Lech Lecha

Lech-Lecha - The Essence and Root of Nisayon

“Go from your land, from your birth place, from your father’s house, to the land that I will show you.”

 Lech-Lecha - A Nisayon?

In Pirkei Avot Chazal state that Avraham Avinu underwent ten nisyonots (tests). Most Rishonim explain that Hashem’s command to Avraham to leave Charan and to go to Eretz Yisrael was one of the tests. But this needs explanation; why did this constitute a nisayon? Hashem promised him, “I will make you a great nation”, “I will bless you”, “You will be a source of blessing” etc. If Hashem would appear to me, as he appeared to Avraham, and instructed me to leave everything behind and walk on foot across the world and, in exchange, “I will make you a great nation”, “I will bless you”, “You will be a source of blessing”, “I will bless those who bless you and I will curse those who curse you and all of the families of the earth will be blessed through you”, I (or any other Jewish person) would jump at the opportunity! Why then did this constitute a nisayon?

 Avraham was already on the way out of Charan!

Furthermore, at the end of Parshat Noach the Torah already relates that Avraham had left for Eretz Yisrael. What then was the new command of “Lech-Lecha”?

 The root of the nisayon of Lech-Lecha

It is possible that it was precisely this that was the nisayon of Lech-Lecha. Avraham Avinu was converting the people of his time by the tens of thousands, as the Torah states, “and the souls that they made in Charan”. Later the Torah relates that Avraham “armed his protégés, the young ones of his house”, who were, as the Midrash explains, 318 of his best servants. In other words, he had an army of slaves and he chose the best of them for the cause. (According to Rashi, however, he only took Eliezer whose name has the gematria, 318.)

 Why was Avraham commanded to leave the place in which he was enjoying success?

Given his success Avraham could reasonably say to Hashem: “Master of the World, what do you want from me? Am I doing nothing here? I am completely dedicated to Your service! I am establishing seminars explaining emunah, and drawing people close to you! I have built the foundations! I have arranged shiurim in many places! People are drawing close to You! Is this the time to tell me, ‘Go from your land, from your birth place, from your father’s house’?! Is this the time to leave the place where I am converting so many people? I want to continue working with the growing community that I have built.”

 What happened to the people Avraham converted?

It is interesting to consider that the people Avraham converted - “the souls they made in Charan” - disappear completely from the Torah’s narrative. They are not found during the era of Yitzchak, Ya’akov, or anywhere else. The “seventy souls” that descended with Ya’akov to Mitzrayim were not the souls that were converted in Charan. What happened to them?

 This is an additional reason why Hashem commanded Avraham to leave Charan; the place was filled with spiritually harmful energy that impeded spiritual progress. Avraham’s service could never be complete or sufficient in Charan - he would be prevented by the spiritual contamination of the idol-worship in Ur Kasdim and Aram Naharaim. The same was true of the people he converted; since they remained in Charan they eventually regressed and were, eventually, wiped off the map due to the spiritual contamination they suffered there. From here we can learn that there are always influences that can affect us, positive and negative. These influences are created by mitzvots and averots. If we endeavor to frequent places of spirituality and fulfilment of mitzvots we will be affected for the good and be able to grow in Torah.

The origin of the kedusha of Am Yisrael and Eretz Yisrael

We should appreciate that Avraham could have said to Hashem: “Master of the World. What do you want from me? The head of the family into which I was born is an idol-worshipper, owner of gods of wood and stone. Everybody with whom I come into contact worships the sun, moon, or other entities. What can be expected of me? I am influenced by them.” But Avraham did not make this claim. He knew the truth and sought to craft a protective wall around himself so that he would not be affected by the evil influences around him. However, Hashem understood that the negativity that abounded in Charan would soon make cracks in Avraham’s protective wall. He therefore commanded him to leave the area and go to Eretz Yisrael, which was already considered the “palace of the king”, replete with holiness and location of holy places such as Har haMoriya, the site of the future Beis haMikdash. Even then Eretz Yisrael was filled with positive spiritual bacteria.

In Eretz Yisrael Avraham could achieve his spiritual potential. There, coupled with his unbounded love for others, he could successfully bring people closer to Hashem. 

On the other hand, another aspect of the command of Lech-Lecha was the need for Avraham to bring the unique kedusha  to rest upon Eretz Yisrael. Thus, the Ramban explains that the episodes related in sefer Bereishit about the Avots (such as Avraham stopping Shechem to daven for the success of his descendants in battle) were a “yetzira l’zaram” - a creation of the history that would take place with their descendants. Everything that later took place stemmed from the kedusha and influence that Avraham Avinu brought to Eretz Yisrael and the spiritually positive energy that he implanted there.

May we be zocheh to see very soon the victory of our soldiers , the safe return of the hostages , the refuah shelema to all the injured and Erets Israel freed from the evil force so we can see Mashiach bimhera beyameinu . Amen 

Rabbi Gad Bouskila