Lech Lecha – Page 13 – Peninim on the Torah

And He (Hashem) said: “Gaze, now, towards the Heavens, and count the stars if you are able to count them!” And He said to him, “So shall your offspring be!” (15:5)

In order to understand the foregoing simile, we must assume that the reference is to Avraham’s descendants throughout the millennia. Otherwise, how are we to understand the inability to count the Jewish People? Are we that great in number that we cannot be counted? On the other hand, we find in the beginning of Sefer Devarim (1:10) that the Torah states: “Behold, you are like the stars of heaven in abundance.” Rashi attributes this comparison to the eternal nature of the heavenly bodies. As they last forever, so, too, will the Jewish People be blessed with permanence. Horav Shimon Schwab,…

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Moshe Marcovich In Lech Lecha, 5758

And Sarai, Avram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her maidservant…and gave her to Avram her husband, to him as a wife. (16:3)

Avraham and Sarah had almost everything, they lacked only a child to carry on their legacy. Sarah suggested that Avraham take Hagar, her Egyptian maidservant, as a wife. Sarah would raise the child, that would hopefully be born to them, as her adopted child. One would think that Hagar would be enthusiastic about the idea of becoming Avraham’s wife. Indeed, her father told her, “Better to be a maidservant to Avraham and Sarah than a mistress anywhere else.” Rashi, however, says that Sarah had to convince Hagar to marry Avraham. This hardly seems consistent with a person who pursued any…

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Moshe Marcovich In Lech Lecha, 5758

Walk before Me and be perfect. (17:1)

Rashi says that Avraham’s perfection, his capacity to be tamim, was attained by his observance of the mitzvah of Bris Milah. As long as he had the arlah, foreskin, he had a physical imperfection. With its removal, he now became perfect. We may wonder why Avraham needed the mitzvah of Milah to become a tamim; Noach was called a tamim without the mitzvah of Milah. Horav Dov Eliezrav, Shlita, distinguishes between Noach’s virtue and that of Avraham. We find that Noach’s righteousness is the topic of a dispute among Chazal. Was he a tzaddik only because he lived in a…

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Moshe Marcovich In Lech Lecha, 5758

Your name shall no longer be called Avram, but your name shall be Avraham. (17:5)

In the Talmud Berachos 13A, Chazal remark that anyone who refers to Avraham Avinu as Avram violates a negative and a positive commandment. Interestingly, we do not find this distinction in regard to Yaakov Avinu, whose name also underwent a change. We note (in Bereishis 32:29 and 35:10) the Torah states: “Your name shall not always be called Yaakov, but Yisrael shall be your name.” What difference is there between Yaakov and Avraham? While Yaakov’s name was also changed, it had no halachic consequences? We still refer to him as Yaakov. Horav Zaidel Epstein, Shlita, explains that the difference lies…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Lech Lecha, 5757

And Hashem said to Avram, “Go for yourself from your land, and from your birthplace, and from your father’s home.” (12:1)

One would expect the Torah to introduce Avraham Avinu in a more auspicious manner. The Torah should have mentioned the background of the first person who Hashem chose to be the progenitor of His people; the individual who on his own discovered the existence of Hashem; the man who rebelled against a world filled with pagans. Who was he? From where did he originate? What did he do in his youth and middle age? Our introduction to Avraham Avinu is Hashem’s command to him, “Lech Lecha!” The various commentators address this question, each offering his own response. Perhaps the most…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Lech Lecha, 5757

Go forth from your land, and from your birthplace, and from your father’s house, to the land that I will show you. (12:1)

Logic dictates that upon leaving his environment, an individual begins by contemplating that which is closest to him, his father’s home. He then proceeds to separate himself from his birthplace, and, lastly, from his land. Why does the pasuk list a sequence that seems unnatural? First, Hashem tells Avraham to leave the land, then his birthplace, and finally his father’s home. A number of commentators respond to this question. The Maor Vashemesh cites the Rambam in Hilchos De’os who posits that a person’s character is influenced by his surroundings. Obviously, the closer and more intense one’s relationship is to his…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Lech Lecha, 5757

Avram took his wife Sarai and Lot, his brother’s son… And the souls they made in Charan. (12:5)

Rashi comments that these “souls” refers to the people who Avraham and Sarah converted to faith in Hashem. Avraham would teach and later convert the men, while Sarah would do the same with the women. Rabbeinu Yona posits that Avraham reached out to the pagans as a purely altruistic gesture. Avraham loved people, his heart overflowed with a desire to help as many as he could. Regardless of their origin, Avraham loved them and attempted to reach out to them even when they were not receptive to his overtures. Rabbeinu Yona teaches us a novel idea. Avraham Avinu reached out…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Lech Lecha, 5757

“From there he relocated to the mountain… and pitched his tent… and he built there an altar to Hashem and invoked Hashem by Name.” (12:8)

The commentators interpret Avraham’s invocation of Hashem’s Name to mean that he was proclaiming Hashem’s Name to the world by teaching monotheism. His goal reached fruition, numbering converts in the thousands. The Ramban questions the fact that only Avraham and Yitzchak have been cited as “invoking Hashem’s Name.” Why is this mission not mentioned in regard to Yaakov? He explains that Yaakov’s “outreach” to the world was accomplished via his “Adas Yisrael,” twelve sons. They were each great tzaddikim, the forebears of an entire congregation submissive to Hashem. Through the establishment of this kehillah, congregation, Hashem’s Name spread throughout the…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Lech Lecha, 5757

And the steward of my house is Damesek Eliezer. (15:2)

Rashi cites a number of definitions for the word Damesek. Targum Onkelos notes that Eliezer came from Damasus. Hence the name Damesek is a reference to the city from which he originated. In the second interpretation cited by Rashi, Damesek is the city to which the kings were chased prior to their defeat. In the last interpretation, Damesek is an acronym for two words veanu vkus, referring to Eliezer’s attitude towards studying Torah transmitted to him by his great rebbe, Avraham. He would be “doleh,” draw the Torah out as one draw’s water from a wellspring; and he would be…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Lech Lecha, 5757

And He said to him, ‘I am Hashem Who took you out of Uhr Kasdim.’ (15:7)

The scene in which Hashem “introduced” Himself to Avraham is anthologized in the Midrash. It is compared to a man who was traveling from place to place and suddenly came upon an illuminated castle. Upon seeing this sight he asked, “Is it possible that this castle does not have a master?” Suddenly, the master peeked out and said, “I am the master of this castle.” So, too, Avraham was awestruck by the magnificence of this world. This prompted him to ask, “Is it possible that such a grandiose world has no master?” Hashem responded, “I am its Master.” If we…

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And He (Hashem) said: “Gaze, now, towards the Heavens, and count the stars if you are able to count them!” And He said to him, “So shall your offspring be!” (15:5)

And Sarai, Avram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her maidservant…and gave her to Avram her husband, to him as a wife. (16:3)

Walk before Me and be perfect. (17:1)

Your name shall no longer be called Avram, but your name shall be Avraham. (17:5)

And Hashem said to Avram, “Go for yourself from your land, and from your birthplace, and from your father’s home.” (12:1)

Go forth from your land, and from your birthplace, and from your father’s house, to the land that I will show you. (12:1)

Avram took his wife Sarai and Lot, his brother’s son… And the souls they made in Charan. (12:5)

“From there he relocated to the mountain… and pitched his tent… and he built there an altar to Hashem and invoked Hashem by Name.” (12:8)

And the steward of my house is Damesek Eliezer. (15:2)

And He said to him, ‘I am Hashem Who took you out of Uhr Kasdim.’ (15:7)

YEARS

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