창세기 12:22의 Chasidut
Noam Elimelech
And Yaakov sent messengers ahead of him (Gen. 32:4) - this is explained in the way of hint [remez]. Behold the work of the tzadik is to be clinging to the Blessed and Elevated One, to cling his soul under the Throne of Glory, the place of his root, and the tzadik purifies and cleanses himself from all external desires - and then his cleansed body too clings to the Blessed One. And this is the expression "tefilah" [prayer], that is, clinging, like "the wrestlings [naftulei] of Elokim etc" (Gen. 30:8) [meaning] that the tzadik clings to the Blessed One through the clear and lucid prayers from/in pure thoughts. And this is "and he sent", an expression of accompanying [levayah] as in "Pharaoh commanded men and they accompanied him" (Gen. 12:20), and the Targum: "they led him" [v'a'l'viy'u] (Targum Jonathan on Genesis 12:20), meaning that the tzadik accompanies the messengers that go before him, that is, the words that come out of the mouth of the tzadik create angels from themselves, and the same happens with his clean body which helps his angels to go upward, "ahead of him to Esav his brother"- meaning, through this he causes Esac to become his brother. "Towards the land of Seir" - meaning, that he becomes his brother on below, this is the hint of "field of Edom", the angel-deputy of Edom also becomes his brother.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Kedushat Levi
Genesis 6,9. “The Lord said to Avram: ‘go for yourself,’ etc.” Many commentators ask why Avram endangered Sarai by taking her with him to Egypt, seeing that G’d had not given any instruction for either him or his wife to go to Egypt? The answer may be in the words: אל הארץ אשר אראך, “to the land that I will show you.” By being vague about Avram’s destination, and not naming the country, G’d may have hinted that Avram should move to any country which circumstances would indicate as a suitable destination for him. Hence, when he came to Eretz Yisrael and shortly thereafter a famine struck that land, he reasoned that it was time for him to move further south, to Egypt where there was no famine. This is the meaning of 12,10 ויהי רעב בארץ וירד אברם מצרימה כי כבד הרעב בארץ, “It was that when a famine broke out in the land, Avram descended to Egypt as the famine in the land was severe.” He took the outbreak of the famine as a sign from G’d not to remain in the land of Canaan, but to move on. He was convinced that he acted in accordance with G’d’s wishes.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Tiferet Shlomo
Genesis 12:1: Avraham Avinu was the chariot of the attribute of kindness as explained in Zohar and all other holy books. The essence of the kindness is to draw into this world so that G-d's glory fills the earth. As it says, "from glory, I created him, I formed him and I made him." This verse refers to the 4 spiritual worlds, and the Asiyah [the lowest of the worlds] is the main creation of Hashem. Avraham Avinu said to Eliezer: "I want you to swear in the name of Hashem, G-d of heaven and earth." Rashi explains that he could say “heavens and earth” since Avraham Avinu introduced Hashem to the world – before Avraham Avinu, only heavenly beings talked about the Hashem. Angels also praise G-d "full of glory” -- they desire that the whole world would be full of glory, as it says in the beginning: “G-d saw all that He had made, and saw that it was very good." This means that the goal of creation is this world since "made” [paralleling a part of an aforementioned verse, “I made him”, which corresponds onto Asiyah] and “saw that it was very good." Kindness, in its source, is called by name of “Avram.” “Av” [Father] is kindness as it says "A father has mercy on his children" [and “ram” meanings on “high,” so “Avram” is “High Father”]. Therefore, Avraham Avinu wanted to bring kindness and G-dliness as a chariot, so Hashem spoke to Avraham Avinu, and Hashem said that supernal kindness should descend to this world. This is the meaning of “lech lecha”[go forth]--that kindness should spread, “go forth,” and when it manifested into Abraham, it added a “hei” to his name. This is because the world was made with a “hei” and the source of Jewish people is called “hei,” and divine energy comes from the “yud” of the Divine name and into “hei.” "I’ll make your name great"—[Hashem said that] I'll add a “hei” to your name. Seemingly, what is the gift of “hei”? Rashi says it equals 248, and, according to me [the Tiferes Shlomo], Avraham Avinu was given the letter to draw down the supernal kindness into this world as this world corresponds to the Shechina, which the lower "hei" of Hashem's name. That's the [additional] meaning of the words "I'll make your name great": [the verse can be read as] “I'll add the 'hei'.” [Likewise,] “I will bless those who bless you” could we be read as "I will bless the 'hei'." The end of the verse, "you will be a blessing," has all the letters of the Divine Name, so may His name be blessed to draw down kindness into the world and for the Jewish people.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Kedushat Levi
Genesis 6,9. “these are the generations of Noach;" there are two types of righteous people, both of whom serve the Lord. The first category does so with enthusiasm and profound devotion, but does so as an individual only, not endeavouring to draw other people, admitted sinners, nearer to their Creator.
There is a second category of tzaddik, righteous person, who not only serves the Lord himself, but who also is instrumental in leading sinners back to their Creator. Avraham was a prime example of the latter type of tzaddik. He was busy converting pagans to monotheism.
According to Ari’zal, Noach was even punished for not rebuking the pagans in his time; his punishment consisted of his soul being reincarnated in the body of Moses in order to accomplish then what it had failed to accomplish on its first round inside a human body. Moses made up for the sin of omission of Noach by constantly rebuking the Israelites for their shortcomings. When our sages in Kidddushin 40 discussed the difference between a צדיק, “a righteous individual,” and a צדיק טוב, “a good righteous individual,” they said that the former is righteous vis a vis G’d, whereas the latter is “righteous both vis a vis G’d, and vis a vis his fellow man.” Being “good” to one’s peers involves more than being helpful and charitable; it includes admonishing one’s neighbour when one observes him violating G’d’s commandments. According to Sanhedrin 99, teaching one’s neighbour’s son Torah is one of the most important ways in which to demonstrate one’s concern for him, so much so that a student who has been taught Torah by someone other than his biological father is deemed as having been sired by that teacher. In introducing Avraham to us, the Torah underlines (Genesis 12:5) that when heading for the land of Israel from Charan, Avraham and Sarah took with them את הנפש אשר עשו בחרן, “the souls they had acquired while in Charan”. (the converts to monotheism)
When the Torah refers to Avraham, it never wrote the line: אלה תולדות אברהם, as opposed to Genesis 6,9-10 where amongst the תולדות of Noach we are told about his three sons; there is no mention or allusion to any converts that Noach had attracted to monotheism other than his own flesh and blood. The word אלה, “these,” is almost always used as a limitation, i.e. “these and none other.” In Noach’s case, he had failed to “acquire souls.”
When we reflect on this we will understand why the Torah wrote ונח מצא חן בעיני ה', instead of ונח היה לו חן בעיני ה'. The latter formulation would mean that when Noach faced G’d he brought with him much to commend him, i.e. his converts, whereas the formulation the Torah uses implies that G’d had to go looking for Noach; indeed he was a valuable find, a צדיק תמים, a perfectly righteous man, but not one that could not be overlooked such as Avraham’s “Chassidim.”
When the Torah testifies that את האלוקים התהלך נח, “Noach walked with G’d,” this sounds as proof of Noach’s aloofness vis a vis his fellow man [at least during the 120 years prior to the deluge when he was busy building his ark. Ed.] He was in step with G’d, but out of step with his peers. This is why the Torah repeats once more (verse 10) that he sired three sons, although the Torah had informed us of this already at the end of the last chapter (Genesis 5:32).
Noach, though aware of the many sexual perversions practiced by the people around him, and being steadfast in not copying their behaviour, is attested to by the Torah describing him as תמים היה בדורותיו, “he was perfect in his time.” Nonetheless, his loyalty to the Creator certainly did not endear him to his peers, hence “he walked with G’d”, as there was no one else “with whom to walk.” Sadly, only G’d appreciated his self-restraint, his righteousness.
There is a second category of tzaddik, righteous person, who not only serves the Lord himself, but who also is instrumental in leading sinners back to their Creator. Avraham was a prime example of the latter type of tzaddik. He was busy converting pagans to monotheism.
According to Ari’zal, Noach was even punished for not rebuking the pagans in his time; his punishment consisted of his soul being reincarnated in the body of Moses in order to accomplish then what it had failed to accomplish on its first round inside a human body. Moses made up for the sin of omission of Noach by constantly rebuking the Israelites for their shortcomings. When our sages in Kidddushin 40 discussed the difference between a צדיק, “a righteous individual,” and a צדיק טוב, “a good righteous individual,” they said that the former is righteous vis a vis G’d, whereas the latter is “righteous both vis a vis G’d, and vis a vis his fellow man.” Being “good” to one’s peers involves more than being helpful and charitable; it includes admonishing one’s neighbour when one observes him violating G’d’s commandments. According to Sanhedrin 99, teaching one’s neighbour’s son Torah is one of the most important ways in which to demonstrate one’s concern for him, so much so that a student who has been taught Torah by someone other than his biological father is deemed as having been sired by that teacher. In introducing Avraham to us, the Torah underlines (Genesis 12:5) that when heading for the land of Israel from Charan, Avraham and Sarah took with them את הנפש אשר עשו בחרן, “the souls they had acquired while in Charan”. (the converts to monotheism)
When the Torah refers to Avraham, it never wrote the line: אלה תולדות אברהם, as opposed to Genesis 6,9-10 where amongst the תולדות of Noach we are told about his three sons; there is no mention or allusion to any converts that Noach had attracted to monotheism other than his own flesh and blood. The word אלה, “these,” is almost always used as a limitation, i.e. “these and none other.” In Noach’s case, he had failed to “acquire souls.”
When we reflect on this we will understand why the Torah wrote ונח מצא חן בעיני ה', instead of ונח היה לו חן בעיני ה'. The latter formulation would mean that when Noach faced G’d he brought with him much to commend him, i.e. his converts, whereas the formulation the Torah uses implies that G’d had to go looking for Noach; indeed he was a valuable find, a צדיק תמים, a perfectly righteous man, but not one that could not be overlooked such as Avraham’s “Chassidim.”
When the Torah testifies that את האלוקים התהלך נח, “Noach walked with G’d,” this sounds as proof of Noach’s aloofness vis a vis his fellow man [at least during the 120 years prior to the deluge when he was busy building his ark. Ed.] He was in step with G’d, but out of step with his peers. This is why the Torah repeats once more (verse 10) that he sired three sons, although the Torah had informed us of this already at the end of the last chapter (Genesis 5:32).
Noach, though aware of the many sexual perversions practiced by the people around him, and being steadfast in not copying their behaviour, is attested to by the Torah describing him as תמים היה בדורותיו, “he was perfect in his time.” Nonetheless, his loyalty to the Creator certainly did not endear him to his peers, hence “he walked with G’d”, as there was no one else “with whom to walk.” Sadly, only G’d appreciated his self-restraint, his righteousness.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Kedushat Levi
This is what the Midrash had in mind when it interpreted the opening words of our chapter ואברהם זקן בא בימים, to mean that prior to the existence of Avraham there had not been a concept on earth known as זקנה, “old age,” i.e. G’d’s largesse flowing directly, without detour through nature, to any human being. The reason was simple. No human being had accumulated the kind of merits that enabled G’d to direct this flow of largesse by bypassing normal channels. Avraham’s merits had opened new channels of communication between G’d and man.
At this point the author refers to a method of writing the 72-lettered “name” of Hashem in 9 columns of 8 three lettered words, using Exodus 14,19,20 and 21, respectively, (each verse having 72 letters) and consecutively, and the middle verse in by reading it from left to right, so that you get the diagram shown.
In that diagram you will note that in the top row the “name” spelled סיט appears in the column preceding the one commencing with a name consisting of עלמ.
[I am attaching the diagram so that you, the reader can better visualize what the author is speaking about. Ed.]
The word סיט occurs on several occasions in the Mishnah, throughout the section known as taharot as a vessel used in measuring. (Maimonides on Keylim 13,4, Orlah, 3,2 for instance) This “name” of G’d serves as symbol of Avraham’s ability to channel G’d’s largesse from the celestial domains to our regions. The next column in our diagram is headed by the letters עלמ, [alluding to our עולם, world] and symbolizes for our purposes, the manner of distribution of this largesse once it has entered the sphere of the material world. We refer to this in our daily amidah prayer when we recite the words: וזוכר חסדי אבות ומביא גואל לבני בניהם. “He (G’d) remembers the deeds of loving kindness of the patriarchs and brings the redeemer to their children’s children.” On the face of it, it is difficult to understand the words חסדי אבות, “the pious deeds performed by the patriarchs.” All the author of this paragraph had to mention was וזוכר אבות, that “G’d remembers the patriarchs.” Furthermore, why would the author of this paragraph refer to the redemption as being brought to the “children’s children” of the patriarchs? It would have sufficed to refer to their בניהם, “children.” When speaking of fathers, it is customary to relate to their children rather than to their grandchildren. However, when understanding the entire paragraph and what it teaches in light of what we have explained, both the word “חסדי” and the words “לבני בניהם” make perfect sense, as the author draws our attention to the manner in which G’d’s largesse is transmitted to the Jewish people and who we have to thank for this. The חסד of which the author speaks is an allusion to the “source” of the largesse, i.e. G’d Himself, (not nature) whereas the בני בניהם, is an allusion to the meritorious deeds of the patriarchs which paved the way for the Jewish people to receive G’d’s largesse directly, without detours.
When the paragraph above is introduced with the words: ואברהם זקן בא בימים וה' ברך את אברהם בכל, this is an allusion to Avraham, the first of the patriarchs having been able to open the sluices of G’d’s treasure chamber to enable the flow of its goodness to bypass regular channels and flow directly to His people. When G’d’s largesse flows to us in this manner, it is not limited in measure at all, as it would be if it had to reach us via nature.
This is the meaning of bereshit rabbah 59,5 where the author writes: Avraham would bless everybody. (Compare Genesis 12,3) To the question whence Avraham was able to do so, i.e. who had blessed him first? The answer is that G’d personally, had done so in His capacity of רצון as explained on page 118.
At this point the author refers to a method of writing the 72-lettered “name” of Hashem in 9 columns of 8 three lettered words, using Exodus 14,19,20 and 21, respectively, (each verse having 72 letters) and consecutively, and the middle verse in by reading it from left to right, so that you get the diagram shown.
In that diagram you will note that in the top row the “name” spelled סיט appears in the column preceding the one commencing with a name consisting of עלמ.
[I am attaching the diagram so that you, the reader can better visualize what the author is speaking about. Ed.]
The word סיט occurs on several occasions in the Mishnah, throughout the section known as taharot as a vessel used in measuring. (Maimonides on Keylim 13,4, Orlah, 3,2 for instance) This “name” of G’d serves as symbol of Avraham’s ability to channel G’d’s largesse from the celestial domains to our regions. The next column in our diagram is headed by the letters עלמ, [alluding to our עולם, world] and symbolizes for our purposes, the manner of distribution of this largesse once it has entered the sphere of the material world. We refer to this in our daily amidah prayer when we recite the words: וזוכר חסדי אבות ומביא גואל לבני בניהם. “He (G’d) remembers the deeds of loving kindness of the patriarchs and brings the redeemer to their children’s children.” On the face of it, it is difficult to understand the words חסדי אבות, “the pious deeds performed by the patriarchs.” All the author of this paragraph had to mention was וזוכר אבות, that “G’d remembers the patriarchs.” Furthermore, why would the author of this paragraph refer to the redemption as being brought to the “children’s children” of the patriarchs? It would have sufficed to refer to their בניהם, “children.” When speaking of fathers, it is customary to relate to their children rather than to their grandchildren. However, when understanding the entire paragraph and what it teaches in light of what we have explained, both the word “חסדי” and the words “לבני בניהם” make perfect sense, as the author draws our attention to the manner in which G’d’s largesse is transmitted to the Jewish people and who we have to thank for this. The חסד of which the author speaks is an allusion to the “source” of the largesse, i.e. G’d Himself, (not nature) whereas the בני בניהם, is an allusion to the meritorious deeds of the patriarchs which paved the way for the Jewish people to receive G’d’s largesse directly, without detours.
When the paragraph above is introduced with the words: ואברהם זקן בא בימים וה' ברך את אברהם בכל, this is an allusion to Avraham, the first of the patriarchs having been able to open the sluices of G’d’s treasure chamber to enable the flow of its goodness to bypass regular channels and flow directly to His people. When G’d’s largesse flows to us in this manner, it is not limited in measure at all, as it would be if it had to reach us via nature.
This is the meaning of bereshit rabbah 59,5 where the author writes: Avraham would bless everybody. (Compare Genesis 12,3) To the question whence Avraham was able to do so, i.e. who had blessed him first? The answer is that G’d personally, had done so in His capacity of רצון as explained on page 118.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Flames of Faith
Everything in nature seeks to return to its root. So as well is a child always attracted to his parental home. Home as the source of one’s life has the quality of a root, and branches are attracted to their roots. Consider the strength of the bond between father and child. The father is the source of the son, he is a root, and the son is an offshoot. Since the attraction to source is so powerful the son seeks to emulate his father and earn his father’s approval.102Tzion Ve-Arehah, pg. 31. Similarly every man is attracted to his wife, and when single he feels forlorn and incomplete. This too stems from the need to reconnect to one’s roots. Before birth each soul is a duality, with a male half and a female half. When we are born, only half of a soul enters the world at a time. There is another half, of the opposite gender, that is born into another family. The urge for marriage is a desire to return to the perfect state, the most natural form in which we were originally created. Marriage is not a union of disparate individuals; it is a reunion of the halves that were initially one soul.103See further Made in Heaven, pg. 1, note 1. The primordial unity of souls is hinted at in the verse hemmah me-hevel yachad, “They are together from mist.” Since the point of mere soul mist, male was together with female. Perhaps this concept can explain a difficulty that is found in Rabbinic sources about mar-riage. Legal authorities stress that marriage should be performed with symbolic omens of blessing. For instance, ideally one should marry at the beginning of the lunar month when the moon, the symbol of the Jewish nation, is growing in luster. Second, there is a widespread custom to place the wedding canopy under the stars, the artifact of God’s blessing to Abraham that Jews will be as plentiful as the celestial lights. Yet the Rabbis derived the laws of marriage from the purchase of the machpelah cave, the Tomb of the Patriarchs, where Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, and Jacob and Leah are interred. Can a cemetery and death be a good omen? The answer is yes, the machpelah cave indicates the heights of union married individuals can reach. Marriage is not merely a partnership of bodies and lives, it is a reunion of souls. As a result it does not have to end. The body stops living at the point of death but the soul lives on and a marriage where husband and wife are fully connected to each other, continues after death. Even in the next world the two souls are fused. That is why our patriarchs and matriarchs were buried as couples in the same cave, to indicate that during their lifetimes they had fully fused their person-alities, and therefore the bond fully continued on a soulful level after death. Perhaps the name Chevron (where the machpelah cave is located) reflects this concept, since Chevron stems from the word chibbur, “connection.” Deriving the laws of marriage from the purchase of the machpelah cave is a wonderful omen, showing that in marriage an absolute unity can be achieved during the lifetime of the couple and that union can continue after physical death (Emunas Etecha, Parashas Vayetze, pg. 86).
Every nation’s root is their homeland; that is why Englishmen are loyal to England and Americans are loyal to America. The root of the Jewish nation is the Land of Israel. That is why Jews are innately attracted to the Land of Israel. In the realm of person, the roots of the Jewish people are our forefathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God introduced Himself to each with commandments about the Land of Israel. God’s first words to Abraham were Lech lecha, “Leave your land, birthplace, and family and go to the Land that I will show you [Israel]” (Gen. 12:1). To Isaac, He said, “Do not go down to Egypt; reside in the land that I will command you to stay there. Stay in this land [Israel]” (Gen. 25:2-3). And Jacob’s first message was, “I am the God of Abraham…. The land that you are lying on will be given to you and your descendants” (Gen. 28:13). Since the land of Israel is the root of the nation in the dimension of space, in the dimension of people our roots first began their relationships with God through hearing of the bond to the land (Emunas Etecha, Parashas Lech Lecha 5759).
The ultimate redemption will return Jewry to their land and thus will return us to our root. Since marriage is also a return to the root, marriage is the symbol of the redemption. That is why in the blessings celebrating marriage the seventh blessing requests the ultimate redemption. At a time of return to a root it is fitting to pray for the ultimate return to the Source. Thus, the prophet Jeremiah promised, “Once again it will be heard in the cities of Judea and in the outskirts of Jerusalem the sounds of joy and gladness, the sounds of groom and bride, the sounds of people declaring, let us thank God” (Jer. 33:10-11).
Every nation’s root is their homeland; that is why Englishmen are loyal to England and Americans are loyal to America. The root of the Jewish nation is the Land of Israel. That is why Jews are innately attracted to the Land of Israel. In the realm of person, the roots of the Jewish people are our forefathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God introduced Himself to each with commandments about the Land of Israel. God’s first words to Abraham were Lech lecha, “Leave your land, birthplace, and family and go to the Land that I will show you [Israel]” (Gen. 12:1). To Isaac, He said, “Do not go down to Egypt; reside in the land that I will command you to stay there. Stay in this land [Israel]” (Gen. 25:2-3). And Jacob’s first message was, “I am the God of Abraham…. The land that you are lying on will be given to you and your descendants” (Gen. 28:13). Since the land of Israel is the root of the nation in the dimension of space, in the dimension of people our roots first began their relationships with God through hearing of the bond to the land (Emunas Etecha, Parashas Lech Lecha 5759).
The ultimate redemption will return Jewry to their land and thus will return us to our root. Since marriage is also a return to the root, marriage is the symbol of the redemption. That is why in the blessings celebrating marriage the seventh blessing requests the ultimate redemption. At a time of return to a root it is fitting to pray for the ultimate return to the Source. Thus, the prophet Jeremiah promised, “Once again it will be heard in the cities of Judea and in the outskirts of Jerusalem the sounds of joy and gladness, the sounds of groom and bride, the sounds of people declaring, let us thank God” (Jer. 33:10-11).
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Kedushat Levi
Genesis 12,2. “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you and make your reputation great.” The Talmud (Pessachim 117) comments on this verse that “making Avraham great,” meant that when referring to G’d the Creator, people would describe G’d as “the G’d of Avraham.” The word ואברכך is a promise that the Israelites when praying will refer to G’d as “the G’d of Yitzchok,” whereas the words: ואגדלה שמך, “I will make your name great,” refer to the Israelites referring to G’d as the “G’d of Yaakov” in their prayers. I might have thought that when concluding the benediction they would also mention the names of all the patriarchs; in order to signal that this is not so, the Torah continues with והיה ברכה, “be a blessing!” (sing) i.e. that the signature of the benediction contains only the name of Avraham, i.e. מגן אברהם, “(Gd) the shield of Avraham.”
There are three attributes that G’d employs in His continuous relations with the creatures in His universe; they are אהבה, “love,” גבורה, “power,” and תפארת, “harmony, splendour.” When G’d relates to His creatures with the attribute of אהבה, “love,” all parts of the universe are filled with all manner of “good” (welcome) phenomena. When He has recourse to the attribute of גבורה, “power,” the result is that the creatures affected will feel the opposite of comfortable. When G’d employs the attribute of תפארת in relation to His creatures, the world will also feel an abundance of goodness, as it is G’d’s purpose and desire to be able to glorify in His choicest creation, man. When G’d is able to do this, He inundates the universe with love. We must not misunderstand the attribute of גבורה by regarding it as something negative. While the attribute of גבורה, when active, may appear to the people affected by it as something negative, unwelcome in the extreme, it is designed to enable G’d to again relate to all His creatures with love, once that attribute has accomplished its purpose.
This is what we are told in Job 8,7 (by Bildad) והיה ראשיתך מצער ואחריתך ישגה מאד, “though your beginning may be small (painful), in the end you will grow very great.” The overriding function of the attribute of גבורה is to carry out retribution in the world so that G’d will afterwards be able to pour out all His goodness on His creatures. Historically, the person who had realized this better than anyone else, was Nachum, nick-named, איש גם זו, who whenever something happened to him that was unpleasant, painful, etc., immediately reacted by saying: גם זו לטובה, “this too will eventually be revealed as having been a positive, constructive event.” (Taanit 21).).
It is generally known that Avraham symbolizes the attribute of love, whereas Yitzchok symbolizes the attribute of power, and Yaakov symbolizes a merging of these two attributes, resulting in what we call תפארת, harmony. When the Talmud in Pessachim 117 first thought that it would be appropriate to sign the first benediction of the amidah prayer by referring to G’d as the G’d of Avraham, Yitzchok, and Yaakov, it concluded that the reason the sages who formulated this prayer did not do so, was because they wanted to stress that ultimately, what G’d is all about is the attribute of love, the attribute personified best in the personality of Avraham. [The Maharshah on that section of the Talmud points out that the letters in the word והיה are the same as the letters in the tetragram, i.e. the name of G’d symbolizing the attribute of Mercy. Ed.] The other two attributes’ function is auxiliary, i.e. to help G’d be able to fully display His attribute of love.
There are three attributes that G’d employs in His continuous relations with the creatures in His universe; they are אהבה, “love,” גבורה, “power,” and תפארת, “harmony, splendour.” When G’d relates to His creatures with the attribute of אהבה, “love,” all parts of the universe are filled with all manner of “good” (welcome) phenomena. When He has recourse to the attribute of גבורה, “power,” the result is that the creatures affected will feel the opposite of comfortable. When G’d employs the attribute of תפארת in relation to His creatures, the world will also feel an abundance of goodness, as it is G’d’s purpose and desire to be able to glorify in His choicest creation, man. When G’d is able to do this, He inundates the universe with love. We must not misunderstand the attribute of גבורה by regarding it as something negative. While the attribute of גבורה, when active, may appear to the people affected by it as something negative, unwelcome in the extreme, it is designed to enable G’d to again relate to all His creatures with love, once that attribute has accomplished its purpose.
This is what we are told in Job 8,7 (by Bildad) והיה ראשיתך מצער ואחריתך ישגה מאד, “though your beginning may be small (painful), in the end you will grow very great.” The overriding function of the attribute of גבורה is to carry out retribution in the world so that G’d will afterwards be able to pour out all His goodness on His creatures. Historically, the person who had realized this better than anyone else, was Nachum, nick-named, איש גם זו, who whenever something happened to him that was unpleasant, painful, etc., immediately reacted by saying: גם זו לטובה, “this too will eventually be revealed as having been a positive, constructive event.” (Taanit 21).).
It is generally known that Avraham symbolizes the attribute of love, whereas Yitzchok symbolizes the attribute of power, and Yaakov symbolizes a merging of these two attributes, resulting in what we call תפארת, harmony. When the Talmud in Pessachim 117 first thought that it would be appropriate to sign the first benediction of the amidah prayer by referring to G’d as the G’d of Avraham, Yitzchok, and Yaakov, it concluded that the reason the sages who formulated this prayer did not do so, was because they wanted to stress that ultimately, what G’d is all about is the attribute of love, the attribute personified best in the personality of Avraham. [The Maharshah on that section of the Talmud points out that the letters in the word והיה are the same as the letters in the tetragram, i.e. the name of G’d symbolizing the attribute of Mercy. Ed.] The other two attributes’ function is auxiliary, i.e. to help G’d be able to fully display His attribute of love.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Tiferet Shlomo
Genesis 12:1: Hashem says to Avraham: “you should go for your sake.” Rashi comments: “for your benefit and goodness.” Question: what benefit does Avraham need? Those who fear Hashem have no lack. So, how could Avraham Avinu be lacking something? The attribute of Avraham Avinu is to give lots of kindness to this world and to spread it; so, Avraham Avinu was missing the benefit of giving kindness. That's why He tells Avraham Avinu to leave his father's house to spread kindness so that everyone will be like his family.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Kedushat Levi
Genesis 12,2. “and be a blessing!” The letter י-ה in the word והיה is an allusion to G’d, whereas he letters ה-ו are an allusion to the Jewish people. As long as Avraham had not existed, there had not been a human being who tried to “awaken” G’d’s largesse to be dispensed in the lower regions of the universe. G’d’s largesse, when it was dispensed for the good of mankind, owed this exclusively to the Creator’s goodwill. As soon as Avraham became active on earth, there were deeds on earth that “awakened” G’d to dispense His largesse as a result of acts performed by His creatures. In other words, prior to Avraham, G’d’s name could be spelled in the order of י-ה-ו-ה, whereas this order had now been reversed and His name could be spelled as ו-ה-י-ה. This is what the author of Bereshit Rabbah 39,11 had in mind when he said that the meaning of the word והיה is equivalent to the meaning of the word שמחה, joy, i.e. there had not been any joy on earth prior to the appearance of Avraham on earth. The reversal of the sequence of the letters ו-ה hints at this largesse having its origin in the lower, rather than the celestial regions. [I have not found a reference to שמחה joy, in our versions of this Midrash. Ed.]
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Kedushat Levi
Genesis 12,3. “I shall bless those who bless you, and those who curse you I shall curse.” At first glance it seems strange that the Torah changed the order of subject and object when speaking of anyone who would curse Avraham. Why would people who bless Avraham be given a blessing before they had actually done so? We find here an example of the principle that G’d considers good intentions as part of the carrying out of such intentions, i.e. the party carrying out a noble intention, is retroactively rewarded not only for the deed but also for the thoughts that led up to the deed. When planning something wicked, G’d does not take this into consideration even after the wicked act has been carried out. (Kidushin 40.)
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Kedushat Levi
Genesis 12,8. “he built an altar for the Lord Who had appeared to him there.” Why did the Torah have to add the word אליו, “to him,” at the end of this verse? Would we not have understood this without being told?
I believe that on this occasion G’d promised material blessings, and this is why Avraham felt obliged to build an altar in acknowledgment of this. The word “altar” serves also as a symbol for man’s expressing his desire to come closer to his Creator by means of a material offering. He does so by reciprocating in the only way a human being can reciprocate for receiving a gift from G’d. Accordingly, the word אליו describes an element of reciprocity that occurred here in the relations between man and G’d, his remaining not only at the receiving end of G’d’s largesse. In order to give expression to this aspect of the man-G’d relationship he had to build an altar. Man’s gift to G’d must be brought in a fitting manner, the altar serving as the vessel in which this gift is presented.
I believe that on this occasion G’d promised material blessings, and this is why Avraham felt obliged to build an altar in acknowledgment of this. The word “altar” serves also as a symbol for man’s expressing his desire to come closer to his Creator by means of a material offering. He does so by reciprocating in the only way a human being can reciprocate for receiving a gift from G’d. Accordingly, the word אליו describes an element of reciprocity that occurred here in the relations between man and G’d, his remaining not only at the receiving end of G’d’s largesse. In order to give expression to this aspect of the man-G’d relationship he had to build an altar. Man’s gift to G’d must be brought in a fitting manner, the altar serving as the vessel in which this gift is presented.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Kedushat Levi
Genesis 12,8. “Bet-El to the west and AI to the east;” it is understood by the Kabbalists that the tzaddik must always remain attached to the ayin, אין, i.e. to a negation of that which is primarily physical, יש or known as “reality,” in our parlance. He is able to ignore such “realities” due to his awe for the Creator; the word: והעי, is a variation of עי השדה, “ruins in the field;” (Micah 1,6). When the tzaddik is attached to this אין, he is able to draw down to our physical universe goodwill and blessings from the celestial domain of the universe. Our verse illustrates the concept of how a man of the caliber of Avraham is able to be a source of good for the entire human race.
[The author’s approach to our verse is again based (in my opinion) on the implied question of why the Torah would bother to inform us about such apparently irrelevant details about locations, details which we read in public year after year for over 3700 years. Compare author’s commentary on the measurements of Noah’s ark. Ed.] The moral/ethical message of the verse is that in order to enjoy the benefits available in this terrestrial part of the universe, one must first make certain that one maintains close links with the celestial parts of the universe, which is the source of these benefits. What was considered a ruin, עי, before the tzaddik had established close ties with the celestial domain, turns into בית אל, a “house of G’d on earth,” after he has done so. The Torah confirms this a few verses later after Avraham returns from Egypt, when he is described as very rich in livestock, silver and gold. (Genesis 13,2)
[The author’s approach to our verse is again based (in my opinion) on the implied question of why the Torah would bother to inform us about such apparently irrelevant details about locations, details which we read in public year after year for over 3700 years. Compare author’s commentary on the measurements of Noah’s ark. Ed.] The moral/ethical message of the verse is that in order to enjoy the benefits available in this terrestrial part of the universe, one must first make certain that one maintains close links with the celestial parts of the universe, which is the source of these benefits. What was considered a ruin, עי, before the tzaddik had established close ties with the celestial domain, turns into בית אל, a “house of G’d on earth,” after he has done so. The Torah confirms this a few verses later after Avraham returns from Egypt, when he is described as very rich in livestock, silver and gold. (Genesis 13,2)
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Kedushat Levi
Genesis 12,9. “Avram journeyed ‘southward’ in stages.” In order to understand the significance of this verse we must remember that the meaning of the word נגב, becomes clear from Joshua 15,19, where Calev is reported as giving his daughter Achsah to whom he had given some land in the southern district of Yehudah, an additional source of irrigation in response to her plea; the negev was known already then as a semi arid region. The expression: מנוגב, taken from the word נגב, means “dried out, lacking in moisture.” In fact, נגב is identical with דרום, an allusion to G’d’s attribute of חסד, loving kindness. When the word נגבה is used in our verse instead of the word דרומה, which in common parlance means the same thing, the reason is that the Torah wished to draw the reader’s attention to the blessing inherent in the word נגב. Water, though generally perceived as a blessing, a necessity, also has a down side, as we are all aware of. When the word נגב is used for “south,” this implies that water flowing there is an unmitigated blessing. The moisture mixed with the natural characteristic of נגב results in a perfect blend of two elements. The Torah reports here that Avraham understood how to blend service of the Lord with being of service to the people among whom he lived. He knew how to “get out of his skin,” and to spread the generous nature of which he was possessed far and wide. In doing so, he served his Creator with his entire personality. [Some of these words are my own. Ed.]
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Kedushat Levi
The second method of serving the Creator, i.e. the motivation being love for the Lord, does so because he feels himself as totally unworthy, possessing no so-called self-respect, but is part of the אין, metaphysical aspects of the universe. We must remember that among the people serving G’d out of love for Him, some may be motivated by the awareness that serving the Lord earns a reward, so that this may consciously or subconsciously affect the purity of his service of the Lord. Anyone who serves the Lord in this fashion belongs to the category of people serving Him out of the יש dimension of the universe. Only he who serves the Lord exclusively by trying to provide the Lord with a sense of satisfaction, pleasure from His creatures, belongs to the category of people serving Him from the dimension of אין a domain totally devoid of anything remotely physical. When the Torah wrote of Avram that ויסע אברם הלוך ונסוע הנגבה, it testifies to the spiritual accomplishment of Avram who had ascended to the level of serving G’d from love, i.e. by totally negating himself as an individual. The term הנגבה is used to describe something dried out, i.e. no longer possessed of physical urges, not even serving the Lord for the promise of a reward.
Another angle from which our verse may be viewed zeroes in on the repetition of the words denoting traveling, journeying, i.e. הלוך ונסוע. Why did the Torah have to write two verbs to describe this journey? The basis of this exegesis is the Zohar III 263, according to which Avraham served G’d out of feelings of love, and that the meaning of the word הנגבה is exchangeable with דרומה, an allusion to חסד, love (as in זכרתי לך חסד נעוריך, “I gratefully remember the love of your youth as a bride” Jeremiah 2,1)
It is known that the Zohar (5 separate occasions) has repeatedly stated that what occurs in our terrestrial world evokes its counterpart in the celestial regions. If this is so, it is clear that by serving the Lord out of love, Avraham evoked a reciprocal sentiment on the part of G’d, Who poured out His love for the creatures on earth. Accordingly, our verse describes the journey described as progressive, i.e. the repetition of הלוך ונסוע, emphasizes how Avraham moved closer and closer in the direction of the ideal חסד, i.e. הנגבה. The first of these two words, הלוך, logically, describes the direction in which Avraham’s spiritual journey took him, whereas the second word ונסוע describes the reciprocal journey made toward him by the Lord.
Another angle from which our verse may be viewed zeroes in on the repetition of the words denoting traveling, journeying, i.e. הלוך ונסוע. Why did the Torah have to write two verbs to describe this journey? The basis of this exegesis is the Zohar III 263, according to which Avraham served G’d out of feelings of love, and that the meaning of the word הנגבה is exchangeable with דרומה, an allusion to חסד, love (as in זכרתי לך חסד נעוריך, “I gratefully remember the love of your youth as a bride” Jeremiah 2,1)
It is known that the Zohar (5 separate occasions) has repeatedly stated that what occurs in our terrestrial world evokes its counterpart in the celestial regions. If this is so, it is clear that by serving the Lord out of love, Avraham evoked a reciprocal sentiment on the part of G’d, Who poured out His love for the creatures on earth. Accordingly, our verse describes the journey described as progressive, i.e. the repetition of הלוך ונסוע, emphasizes how Avraham moved closer and closer in the direction of the ideal חסד, i.e. הנגבה. The first of these two words, הלוך, logically, describes the direction in which Avraham’s spiritual journey took him, whereas the second word ונסוע describes the reciprocal journey made toward him by the Lord.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Sha'ar HaEmunah VeYesod HaChasidut
The Zohar (Emor, 100b) teaches us that the completion of the Divine service on Rosh Hashanah comes fifteen days later with the festival of Succot. On Rosh Hashanah, which falls on the new moon, the light of the moon is covered. Ten days later, on Yom Kippur, the moon is not yet full. This means that on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur the moon is still close to the sun, receiving her light at points closer to the source. This is as it is said (Ibid.): Rabbi Abba sent a question to Rabbi Shimon asking, “When is the union of Knesset Yisrael (the Shekhina) with the Holy King?” He sent back to him, “(As Avraham said of Sarah:) Indeed she is my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother. And she became my wife.” (Bereshit, 20:12) This is explained: “On the covering of the day of our festival.”452This refers to Rosh Hashanah, when the new moon is still hidden (i.e. “covered.”) (Tehillim, 81:4) On this day the moon is covered… And it illuminates everything with the light of repentance… Come and See! On this day the moon is covered, and does not shine until the tenth of the month, on Yom Kippurim… Why is the name of the day of Atonement voiced in the plural (Kippurim – Atonements)? It is because on this day, two lights shine as one. The upper luminary shines to the lower luminary. And on this day the upper luminary shines, and not from the light of the sun. God established the service for Israel according to the seasons, each time according to its system. Therefore, by Yom Kippur the Divine service has not yet been completed, to unite God’s will with the service of Israel. Since on the tenth of the month the moon is not yet full, therefore the Divine service cannot yet be totally complete. For this reason, the Divine service performed by Israel on Yom Kippur is through restraint and afflictions.453The five afflictions one must perform on Yom Kippur: not eating, not drinking, not washing, not anointing, and not engaging in marital relations. This is evinced in how the moon does not yet fully receive the light of the sun, since it still too close to the source. On Succot, however, when the moon is full, the Divine service is fulfilled through active service, through the joy of the festival and all of its delights.454On Succot there are active commandments such as sitting in the succah, waving the four species, and rejoicing in the feasts of the festival. In the days of the Temple there was also the joyous ritual of water libations. Then the Divine service is truly complete. This is as it is written in the Midrash (Kohellet, 4), “Man’s desire is to work and receive the fruits of his labors.” When man receives, he wants to have earned his reward by his own efforts. In this way he doesn’t suffer the shame of receiving an undeserved gift.455In other words, on Succot, the moon is the furthest from the sun. Yet precisely for that reason, it shines the brightest. In our terms, it is precisely when a person is furthest from G-d that he has the ability to serve him. And as a result of that service, comes the joy of receiving a hard-earned reward – the opposite of the shame a person feels when he receives a gift that he does not deserve.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Kedushat Levi
Genesis 15,1. “After these events the word of G’d came to Avram in a vision- and said to him: ‘do not be afraid,’ etc. and he built an altar there to the G’d Who had appeared to him.
[At this point the author claims to quote a commentary of Nachmanides on the words “he built an alter there,” where Nachmanides questions why Avram built an altar on this occasion, and not on a previous occasion. I have been unable to find such a commentary by Nachmanides. The nearest thing to it is a super-commentary by Sifssey Chachamim on Rashi Genesis 12,8 where he raises such a question. I will nevertheless present the author’s commentary, in which he deals with this problem supposedly raised by Nachmanides. Ed.]
In answering the question of why, until this time, Avram had not built an altar, we must first explain the concepts of “altar” and “sacrificial offering.” When a person experiences something painful, be it physical or mental, he is not free to focus on the actual pain, but must focus on the causes of his having to endure such pain, and why on account of this pain his ability to serve his Creator had become impaired. When he reacts to his pain in this manner he causes G’d satisfaction, נחת רוח. Keeping this in mind we can understand the Talmud Yerushalmi, B’rachot, 2,4 stating that the messiah was “born” on the 9th day of Av, the day that the Temple was destroyed. This was because the Jewish people felt such pain over the loss of the Temple, and their inability to serve G’d there by offering their sacrifices. As long as the Temple had been standing, G’d was able to derive satisfaction, נחת רוח, from the offerings presented on the altar in the Temple. We know this from Leviticus 1,13 אשה ריח ניחוח לה', ”an offering by fire of pleasing odour to the Lord.” This offering represented the opposite of צער, painful feelings. As long as the Temple was standing, the people of Israel dwelled in relative calm and safety. The principal cause of Israel’s state of disquiet, pain, unrest, etc., is the fact that we are not able to perform the sacrificial sacrifices by means of which we could give “pleasure” to the Creator. As a corollary to our inability, while in exile, to present these offerings, G’d in turn is not encouraged to release the bounty of goodness He has in store for His faithful servants on earth. We have pointed out previously that with the advent of Avram, this reciprocal relationship between man and G’d had become of great benefit to man. (Compare page 51 on this interaction).
Ideally, our joy in this world as well as our pain, must always focus on our relationship with our Creator and how we can improve it; we must never consider our personal feelings as being of the essence. “Joy” in the eyes of the Torah, has not been granted in order for us to behave as do gentiles when they set off “fireworks” to give expression to their feeling happy about something.
It is worthwhile to remember that the Hebrew word for “sacrifice” is קרבן, from the root קרב, to come close, or closer. When offering a “sacrifice,” to the Creator, we are sublimating something mundane, usually something representing some of the most treasured living creatures, animals which serve as our livelihood, to the Creator Who had endowed the terrestrial part of the universe with such creatures for the benefit of the highest ranking living beings on earth, the ones who have been created in the image of their Creator.
[At this point the author claims to quote a commentary of Nachmanides on the words “he built an alter there,” where Nachmanides questions why Avram built an altar on this occasion, and not on a previous occasion. I have been unable to find such a commentary by Nachmanides. The nearest thing to it is a super-commentary by Sifssey Chachamim on Rashi Genesis 12,8 where he raises such a question. I will nevertheless present the author’s commentary, in which he deals with this problem supposedly raised by Nachmanides. Ed.]
In answering the question of why, until this time, Avram had not built an altar, we must first explain the concepts of “altar” and “sacrificial offering.” When a person experiences something painful, be it physical or mental, he is not free to focus on the actual pain, but must focus on the causes of his having to endure such pain, and why on account of this pain his ability to serve his Creator had become impaired. When he reacts to his pain in this manner he causes G’d satisfaction, נחת רוח. Keeping this in mind we can understand the Talmud Yerushalmi, B’rachot, 2,4 stating that the messiah was “born” on the 9th day of Av, the day that the Temple was destroyed. This was because the Jewish people felt such pain over the loss of the Temple, and their inability to serve G’d there by offering their sacrifices. As long as the Temple had been standing, G’d was able to derive satisfaction, נחת רוח, from the offerings presented on the altar in the Temple. We know this from Leviticus 1,13 אשה ריח ניחוח לה', ”an offering by fire of pleasing odour to the Lord.” This offering represented the opposite of צער, painful feelings. As long as the Temple was standing, the people of Israel dwelled in relative calm and safety. The principal cause of Israel’s state of disquiet, pain, unrest, etc., is the fact that we are not able to perform the sacrificial sacrifices by means of which we could give “pleasure” to the Creator. As a corollary to our inability, while in exile, to present these offerings, G’d in turn is not encouraged to release the bounty of goodness He has in store for His faithful servants on earth. We have pointed out previously that with the advent of Avram, this reciprocal relationship between man and G’d had become of great benefit to man. (Compare page 51 on this interaction).
Ideally, our joy in this world as well as our pain, must always focus on our relationship with our Creator and how we can improve it; we must never consider our personal feelings as being of the essence. “Joy” in the eyes of the Torah, has not been granted in order for us to behave as do gentiles when they set off “fireworks” to give expression to their feeling happy about something.
It is worthwhile to remember that the Hebrew word for “sacrifice” is קרבן, from the root קרב, to come close, or closer. When offering a “sacrifice,” to the Creator, we are sublimating something mundane, usually something representing some of the most treasured living creatures, animals which serve as our livelihood, to the Creator Who had endowed the terrestrial part of the universe with such creatures for the benefit of the highest ranking living beings on earth, the ones who have been created in the image of their Creator.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Sefat Emet
They established [reading of] Ruth on Shavu'ot, to say that, by means of B'nai Yisrael being chosen through the Giving of the Torah, they are instruments to draw near the converts, because B'nai Yisrael are called the First of His Crop which is the fruit for which everything was created. This is as it says (Gen. R.), "B'reishit -- for the sake of Israel which is called 'reishit.'" The meaning is that "reishit" is the beginning and the inner essence, as it says (Prov.), "The 'reishit' of wisdom is the awe of God." Therefore it is called the Day of Bikkurim, when the fruit is ripe. But B'nai Yisrael "are excepted from the generality in order to teach to the entire generality" (Sifra, principles of R' Yishma'el), as it will be in the future (Zeph. 3:9), "For then I will make the peoples pure of speech, etc. [so that they all invoke Adonai by name and serve Him with one accord]." And then (Eccl. 7:8) "The end of a matter is better than the beginning of it" [see Ruth 3:10]. And in truth, according as B'nai Yisrael elevate from the nations, they are themselves exalted even more. And this itself is the meaning of putting "na'aseh" before "nishma," for B'nai Yisrael understood this, that they were chosen in order to draw everyone near, and they said (Ex. 24:7), "Everything that Adonai has spoken we will do." It is written here "na'aseh" and it is written there (Gen. 1:26), "Na'aseh adam," as it says (Gen. 12:5) "the souls that they had made," which Onkelos translated "that they had subjugated to the Torah", and it is through this that "we will hear." As it is with the particular -- as the improvement [tikkun] of the deeds, in order to draw each physical deed close to the spirit so that the soul shines in the person -- so it is in general -- as the improvement [tikkun] of K'lal Yisrael to draw near from the nations, so that the Torah shines in them. It is written (Micah 7:20), "You will give truth to Ya'akov, hesed to Avraham," for B'nai Yisrael are in truth God's portion and His Torah, but it is also part of the aspect of Truth to do hesed, to bring near those who are far off and who come for the sake of Heaven: "truth to Ya'akov" is the Torah, "hesed to Avraham" is that we should draw close also from the descendants of Lot -- Ruth the Moabite....
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Me'or Einayim
Go yourself (Gen. 12:1): Rashi explained, “For your pleasure and your benefit.” Now, our Sages of Blessed Memory said, regarding the verse, Do you indeed, who are mute, speak righteousness? (Psalm 58:2): “How should a person act in this world? Let him make himself as a mute. Could this even apply to words of Torah? The verse teaches, speak righteousness” (Hullin 89a). For it is known that it is written, Lord, open my lips (Psalm 51:17), because the Blessed Creator, the whole earth is full of [God’s] glory (Isaiah 6:3), no place is void of [God]; but [God’s] glory connotes cloaking as is known, that Blessed [God] is cloaked in each thing. And this aspect is called Shekhinah because it dwells [shokhein] in each thing; and that is the Blessed Name Lord. And it is also called the world of speech since By the word of YHVH the heavens were made (Psalm 33:6) and “the Holy Blessed One created the world through Torah” (Zohar 1:5a), meaning through the twenty-two letters of the Torah – the world of speech – all the creations were created. And it is stated in Sefer Yetzirah, “They were set in the human mouth” (Sefer Yetzirah [Luria ver.] 2.3), and that is the meaning of Lord, open my lips. And therefore our Sages of Blessed Memory said that “Evil speech is equivalent to idolatry” etc. (Arakhin 15b), for a person who speaks evil speech does not believe that his words are the world of speech, the charateristic of Lordship. And that is [the meaning of the verse], With our tongue we will prevail, our lips are with us; who is master over us? (Psalm 12:5), as we have explained elsewhere. And that is [the meaning of the Talmud’s statement], “Make himself as a mute,” meaning his essence. That is, he should not speak any speech unless he believes that of his own account he is mute, and his only speech is the world of speech, the characteristic of “Lord” as we have explained. And they ask: “Could this even apply to words of Torah,” that a person should not learn unless he believes as we have explained? “The verse teaches, speak righteousness,” it is a mitzvah to learn even if it is not for its own sake. And that is [the meaning of] what our Sages of Blessed Memory said, “Someone who converses meaningless conversation transgresses a positive commandment, as it says, you shall speak of them (Deut. 6:7) and not of meaningless things” (Yoma 19b). And it would seem, how could it be possible that a person should speak no speech other than words of Torah as is implied by the language of you shall speak of them etc.? But the explanation is this: you shall speak of them means to say that whatever you speak, you should believe that you speak with the Torah, whose speech is the world of speech, the twenty-two letters of the Torah as we have explained. And when you speak through world-guiding, do not worry, for the Holy Blessed One created the world through Torah and guides the world through Torah; all the world are led by the twenty-two letters of Torah, the world of speech, but only if you believe this as we have explained. But if you speak not for the sake of world-guiding, that is called “meaningless things.”
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Kedushat Levi
The belief that the thoughts that cross the minds of parents engaged in marital intercourse influence the spiritual focus of a child conceived as the result of their union, is universally accepted in the writings of our sages, and especially so in Nachmanides’ essay האמונה והבטחון, chapter 15, page 395 in כתבי רמב'ן, published by Mossad Harav Kook. [The authorship of this volume has not been determined with accuracy even nowadays. Rabbi Chayim David Chavell, whose edition I am using, devotes 11 pages to his introduction when he explains that there is some genetic spiritual input by both the father and the mother into the soul of the child they produce.
If I understand the message in these words, it is that this input is transmitted only at the time when the parents conceive the child, and it outweighs what the parents try to teach the youngster after he or she has been born. It follows that if the parents are interested in transmitting their own and their ancestors’ good characteristics to their own children, they must not only live according to these principles, but even conduct themselves according to these principles in the privacy of their bedrooms. Perhaps this sheds some light on the lament of many parents who have one or more children who do not follow in their footsteps and who fail to understand this. Ed.]
Pessachim 50 urging us to be careful to perpetuate the good practices of our forefathers meticulously, the Talmud quotes Proverbs 1,8 שמע בני מוסר אביך ואל תטוש תורת אמך, “my son, hear the moral instruction of your father, and do not forsake the teachings of your mother.” It is clear from the Torah’s description of Terach before he had sired children (assuming he became a monotheist later) that the thoughts we have described did not occur to him when he and his wife conceived Avram. In fact, if Terach had been a believer in the one and only G’d, much of the credit Avraham accumulated would have been due to his father.
Avraham was the first human being, who, by absorbing some of the “sparks” of the Shechinah which we discussed on pages 21-22 was able to transmit such spiritual values by means of his semen. He himself had absorbed only the kind of material input from his father and mother as is capable of being defined through DNA in our days. In the parlance of our sages this input of physical matter by the mother is known as אודם, primarily cells which produce blood, whereas the input by her male partner consists primarily of לובן, albumen.
Terach and his wife contributed only elements of the material terrestrial part of the universe to the fetus of Avraham, whereas G’d, anxious to see an eventual Jewish people emerge from that embryo, contributed characteristics that stemmed from the spiritual spheres of the universe. This is the meaning of Avram’s question “how do I know that I will inherit?” The word דעת or ידע always describes a close attachment to the subject or object it describes. Avram wanted to know which spiritual characteristic links him to his existence in the terrestrial world, a link described in Proverbs 1,8 as אבי in the verse שמע בני מוסר אביך, in which Solomon cautions his listeners to carefully perpetuate the moral lessons absorbed from אביך, your father, i.e. your roots. His question was prompted by his realization that he could certainly not be expected to perpetuate the moral lessons that he had been taught in the house of his father Terach. If he were to do this, how could he possibly bequeath to his offspring the qualities needed to become G’d’s people? He knew instinctively that this could happen only if he had in his genes spiritual input from a higher world. The characteristic that represented this spiritual input is know as אב, part of the name אברהם. The word ירושה, inheritance, is always used in connection with inheritance from one’s father; hence seeing that the word אב, father, was part of his name this was the link that enabled him to become the first patriarch of the Jewish people. Avram understood that the origin of the Jewish people, a concept in G’d’s mind and the contribution He had made as the third partner in any human being to Avram’s genes, were of the same kind, so that the Jewish people could truly be described as having its terrestrial root in Avraham, as he would be called shortly before Yitzchok was born.
When G’d told him that he should realize that his offspring would begin their collective life as “strangers,” i.e. as a new nation in the families of nations, it was this strain that he shared his spiritual origin with. He would henceforth have to concentrate on his role as the spiritual root of that nation as and when it would become such. G’d reminded him already in verse 7 that this was the purpose for which He had saved him from the fiery furnace in Ur Kasdim continuing this theme in verse 18 when He entered into a sacred covenant with Avram. He had given him a preview that the development of this nation of which he would become the founding father, would undergo a difficult “adolescence” and that these difficulties once endured and overcome with His help would qualify them for their historic mission as trailblazers of monotheism. Although Terach is credited with having sired Avram, (Genesis 11,26) this was merely a biological phenomenon; he was in no way an ancestor of Avram in the sense that Avram as the son would continue a tradition sacred to his father.To the question of how we are to understand Genesis 15,15 ואתה תבוא אל אבותיך בשלום תקבר בשיבה טובה, “as for you, you will join your “fathers’ in peace and will be buried in a ripe old age,” the word אבותיך does not refer to Terach; but is an assurance that Avram would die without sharing the servitude his descendants would experience.
The Zohar I 78 commenting on Genesis 12,5 ואת הנפש אשר עשו בחרן, writes that Terach became a penitent, but that this does not mean that Avraham would be reunited with his father in the life after death, but since our sages had difficulty in how to understand the words: ואתה תבוא אל אבותיך בשלום, they understood this as Terach sanctifying the name of Avraham’s G’d while still alive. The name of “G’d” in that verse therefore is אב, the spiritual genes that we described above as having been injected by G’d into the ovum that eventually developed into Avram.
[We may understand this as Terach establishing a horizontal spiritual bond with his son through his penitence instead of the vertical bond created when a father passes on his spiritual values to his son. Ed.]
If you find it difficult to accept the argument that Terach is not to be regarded as Avram’s “father” in verse 15, consider the following statement in Yevamot 22. גר שנתגייר כקטן שנולד דמי, “a convert after conversion is comparable to that of a newly born baby.” He has no residue of the spiritual input normally transmitted by the respective genes of his father and mother. The only spiritual force active within him is that of the soul which has been given to him by his Creator. He is no longer called after his father, when called up to the Torah, the name of his father, the gentile, is not even alluded to. The reason is that he no longer contains the spiritual input his father had transmitted to him at birth. The separation of such a convert from his biological father is so absolute, that according to Biblical Jewish law the convert is free to marry his biological mother, or sister, (assuming either of them has converted). [If the Rabbis forbade this, it is because it raises suspicions that the conversion had ulterior motives. Ed.]. Avram/Avraham both because he was a convert, and because his name was changed by G’d before he sired Yitzchok, was no longer connected to Terach at all. When the Torah writes in Genesis 25,19 ואלה תולדות יצחק בן אברהם, אברהם הוליד את יצחק, “and these are the generations of Yitzchok; son of Avraham; Avraham had sired Yitzchok,” the Torah makes a point of describing Yitzchok as descendant of Avraham, whereas it never described Avraham as a descendant of Terach. The term “father,” is mentioned in the Torah only in connection with the characteristic אב which G’d had supplied to Avram, and which helped him to sanctify G’d’s Holy name to large groups of people as we explained previously.
If I understand the message in these words, it is that this input is transmitted only at the time when the parents conceive the child, and it outweighs what the parents try to teach the youngster after he or she has been born. It follows that if the parents are interested in transmitting their own and their ancestors’ good characteristics to their own children, they must not only live according to these principles, but even conduct themselves according to these principles in the privacy of their bedrooms. Perhaps this sheds some light on the lament of many parents who have one or more children who do not follow in their footsteps and who fail to understand this. Ed.]
Pessachim 50 urging us to be careful to perpetuate the good practices of our forefathers meticulously, the Talmud quotes Proverbs 1,8 שמע בני מוסר אביך ואל תטוש תורת אמך, “my son, hear the moral instruction of your father, and do not forsake the teachings of your mother.” It is clear from the Torah’s description of Terach before he had sired children (assuming he became a monotheist later) that the thoughts we have described did not occur to him when he and his wife conceived Avram. In fact, if Terach had been a believer in the one and only G’d, much of the credit Avraham accumulated would have been due to his father.
Avraham was the first human being, who, by absorbing some of the “sparks” of the Shechinah which we discussed on pages 21-22 was able to transmit such spiritual values by means of his semen. He himself had absorbed only the kind of material input from his father and mother as is capable of being defined through DNA in our days. In the parlance of our sages this input of physical matter by the mother is known as אודם, primarily cells which produce blood, whereas the input by her male partner consists primarily of לובן, albumen.
Terach and his wife contributed only elements of the material terrestrial part of the universe to the fetus of Avraham, whereas G’d, anxious to see an eventual Jewish people emerge from that embryo, contributed characteristics that stemmed from the spiritual spheres of the universe. This is the meaning of Avram’s question “how do I know that I will inherit?” The word דעת or ידע always describes a close attachment to the subject or object it describes. Avram wanted to know which spiritual characteristic links him to his existence in the terrestrial world, a link described in Proverbs 1,8 as אבי in the verse שמע בני מוסר אביך, in which Solomon cautions his listeners to carefully perpetuate the moral lessons absorbed from אביך, your father, i.e. your roots. His question was prompted by his realization that he could certainly not be expected to perpetuate the moral lessons that he had been taught in the house of his father Terach. If he were to do this, how could he possibly bequeath to his offspring the qualities needed to become G’d’s people? He knew instinctively that this could happen only if he had in his genes spiritual input from a higher world. The characteristic that represented this spiritual input is know as אב, part of the name אברהם. The word ירושה, inheritance, is always used in connection with inheritance from one’s father; hence seeing that the word אב, father, was part of his name this was the link that enabled him to become the first patriarch of the Jewish people. Avram understood that the origin of the Jewish people, a concept in G’d’s mind and the contribution He had made as the third partner in any human being to Avram’s genes, were of the same kind, so that the Jewish people could truly be described as having its terrestrial root in Avraham, as he would be called shortly before Yitzchok was born.
When G’d told him that he should realize that his offspring would begin their collective life as “strangers,” i.e. as a new nation in the families of nations, it was this strain that he shared his spiritual origin with. He would henceforth have to concentrate on his role as the spiritual root of that nation as and when it would become such. G’d reminded him already in verse 7 that this was the purpose for which He had saved him from the fiery furnace in Ur Kasdim continuing this theme in verse 18 when He entered into a sacred covenant with Avram. He had given him a preview that the development of this nation of which he would become the founding father, would undergo a difficult “adolescence” and that these difficulties once endured and overcome with His help would qualify them for their historic mission as trailblazers of monotheism. Although Terach is credited with having sired Avram, (Genesis 11,26) this was merely a biological phenomenon; he was in no way an ancestor of Avram in the sense that Avram as the son would continue a tradition sacred to his father.To the question of how we are to understand Genesis 15,15 ואתה תבוא אל אבותיך בשלום תקבר בשיבה טובה, “as for you, you will join your “fathers’ in peace and will be buried in a ripe old age,” the word אבותיך does not refer to Terach; but is an assurance that Avram would die without sharing the servitude his descendants would experience.
The Zohar I 78 commenting on Genesis 12,5 ואת הנפש אשר עשו בחרן, writes that Terach became a penitent, but that this does not mean that Avraham would be reunited with his father in the life after death, but since our sages had difficulty in how to understand the words: ואתה תבוא אל אבותיך בשלום, they understood this as Terach sanctifying the name of Avraham’s G’d while still alive. The name of “G’d” in that verse therefore is אב, the spiritual genes that we described above as having been injected by G’d into the ovum that eventually developed into Avram.
[We may understand this as Terach establishing a horizontal spiritual bond with his son through his penitence instead of the vertical bond created when a father passes on his spiritual values to his son. Ed.]
If you find it difficult to accept the argument that Terach is not to be regarded as Avram’s “father” in verse 15, consider the following statement in Yevamot 22. גר שנתגייר כקטן שנולד דמי, “a convert after conversion is comparable to that of a newly born baby.” He has no residue of the spiritual input normally transmitted by the respective genes of his father and mother. The only spiritual force active within him is that of the soul which has been given to him by his Creator. He is no longer called after his father, when called up to the Torah, the name of his father, the gentile, is not even alluded to. The reason is that he no longer contains the spiritual input his father had transmitted to him at birth. The separation of such a convert from his biological father is so absolute, that according to Biblical Jewish law the convert is free to marry his biological mother, or sister, (assuming either of them has converted). [If the Rabbis forbade this, it is because it raises suspicions that the conversion had ulterior motives. Ed.]. Avram/Avraham both because he was a convert, and because his name was changed by G’d before he sired Yitzchok, was no longer connected to Terach at all. When the Torah writes in Genesis 25,19 ואלה תולדות יצחק בן אברהם, אברהם הוליד את יצחק, “and these are the generations of Yitzchok; son of Avraham; Avraham had sired Yitzchok,” the Torah makes a point of describing Yitzchok as descendant of Avraham, whereas it never described Avraham as a descendant of Terach. The term “father,” is mentioned in the Torah only in connection with the characteristic אב which G’d had supplied to Avram, and which helped him to sanctify G’d’s Holy name to large groups of people as we explained previously.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Kedushat Levi
Up until the time when Avram left Charan he had served G’d by engaging the three attributes we just mentioned. Now that his quest to be near to his Creator would be reinforced by his being on holy soil, he would qualify for more comprehensive revelations from G’d, enabling him to proceed from serving G’d out of feelings of awe to serving Him out of feelings of love.
We have already explained why G’d promised Avram that He would make his name great, that he would be a source of blessing to all with whom he would come into contact and that his name would be “great.” (pages 41-44) We ask ourselves, that if Avram had followed G’d’s instructions to set out into a new and unknown land without having first been given these assurances by G’d if he would not have earned a great deal more merit than he did after being “armed” with these promises?
In fact, the reverse is the case. When the Torah tells us that Avram set out in accordance with the instructions he had received from G’d (Genesis 12,4) the reason the Torah adds the words: “as G’d had commanded him,” is to inform us that the only reason Avram emigrated from Charan was because G’d had told him to. It did not occur to Avram that the promises G’d had made to him would be fulfilled by his obeying G’d. [Compare Or Hachayim on this verse, or my translation of his commentary on page 123 Ed.] Accordingly, if Avraham had not known that he would receive a reward for undertaking this journey and all that it entailed, it would not even have rated as one of his “ten trials,” so that his reward would have been much less. Being able to serve the Lord after having received promises from Him, without these promises affecting the quality of his service, was a far greater ethical achievement than serving the Lord altruistically, but not knowing that such service carries the promise of a reward. G’d’s challenging Avram to do just this was the essence of the trial.
We have already explained why G’d promised Avram that He would make his name great, that he would be a source of blessing to all with whom he would come into contact and that his name would be “great.” (pages 41-44) We ask ourselves, that if Avram had followed G’d’s instructions to set out into a new and unknown land without having first been given these assurances by G’d if he would not have earned a great deal more merit than he did after being “armed” with these promises?
In fact, the reverse is the case. When the Torah tells us that Avram set out in accordance with the instructions he had received from G’d (Genesis 12,4) the reason the Torah adds the words: “as G’d had commanded him,” is to inform us that the only reason Avram emigrated from Charan was because G’d had told him to. It did not occur to Avram that the promises G’d had made to him would be fulfilled by his obeying G’d. [Compare Or Hachayim on this verse, or my translation of his commentary on page 123 Ed.] Accordingly, if Avraham had not known that he would receive a reward for undertaking this journey and all that it entailed, it would not even have rated as one of his “ten trials,” so that his reward would have been much less. Being able to serve the Lord after having received promises from Him, without these promises affecting the quality of his service, was a far greater ethical achievement than serving the Lord altruistically, but not knowing that such service carries the promise of a reward. G’d’s challenging Avram to do just this was the essence of the trial.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Baal Shem Tov
Even if foreign thoughts arrive, my master taught me how to discern whether a thought is from the pillar of kindness, hesed, that fell through the breaking of the vessels and needs to be elevated. Some thoughts, however, are thoughts of transgression, and when such a thought arrives, you should know that there is judgement against you that want you to be punished, and you should tremble greatly at this understanding. By doing so, you can unite Awe and Awed, and "all evildoers will disappear." In this way he interpreted the verses "I know that you are a beautiful woman" (Genesis 12:11) and "Lest they kill me" (Genesis 26:7) - a hint at the punishment of one who harbours this type of thoughts of sexuality.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy