BS"D
THE MYSTERIOUS MARCH: PARSHAT LECH LECHA
Shira Smiles shiur - 2017/5778
Adapted by Channie Koplowitz Stein
Hashem commands Avraham to "Go for yourself from your land, from your
relatives, and from your father's home the land that I will show
you." Avraham picks himself up and takes his family on a journey
without an end in sight. Why doesn't Hashem tell Avraham what the destination
is instead of leaving it a mystery? Rashi offers two complementary reasons.
First, keeping the destination a mystery will endear the final destination to
Avraham. As the Ner Uziel explains, anticipation of a gift while
unwrapping it enhances the experience and the appreciation of the gift.
Secondly, and perhaps more to the point, Hashem wanted to reward Avraham Avinu
for every step of the journey. Doesn't Hashem rewards us for any and all effort
made in the performance of a mitzvah. Would Avraham not have been rewarded for
every step even if he had known what the final destination was?
Perhaps, as Rav Matlin suggests in Netivot Chaim, Hashem did not
want Avraham to be disappointed every time he did not reach his goal, or
alternately perhaps, as Rabbi Provosky z”l suggests in Bad Kodesh, not
knowing when or where it would end made the journey even more challenging,
multiplying the reward for each step. Every step one invests in the performance
of a mitzvah merits a reward, whether it's going to shul or carrying out an act
of chessed, or preparing for Shabbat. But Rabbi Matlin further explains that
while we are indeed rewarded for each step in preparation of a mitzvah, that
reward is not the same as the reward for the actual mitzvah performance. Had
Hashem told Avraham Avinu the destination, Avraham would have received the
reward only for preparation with each step. Not telling Avraham Avinu the
destination earned Avraham the reward for each step in performing the actual
mitzvah of lech lecha, of the command to go. Further, had Avraham known
the final destination, he would have taken the shortest route, taken fewer
steps, and merited fewer rewards as a result.
Ozrot HaTorah citing Chazal and the Chafetz Chayim z”l, supports the assertion
that Hashem rewards man for every step he takes in the performance of a mitzvah
by bringing proof from Kings II and elucidated by Chazal's interpretation
of the medrash. King Chizkiyahu had become deathly ill. After Chizkiyahu's
sincere, heartfelt prayers and tears imploring Hashem for his life, Hashem
relents and tells Chizkiyahu he will live fifteen more years. He sends the
prophet Isaiah to relay the good news and to proffer a sign as to its veracity.
Chizkiyahu chooses as a sign that the great sundial's shadow should go back ten
"hours", thereby extending the day. Naturally, this phenomenon
changed that day throughout the world. Everyone heard that this was a miracle
performed by the God of the Jews. The Babylonian King Merodach sent a letter to
King Chizkiyahu lauding the Judean King and acknowledging the supremacy of the
God of Israel.
Nebuchadnezzar was King Merodach's main scribe at the time, but he happened to
be "out to lunch" when this particular letter was drafted. Upon his
return to the "office", Nebuchadnezzar asked what had been written.
He was told about the letter and its salutation, "Greetings to King
Chizkiyahu, greetings to the City of Jerusalem, greetings to the great
God." Nebuchadnezzar understood that greeting God last on the list was an
affront to His honor. Nebuchadnezzar ran, trying to catch the runners before
the letter was delivered, but he succeeded in running only three and a half
steps before the Angel Gabriel stopped him. Why was it necessary to stop him?
Because Nebuchadnezzar would be rewarded for each step he took, even for his
half step. After Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the Temple, he would be succeeded by two
kings of his dynasty, and a third would enjoy only a short reign. That third
was Vashti. Had Nebuchadnezzar succeeded in finishing his fourth step, Vashti
would have completed her reign and Esther would not have been able to ascend
the throne to foil Haman's plan to annihilate the Jews. [Rav Yedid, the Mikra
Kodesh, quotes the Mahrasha who explains that the three steps we
take at the end of Shemoneh Esrai when we ask Hashem to rebuild the Beit
Hamikdosh are to counter these three steps of Nebuchadnezzar who destroyed the
Beit Hamikdosh.]
If the evil Nebuchadnezzar was rewarded for each of the three steps he took to
honor God's name, how much greater was Avraham Avinu's reward for each step he
took, and how much reward will be in store for each of us for each step we take
and each challenge we face to obey Hashem's commands.
Since we are discussing rewards, we must also discuss how these rewards are
paid. Man consists of both a physical body and a spiritual neshama.
Almost all mitzvoth (except for a handful of mitzvoth that are primarily
thought or emotion) must be carried out by the physical body, although their
effects are felt in the supernal world, writes Rabbi Tatz in Worldmask.
That's why kavanah/intent is so crucial both in prayer and in mitzvah
performance. It also explains why the reward for a mitzvah is in the world to
come, while any good deeds of an evil person are rewarded in this physical
world. The evil person lives only in and for this world. How can he be rewarded
in a world in which he doesn't exist? A righteous person's good deeds builds a
bridge between the physical and the spiritual worlds. The evil person has built
no such bridge.
Understanding this connection between the physical and spiritual worlds explains
why the evil seem to prosper in this world and why Nebuchadnezzar was rewarded
in this world for championing Hashem's honor. Now we can also understand why
Hashem wanted to reward Avraham Avinu for each step of following the command of
"go for yourself". Avraham was building bridges between the physical
and spiritual worlds and creating merit for eternity. In fact, writes Vayovinu
Bamikra, there were actually two mitzvoth here, go - undertake the journey
to the land that I will show you... get to the as yet unknown destination and
go - distance yourself from your land... and from your father's house. As Rabbi
Mordechai Ezrachi notes in Birkat Mordechai, each step takes him both
closer to the destination and away from his past. Had Hashem told him exactly
where to go, Avraham would have focused totally on the destination. Hashem
wanted him to also focus on the process, on separating from the past and
purifying himself. The journey, the process, is a goal in itself. Therefore,
adds the Ohel Moshe, Avraham was rewarded for his spiritual journey away
from all he knew as well as for his physical journey, both of which
strengthened his faith.
By not knowing his destination in advance, Avraham had to rely completely
on Hashem every step of the way, a process that furthered his humility,
explains the Sefas Emes. Further, it raised the journey and the Land to
the spiritual level of eternity so that the Land could become an eternal
inheritance to Avraham's descendants, not just a temporary reward to Avraham
alone.
Rabbi Shimshon Pincus z:l gives us a kabbalistic metaphor that explains
Avraham's performance. Like a chariot that follows the directions of the
charioteer, so did Avraham Avinu follow the path Hashem was commanding him each
step of the way. Just as the chariot is totally unaware of the destination, so
was Avraham unaware of his destination. He headed toward Canaan simple because
that what where his father had started out for, not because he had any
preconceived notion that that was where he was supposed to go. This
characteristic faith and self - nullification is what made our Patriarchs
perfect "wheels" for the merkavah/chariot of Hashem.
Life is always an open -ended journey. A Jew must take each step with faith in
Hashem, writes Halekach Vehalebuv, Rav Avraham Schorr. As Rabbi
Aptel writes in Mesameach Zion, we each must find our own path
toward kedushah and toward forging a relationship with Hakodosh Boruch
Hu. We all struggle through the darkness, and it is the struggle that forges
the relationship. That's why Hashem tested Avraham ten times, each time making
a closer bond.
We are told that maaseh avot siman lebonim/The history of our ancestors
is a paradigm for us, their descendants. Rabbi Pinchas Friedman sees this
command to Avraham Avinu and his fulfilling it as a metaphor for each of us.
The soul begins its existence in its Father's house in Heaven. From there,
Hashem sends the soul down to earth to occupy a designated body and to continue
its journey in life. No soul knows its ultimate destination, its designated
mission. Life is full of twists and turns, of unseen challenges. Only with
faith in the direction of Hakodosh Boruch Hu can man navigate life's pathways.
Therefore, one should be careful to ask Hashem constantly for direction and for
His help, and to attribute one's success to His guidance. One should remember
to say, "Im yirtze Hashem/If God so wills," or, "B'ezrat
Hashem/With God's help," when beginning a new project or when
completing a project. When one believes he is in control rather than Hakodosh
Boruch Hu, he severs his relationship with Hashem.
Perhaps we can get a better understanding of this relationship by examining the
blessing we say after drinking water, continues Rabbi Friedman quoting the
Hatam Sofer. We thank God for two things in that blessing. First, that He
created souls, that He gave me life. But we also thank God for what we lack,
that He created souls vechesronan/and their deficiencies. It is these
deficiencies that force us to turn to God and ask for His help. And Hashem has
already promised us, through His words to Avraham Avinu, that He will always be
with us and never abandon us, for He will lead us el ha'aretz asher arekha/to
the land that He Himself will show us.
As the generation that left Egypt traveled according to God's word and
encamped
according to God's word, so must we also train ourselves to pray for
Hashem's
guidance every step of our personal journey along the path of our
lives, and
every step on our national journey so that we can merit spiritual
rewards of a
relationship with Hakodosh Boruch Hu both in this world and in the
spiritual,
eternal
world.