful that fulfillment of this commandment was at all a possibility prior to the sanctification of the Land of Israel in the time of Joshua. Thus Tosafot, Gittin 2a, maintains that areas not resettled by those who ascended from Babylonia are endowed with no sanctity whatsoever and hence one who dwells in such territories does not thereby fulfill a miẓvah. Cf. below, p. 318, n. 50, and p. 321, n. 56; cf. also Ḥidushei Rabbenu ha-Graz Soloveitchik al ha-Torah, Lekh Lekha, sec. 5. In all subsequent periods, Rabbi Schepansky argues, honor due to one's parents may not be permitted to interfere with settlement in Israel, in the same manner that the obligation to honor one's parents may not be permitted to deter one in the performance of other precepts.