OG’S
ODYSSEY: PARSHAT LECH LECHA
Shira Smiles shiur - October 26, 2014/Marcheshvan 2, 5775
Summary
by Channie Koplowitz Stein
The first recorded war in Tanach appears in Parshat Lech Lecha. As in
any war,
then and subsequently, prisoners and captives are taken, and sometimes
the
captives are significant to the ensuing events. In this war, none other
than
Lot, Abraham’s
nephew, was taken captive, and the events that followed changed the
course of
the war and provide lessons in human behavior.
The Torah relates that a survivor came to Avraham, residing among his
allies
Mamre, Eshcol and Aner, and informed him that his nephew had been taken
captive. Avraham arms his entourage of 300 men and pursues and
vanquishes the
four kings with their full armies, and frees his nephew. Who is this
mysterious
survivor, and why did he choose to inform Avraham of the capture of his
nephew?
Many commentators cite the Medrash that this survivor was not only a
survivor
of this battle, but also a survivor of the flood that destroyed the
world ten
generations earlier. According to the Medrash, this man is Og, later
King of
Bashan. He held on to the side of the Ark, while Noach fed him through
an
opening for the entire duration of their confinement within the Ark.
The question begs to be asked: Of that entire generation, other than
the family
of Noach, why was this man saved? Rabbi Wolbe in his Lessons on Chumash
notes
that Og, although not a righteous man, did not succumb to the sexual
depravity
of his generation. Even here, when our commentators attribute an
ulterior
motive to Og’s
informing Avraham of Lot’s
capture, of wanting Avraham to die in battle so that he could marry
Avraham’s
widow Sarah, Og
would not succumb to immorality but would wait until Sarah was a widow
so that
he could legitimately marry her. In spite of these ulterior motives,
Hashem
rewarded Og with an additional 400 years of life, writes Rabbi Yehudah
Leib
Chasman quoted in Yalkut Lekach Tov, and Moshe feared
doing battle
with Og until Hashem reassured Moshe that He would deliver Og into his
hands.
Why attribute ulterior motives to Og? Couldn’t
he have wanted just to do Avraham a kindness by telling him of Lot’s
capture? Here we
must get into a discussion of human nature. First we have the simple
explanation of Rabbi Schrage Grossbard in Daas Schrage. One who
is evil
will always have some personal motive, even when seemingly acting
altruistically. Although Og was circumspect in sexual behavior, he was
in other
ways no more righteous than the rest of his generation, and so we can
attribute
evil undertones to his actions. Further, as Rabbi Chasman reminds us,
every
human being is a composite of the lowest and the highest elements, dust
of the
earth and the breath of God which animates him. That dust of the earth
from
which our bodies were formed is the same material from which animals
were
created, and thus retains within each human being the base animal
instincts.
Only through Torah can we discipline ourselves to overcome these
instincts and
develop the human potential of godliness and holiness.
Building on this theme, Rabbi Issachar Dov Rubin in Tallelei Orot
quoting Rav Shach warns us that there is a constant tension between
these two
elements within us, and we must always be aware that even the loftiest
intentions can be tainted with a thread of personal motives, whether
for
recognition or for honor, for example. Og represents this duality
within each
of us.
Rabbi Pliskin consults with many great men of our generation for
guidelines in
helping us develop our positive character traits while uprooting our
negative
ones. Rabbi Yerucham Levovitz offers that we should seek out role
models who
are in control of the negative behavior we are trying to correct. If we
can ask
them how they can control themselves in situations which are so
challenging for
us, we will find guidance.
Another question can now be asked. If Og had ulterior motives, why was
he
rewarded? The answer goes to one of our fundamental beliefs about the
Ribbonoh
shel Olam, which is that Hashem is always trustworthy to repay anyone
for any
good deed, no matter what selfish motivation may be involved. Rabbi
Mordechai
Druck gives several examples in Dorash Mordechai. Besides Og,
Rabbi
Druck cites both Yitro and Eglon, among others. Yitro’s
daughters were helped at the well by
the fleeing Moshe. When Yitro told his daughters to invite “the
Egyptian”
to eat with them,
he was hoping a proposal of marriage to one of his daughters would
eventually
develop. Nevertheless, Yitro was rewarded that his descendents were
part of the
Sanhedrin. Similarly, Eglon, a Moabite king who was persecuting Bnei
Yisroel,
stood in honor of Hashem when Ehud the Judge approached him wanting to
impart
God’s
words to
him. For this respect Eglon showed to the Jewish God, he merited that
Ruth, the
ultimate convert to Judaism and the mother of Jewish monarchy, would
descend
from him. If these non Jews merited such rewards, continues Rabbi
Druck,
imagine the rewards for good deeds earned by those who follow the Torah
selflessly.
While the body must be engaged in the performance of mitzvoth (after
all, we
are physical beings) these acts can achieve transcendence by investing
the mind
with the proper intention, with kavononoh that we are
performing this
act because Hashem has so commanded, writes Rabbi Akiva Tatz in Worldmask.
Nevertheless, even mitzvoth performed without the proper intention are
always
rewarded, provided they meet the minimum requirements of the mitzvah.
That can
help explain why the wicked often lead easy lives while the righteous
suffer in
this world. The wicked may perform some good deeds, but their
intentions are
based on the physical world as are their motivations. Therefore,
continues
Rabbi Tatz, their reward will be granted in the only world they value.
On the
other hand, the righteous perform their deeds with the motivation of
coming
closer to God. Hence, they may suffer in this world for their few sins
while
earning their rewards in the eternal world with proximity to their
Creator. It
is only through joining the intentions of the mind with the physical
acts that
one can achieve transcendence and affect both this world and the next.
It is this concept that draws us to the reason Avraham here is called HaIvri,
the one from the other side. It was not so much that Avraham came from
the
geographical other side, but that his values were completely different
from the
values of everyone else. How did he get this way? From a very early
age,
Avraham practiced reflection and contemplation, writes Daas Schrage,
citing Rambam. Avraham was looking for a master of the world, When the
sun was
chased away by the moon and stars at night, and the situation was
reversed at
daybreak, Avraham knew neither of these could be the Master. Continuing
with
observing other areas of nature, Avraham soon realized there had to a
Creator
of the entire world, and thus through observation and contemplation
Avraham
became the teacher of monotheism for all time. Rabbi Akivah is another
example
of a major change achieved through observation and contemplation.
Akivah the
shepherd grew to be a great Torah scholar after observing how constant
drips of
water eventually made an impression and ate away at solid rock. He
started
learning at age forty and kept at it until Torah entered his “hard
as rock”
head. We, too,
must learn to pause and contemplate our world and learn lessons from
everything
around us, to recognize God’s
presence everywhere, and to act with that awareness at all times,
writes Rabbi
Segal, the Manchester Rav.
Rabbi Zaks in Menachem Zion drives home the essence of being an
Ivri,
the nation on the other side. We are charged with the mission of
fitting the
world into God’s
view and His rubric rather than manipulating our view to fit the world
and its
political correctness. In fact, Avraham’s
battle here can be considered a recap of a previous confrontation. Haketav
Vehakabbalah writes that Amrafel, King of Shinar, one of the
combatants, is
none other than Nimrod who threw Avraham into the furnace for defying
him and
declaring Hashem God.
Rabbi Druck presents another reason for calling Avraham the Ivri
at this
point. Og knew that only someone with as strong a conviction as Avraham
would
attempt to fight such a foolhardy war against these four powerful
kings, but
Avraham would rely on Hashem. The lesson for us is that we too are
called upon
to fight Hashem’s
battles, and we too must rely on Hashem at such times, writes Rabbi
Sternberg
in Taam Vodaath. And, like Avraham, we are further called upon
to stand
up and fight for the safety of our brethren, even if we stand alone, as
Avraham
did, even if we are disinterested in politics or other current events,
writes
the Ner Uziel.
Avraham risked his life to save Lot also from a sense of gratitude for
Lot’s
not revealing to
Pharaoh that Sarah was Avraham’s
wife rather than his sister. It is this sense of gratitude that also
set
Avraham apart from others in his generation and continues to be the
hallmark of
Yehudim (those who offer thanks), Jews, throughout history.
According to
Daas Schrage, Og knew this history and counted on Avraham to act
on this
gratitude and go to war. Similarly, we are all called upon to
acknowledge any
chessed we receive, even when the donor had no specific intention of
benefitting you, says Rabbi Chaim Shmuelevitz in his Discourses.
Such is
the example of Reuven who felt so elated when Yosef spoke of a dream in
which
eleven stars bowed down to him. Yosef had not excluded Reuven as
worthy
of being one of the twelve tribes of Yisroel, and although this was not
Yosef’s
intention and he
was only recounting his dream, Reuven felt such gratitude that he felt
compelled to try to save Yosef when the other brothers plotted to kill
to kill
him.
Rabbi Chaim Ephraim Zaichik offers an interesting explanation for the
name Og,
attributed to this messenger. This survivor had witnessed the
destruction of
the world and seen its rebuilding through Noach and his descendents.
Yet that
made little impact on him. Here he approached Avraham to present his
information. It was Pesach, and Avraham was baking oogot matzot,
matzo
cakes, (as he had done when the three angels appeared). He was filled
with the
joy of performing the mitzvah of the future. Witnessing this spiritual
high had
an impact on the survivor, and henceforth his name was Og, in reference
to the oogot
matzoth. By surrounding ourselves with good people, righteous
people, we
too can be permanently positively impacted.
In Mikdash Halevi, Rabbi Dinner offers a unique interpretation
to the
identity of the “survivor”
who came to
Avraham with news from the battlefield. According to Rabbi Dinner, this
survivor was none other than the angel Michael who appeared to Avraham
because
Avraham was the Ivri, the one to stand up for his beliefs. As
descendents of
Avraham, we too can merit Heavenly assistance when we stand up for our
beliefs.
This one verse in the Torah offers us so many insights into who we are,
who we
should strive to be, and little hints on how to get there. And when we
are
convinced that Hashem is on our side, it is much easier to be
an Ivri.