Parshat Lech Lecha 5777
Rabbi Jablinowitz
We read in this week's parsha that Avraham receives from Hashem the mitzvah of Bris Milah. And when He commands the mitzvah to Avraham the pasuk says (Chapter 17, Pasuk 4), Ani Hinei Brisi Itach, V'Hayisa L'Av Hamon Goyim. I am making a covenant with you and you will be the father of a great nation. Upon receiving the mitzvah of Bris Milah Avraham is told he will be the father of a great nation and his named is changed in a way which expresses this new status (see Rashi on the next pasuk). Why does this new status of being the father of a great nation coincide specifically with receiving and performing the mitzvah of Bris Milah?
The Mishnah in Avos teaches (Chapter 5, Mishnah 4), Asara Nisyonos Nisnasa Avraham Avinu V'Amad B'Kulam. Avraham Avinu went through ten tests and he withstood all of them. Why was it so important for him to go through these tests?
The Sfas Emes points out that when Avraham Avinu is first tested in our parsha the Torah uses the term Lech Lecha, you should go from your land. Surely it would be more correct if the Torah said you should leave your land. But the Torah uses the term Lech Lecha in order to emphasize the notion of walking. Walking indicates a growth process. The Tzadikim are typically described in terms of walking and moving forward. We read in the first pasuk in last week's parsha es Ha'Elokim Hishalech Noach. Noach walked with Hashem. We read in our parsha regarding Avraham (Chapter 17, Pasuk 1), Hishalech Lefanai V'Heyei Tamim, Walk before me and be complete. The life of a Jew needs to contain constant and consistent movement and growth forward. This is why our parsha begins with the words Lech Lecha; the idea of the test given to Avraham was for him to move forward.
When a person moves forward and reaches a new level of Avodas Hashem, he tends to plateau. As the Sfas Emes explains it, it now becomes second nature to him and he enters a situation where this new level becomes routine. His life lacks the newness and freshness of growth which is so essential to every Jew. This is the meaning of the ten tests of Avraham. The challenges and demands Avraham faced were meant to bring him up to the next level of growth. Without the tests each person faces in life he remains stuck in his routine and doesn't move forward. Each one of the ten Nisyonos of Avraham Avinu brought out new untapped potential and brought him up to the next level until he reached his highest level; free from the influence of the yetzer hara.
According to Rav Ovdaia M'Bartenura, the command of Lech Lecha given to Avraham Avinu was the second of his tests. The first one was when he was thrown into the fiery furnace by Nimrod in Ur Kasdim. The Meshech Chachmah explains that when Avraham Avinu came out unscathed, it was a victory against idolatry. He had shown everyone the folly of Avodah Zarah.
But he wasn't able yet to prove to the world that Hashem created the world and runs the world. This didn't happen until he had the nisayon of Bris Milah. This is because by performing the mitzvah of Milah on himself and on the members of his household, he showed that Hashem is involved in our daily lives and commands us to perform mitzvos. And even if there doesn't seem to be any immediate benefit and gain for the person (Rashi teaches that Lech Lecha was for Avraham's personal benefit), one is obligated to follow the words of Gd. This didn't happen until Bris Milah and this was the new level Avraham reached when he performed the mitzvah of Bris Milah.
Why does he now become the father of a great nation, as we asked above? The Meshech Chachmah teaches that the word father here means much more than to biologically sire offspring. To be a father is to teach. Avraham Avinu became the father and the spiritual leader of a great nation only when he began to show that Hashem controls the world and consequently our daily lives are dependent on Him. And Avraham only was able to do this by acting and performing mitzvos. Philosophical arguments didn't suffice; Avraham Avinu became a father and a teacher to future generations when he began to lead by example.
We learn from here a very important point. To be a father is to teach and one can only teach when he leads by example. Though we can explain belief in Hashem to others as Avraham Avinu did, it was only when he was obligated to act and perform mitzvos that he became an Av Hamon Goyim, the spiritual father and teacher of the Jewish people.
Good Shabbos
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