Lech Lecha
Part One
HaRav Shlomo Aviner, Head of Yeshivat Ateret Yerushalayim
Avraham Avinu
Faith is an inherent part of our national character despite the fact that there are Jews who do not “actively” believe. In a well-known saying, Rabbi Kook has revealed to us a deep truth about the Jewish soul. He said: “The greatest atheist among the Jews has more faith than the greatest believer among the non-Jews.”
The central theme of the section Lech-Lecha is Avraham Avinu (Avraham, our father). There is an exceptional prophetic directive to scrutinize his personality: “Look at the rock from which you were hewn and at the quarry from which you were dug. Look to your father Avraham and to Sarah who gave birth to you” (Yeshayahu 51:1-2). “Look” – examine and analyze! We must learn about both Avraham and Sarah, because they are “the rock from which we were hewn” and “the quarry from which we were dug.” They are our source and we were created from them.
When we examine Avraham, we learn about ourselves. We have to know who we are, what we are and what our spiritual makeup is. This can be learned from a close scrutiny of our forefathers. The Torah has no intention of simply telling us interesting, historical stories about Avraham and his deeds. The stories of Avraham give us an insight into our inner reality. It informs us who we are.
The well-known principle, “that what befell the forefathers is a sign of what will occur to their sons,” was formulated by the Ramban (Bereshit 12:7). This similarity of events between fathers and sons is not incidental, but stems from an inherent identity because the fathers and the sons are in fact one continuous chain and one single reality. The very character of the sons is contained in the fathers. There is a real spiritual continuity and heredity between the fathers and the sons. Their deeds are the same because their inner makeup is identical. It is quite possible that at a given time this identity will not manifest itself but deep down it is there and will eventually become apparent.
The character traits of our forefathers are deeply rooted in our own psyche. Our revered teacher, HaRav Avraham Yitzchak Ha-Kohen Kook, in his commentary to the Akeidah (Olat Riyiah, Vol.1, p.77) explains that the self-sacrifice which Avraham manifested implanted the strength to show unconditional self-sacrifices for G-d. We are a Nation replete with self-sacrifice. Avraham Avinu was willing to sacrifice not only his beloved and only son but even all future generation of the entire Jewish Nation even though Hashem had promised, “and I will make you a mighty Nation.” While there is a willingness to sacrifice one’s physical life, Avraham Avinu was even prepared to forgo his spiritual life viz. the spreading in the world of all of his ideals by his progeny. This supreme trait has been ingrained in us, all of his offspring, by his deed.
Avraham is also a great man of faith as it says, “and he believed in G-d” ((Bereshit 15:6). We also inherited this characteristic. We are a Nation of believers in G-d. When Moshe Rabbenu, on being sent to lead the redemption from Egyptian slavery, said to G-d, “they will not believe me,” he was admonished by Hashem. He was told that they would believe him since they are believing sons, who have inherited this characteristic from their believing fathers.
Faith is an inherent part of our national character despite the fact that there are Jews who do not “actively” believe. In a well-known saying, Rav Kook has revealed to us a deep truth about the Jewish soul. He said: “The greatest atheist among the Jews has more faith than the greatest believer among the non-Jews” (Ma’amrei Riyiah, “Foundations of Israel’s Chief Rabbinate). This seems a strange statement. After all, we see that there are many non-believing Jews. The real meaning is that in the very depth of their soul they believe since they possess the characteristic of the Nation to which they belong. This faith, however, has yet to surface to a conscious level in these individuals. This can be compared to an expert musician who states that a certain child is a musical genius, even though the child cannot even play the flute. The explanation is that the musician is describing the inner talent of the child which may not be evident since he may be too lazy to practice. We must find a way to encourage him to hone his talent. The fact that the talent is not apparent does not mean that it does not exist. On the other hand, not everyone can be a musician. It is a talent from birth. If a person is not born with it, all the lessons in the world will not help to develop what is not there.
This is the case with us. Ingrained within our very essence is the talent and predisposition for faith, even if not every Jew “actively” believes. Some non-Jews may also have faith, but intense and deep faith as a national quality only exists within Israel.
Question: From the aforementioned, can one conclude that “faith” is not a characteristic that a person can choose to acquire or to forego but is simply an inherent trait?
Answer: Let’s continue the musical analogy. A person born with a musical talent can chose to cultivate it or neglect it. The objective basis of his success, however, is not his training which is subjective, but the fact that he is talented. Without the basic talent all of the effort in the world will not help. Once the characteristic exists, however, voluntary effort can help realize this potential ability. Faith is a state of close attachment to Hashem. We are a Nation that was created with an inner drive to cling to G-d. Sometimes the quality of faith consciously fills one’s life, but if it does not we must actively help it reach the conscious level. Faith will only permeate the whole of the world after a great deal of hard work.
Question: If we are in essence a believing Nation why is it that we do not see it in practice?
Answer: The same question can be asked about the whole of mankind. Man was created “in the image of G-d”. This fact is not very apparent in human history. Frequently this inner Divine Image does not manifest itself and a conscious effort has to be made to bring it out. A person’s inherent nature cannot be created by a conscious decision but educational efforts can help it realize itself. The term “segulah” refers to one’s essential makeup not to a certain behavioral pattern which may or may not truly express one’s essence. Human nature is in the “image of G-d.” Therefore, man has a core of goodness as the verse states, “G-d has made man upright” (Kohelet 7:29). This seems to be contradicted by a verse elsewhere which states, “every impulse of his innermost thought was only for evil all day long” (Bereshit 7:5). The explanation is that Hashem created man pure and perfect. Evil is not a Divine Creation but a result of man’s encounter with all of the confusion and complications of this world. As a result, his inherently good disposition is not revealed and a great deal of conscious effort has to be made over the generations to bring out his innately good nature.
Avraham Avinu also has innate characteristics with which he was created, while his actions are left to his own free choice. He has no choice whether to be Avraham Avinu or not because Hashem created him as such. We read in Pirkei Avot (5:9), “The Holy One Blessed Be He has [specifically] declared five possessions His own in His world: One – the Torah. Two – Heaven and Earth. Three – Avraham. Four – Israel. Five – the Temple . Avraham was created as a special personality by Hashem and this fact is unchangeable. He can act against his inner nature as an “anti-Avraham,” but that cannot alter his intrinsic makeup whatsoever.
Each of us has a special and distinct soul made in the image of G-d. The soul cannot be modified for it is a spark of the Divine within us. Hashem calls upon us to realize the full potential of our souls in our actions. If we do so we will be fulfilled, but if not we will feel internal frustration. There is no compulsion – it is up to us. Whatever our choice is, however, our divinely-molded inner essence will never disappear, nor even be altered, since it is a Divine Creation.
Question: What is the meaning of the statement: “Clal Yisrael has no free choice“?
Answer: This statement and others like it such as “Clal Yisrael is eternal” do not refer to individuals but to the Nation as a whole. The term “Clal” has two different connotations. One meaning is: the sum total of individuals that make up the Nation. The other more abstract meaning is: the shared characteristic that all the components of the Nation possess, i.e. the segulah, the inner holiness that every Jew possesses by virtue of the fact that he is part of the Jewish Nation. Hence when it is said that Clal Yisrael has no free choice; it does not mean that all of the individuals are robots and cannot, for example, choose whether to act in a holy manner or in an unholy manner. No! The individuals can choose to act in a good manner or to act badly. However, the national characteristic of holiness that all of the individuals possess in their inner essence is unchangeable and cannot be nullified. This is a fact of Creation which is beyond the realm of free choice.
Avraham Avinu is the origin of the Jewish Nation. The novelty in Avraham Avinu is not his personal righteousness, for pious individuals such Noach, Chanoch, Shem and Ever existed before him. Avraham Avinu was, however, the root and source of a holy Nation. Now an entire Nation of righteous people was about to appear on the world scene.
Avraham’s designation as “the father of the multitude of nations” indicates his responsibility for the whole of mankind. This responsibility was visibly manifested when Hashem informed him of his intention to annihilate Sedom. Avraham as “the father of the multitude of nations” recognized his responsibility and stepped in to intervene on their behalf. Avraham’s moral obligation to mankind emanated from the fact that he was the source of the Nation of Israel, who had received this task. The task was to be a blessing to the nations of the world by instructing them and redeeming them from both spiritual and physical perils.
There are Jewish thinkers who claim that our mission is to be “a light to the nations” which can only be performed when we are living dispersed among the nations such that we can bring them the morality of the Tanach. Their view is based on a misunderstanding of the verse in Yeshayahu (42:6) where Hashem says to the Nation of Israel: “I have made you the Nation of my covenant, a light to the nations.” We will not be a light to the nations scattered as individuals in Pressburg, Johannesburg or Williamsburg. On the contrary, we can only effectively illuminate the world as a healthy Nation living in its homeland. Obviously, even as a forcibly dispersed people in the Exile, we did our best and our influence was conspicuous wherever we lived. But this was only a pale imitation of the real thing. We are destined to be a massive searchlight illuminating all of the darkness, but this is only possible when we are a Nation in our homeland.
[To be continued.]
