Musar su Genesi 12:5

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 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.

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.

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.

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.