Musar su Genesi 17:22

The sixth quality: The pious man will not put any personal matter ahead of his service to God, until he has first fulfilled the commandment of his Creator, blessed be He. For we find that in any matter which the Creator, blessed be He, commanded Abraham, Abraham did not perform any one of his personal acts before fulfilling the commandment of God, blessed be He. Thus, in the covenant of circumcision, it is said (Genesis 17:22), “And God went up from Abraham.” And it is further written (ibid., 17:26), “In the selfsame day was Abraham circumcised,” and he did not perform any personal act until he had fulfilled the commandment. It is said in the case of Ishmael (ibid., 21:12), “In all that Sarah saith unto thee, hearken unto her voice, for in Isaac shall seed be called to thee.” It is written immediately after this (ibid., 21:14), “And Abraham arose up early in the morning, and took bread and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting in on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away.” We learn from this that in the dream of the night it was told to him, and therefore, he rose early in the morning before doing any other deed in order to fulfill the command of God, blessed be He.

Adam came along and through his sin ruined this balance. This resulted in the conduits between heaven and earth being broken; the sources of supply to earth were interrupted and G–d's Presence withdrew from Earth thus creating a separation between the Celestial and Terrestrial Regions. With the advent of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the Presence of G–d was once more drawn towards Earth step by step. The patriarchs are perceived as having established three thrones for G–d in our world. They made their own bodies carriers, i.e. thrones, for G–d to reside on, but this did not result in G–d's Presence having a permanent abode in our world. The temporary nature of G–d's Presence in our world during the lives of the patriarchs is alluded to in such statements as Genesis 17,22: ויעל אלוקים מעל אברהם, "G–d 'rose' from above Abraham." Concerning such occurrences our sages have said that the patriarchs acted as G–d's מרכבה, carrier. We therefore view the שכינה as "flying" in the air, having no permanent resting place in those days, unlike the time when Earth and Man had first been created.

This may be the reason why when Abraham is reported as "sitting" in 18,1 the word Yoshev sitting is spelled defective without the letter ו. [maybe the letter ו symbolizes upright posture. Ed.] This indicates that he tried to rise. At that point G–d told him that he would be a symbol for his descendants, for G–d Himself would rise as a member of a collegiate of judges. How does the subject of "judges" enter the picture here? The meaning is that at that point G–d revealed to Abraham that the attribute of Justice was extended over Sodom. The reason Abraham was informed of this, now that he was circumcised, is that justice is something that can only be administered by people who have been circumcised, as we know from Exodus 21,1: ואלה המשפטים אשר תשים לפניהם, "These are the judgments you are to place before them. "The words "before them" are to exclude Gentiles who have not been circumcised, as we learn from Gittin 88. Being uncircumcised is not only a matter of the foreskin, but the same concept also applies to one's thinking processes. This is why we have ערלי לב, people whose hearts have remained "uncircumcised" (Ezekiel 44,7). All the Gentiles fall into that category; they therefore cannot be entrusted to administer the laws of the Torah. The Torah calls the judges א-להים, the same letters as in מילה, (allowing for the addition of the letter א for G–d), and that is also the name of G–d which represents the מרכבה. This is the meaning of Genesis 17,22: ויעל א-להים מעל אברהם, "G–d "rose" from Abraham." Judges have to be סמוכים, i.e. close to G–d, a condition that cannot be attained until after circumcision. [Nowadays סמוכים means ordained. Ed.] The letter א that the word מילה falls short of being equal to the word א-להים alludes to the fact that man, even when at his spiritually highest plateau, still remains one little bit below the spiritual level of G–d, as we know from Psalms 8,6: ותחסרהו מעט מא-להים, "You have made him a little less than divine. The same is true of the 50 levels of intelligence and insight. The most any man, (Moses), was granted was 49 levels of such knowledge and insight. Our sages in Rosh Hashanah 21b have derived this from reading the word מעט in Psalms 8,6 as מט, i.e. 49.

Abraham, as the progenitor of Isaac, who had removed the foreskin which Adam had been gross enough to "pull down," had managed to become the person who is fit to be the carrier of the מרכבה, the Presence of G–d, as is clearly indicated in Genesis 17,22 "G–d ascended from Abraham." This ascent occurred after G–d had concluded an eternal covenant with him, as is specifically stated here ואת בריתי אקים את יצחק, "and I will maintain My covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear for you." This is a promise that in the future the world will achieve its perfection, as always planned by G–d. In view of the above, the meal at which the timing of Isaac's birth was announced was certainly an event of spiritual significance, something not unlike the meal G–d is said to serve the righteous in the future.

G–d looked upon Abraham as the innkeeper of the Sanctuary, so to speak. When we read in Genesis 17,22: "G–d rose from above Abraham," this is a clear indication that Abraham served as the מרכבה, the carrier of the שכינה. I have explained already that the letters in the name אברהם are an allusion to the various מרכבות. Abraham had personally fulfilled the injunction of the Torah אדם כי יקריב מכם קרבן לה' when he offered up his only beloved son Isaac. This amounted to אדם התחתון, man in the lower regions, establishing a close affinity with אדם העליון, man in the Celestial Regions in the mystical dimension of ואת הדבקים בה'. Isaac was the perfect עולה offering for G–d.

Kabbalists have explained that the name אברהם contains an allusion to the מרכבה of the four חיות, described as supporting the throne of G–d in the first chapter of Ezekiel. They are אדם-אריה-שור-נשר. The שור was turned into a כרוב, cherub, after Ezekiel asked G–d to have mercy on that חיה according to Chagigah 13. The reason was that the shape or face of the שור would have reminded G–d of the Jewish people's sin with the golden calf. Therefore we find that the מרכבה described in Ezekiel consisted of אדם-כרוב-נשר-אריה. When you take the name אברהם, the letter א refers to G–d, that He is One who "rides" on His מרכבו, i.e. on בר"הם, which are the final letters כרוב, נשר, אריה, אדם. The word נדיב in Song of Songs 6, 12 alludes to that מרכבה when we employ a method called אבגד. (This means that we take the first letter of the word נשר, the second letter of the word אדם, the third letter of the word אריה, and the fourth letter of the word כרוב). Who is this Nediv? It is none other than אברהם אבינו who is the subject of Psalms 47, 10: נדיבי עמים נאספו עם אלוקי אברהם, "The great of the peoples are gathered together, the retinue of Abraham’s G–d. When our sages comment on Genesis 17,22: ויעל אלוקים מעל אברהם, "G–d "rose" from above Abraham," they had in mind that the patriarchs were the מרכבה, G–d's entourage, (Bereshit Rabbah 47,6).