Lot's separation

We learned in class this week that when Avram, Sarai, and Lot went down to Mitzraim, they did not come back empty- handed. They had lots of cattle, money, slaves- you name it. Lot became corrupted with this wealth, but Avraham did not. They started arguing over this, but Avram has no desire to fight with Lot. They therefore split up and Lot went to Sodom, which he describes as "Kigan Hashem Kieretz MItzraim." This proves the fact that Lot has become corrupted, since he was comparing MItzraim, which was evil and corrupt, to the garden of Hashem! As a result of this, G-d must reassure Avraham that His promises will come true and that there is no reason to worry. This may be because Avram thought that since he was 75, the promise of descendants might have been fulfilled through Lot, but since he had gone astray, it wouldn't be fulfilled. G-d tells him that this is not the case; he will have children and the promise will be fulfilled through him. He then adds that all the land will belong to Avram and his descendants, not Lot. Avram then builds an altar to G-d, showing his renewed faith in G-d's covenant.

Like the dust of the earth

IN this week's parsha, G-d tells Yaakov to spread out like the dust of the earth. This phrase is constantly repeated throughout Bereshit; why is the spreading out of the Jewish people constantly likened to dust? I came up with some possible answers. The dirt beneath our feet is one of the building blocks of this planet. It helps sustain life by enabling us to grow food to eat, trees so we can breathe, and numerous other benefits. It is therefore a great blessing to be likened to dirt because this could be a way of making the analogy that the Jewish people make things flourish. Wherever we are, whatever we do, we accomplish great things and help mankind. This could also be a reference to the fact that people come from the dust of the earth. We come from dust, and when we die we will return to dust.

The Promise:Yaakov and Avraham

I would like to compare the responses of both Avraham and Yaakov to G-d's promise to give their descendants the land of Israel. In our class we learned about Avraham and though he at times, seems to doubt the authenticity of the promise, he never 'talks back' to G-d or demanded an explanation or a written agreement. He always accepted what G-d said and does as He told him to. Yaakov, on the other hand whose response we learned with Rabbi Dr. Perl (who did a spectacular job teaching us, by the way) had a different approach when faced with G-d's promise. Though the commentators explain his responce in different perspectives, the basic problem here is unlike Avraham he didn't immediately trust in G-d and in the hopes that G-d would take care of everything for him. It should have been easier for Yaakov to accept G-d's words, after all Yaakov was raised being taught about G-d.

So why the different responses? I can't tell you what the correct answer is, but I will give my own answer.

First, Avraham spent most of his life as the only person who believed in G-d and didn't worship idols. He believed in one omnipotent G-d, but he never had any solid proof so that he could tell himself, even if others didn't believe him, that his beliefs were true. When G-d first spoke to him, the last thing he would want to do is do anything that could "offend" G-d or show any lack of trust in Him. Yaakov, though, wanted more than just a promise for the future, he wanted a promise that would ensure his safety now. (Although that might seem selfish, it is a part of human nature to want that kind of security and protection.) Avraham had had a pretty awful childhood (his father let the king throw him into a furnace), so you could imagine he was hoping his descendants wouldn't have to endure the same things he did. Yaakov, who was raised while learning about G-d and dealing with the unpredictable Eisav, he was worried about the future and the Now. Therefore, he had to confirm that G-d was going to protect him the whole way, and not just his descendants.

The Promise

Hashem promises Avraham that his children will be numerous/become many nations and that they will inherit the land. The question now is why did Avraham deserve this reward and why was the promise repeated many times throughout Avraham's life?

Avraham was the first person in the history of the world to recognize Hashem as the true creator and sustainer of the universe and to succeed in spreading ethical monotheism. He began to speculate about the existence of G-d at a young age. According to the Midrash, Avraham was imprisoned for his beliefs and thrown into a fiery pit. He was later miraculously released by the king. Afterwards, G-d commanded him to leave his home, his birthplace, and the house of his father to follow G-d to an unnamed land. He willingly did so. He brought his wife, nephew, and all of their possessions with him. He then proceeded to spread his practice of ethical monotheism throughout the land. It was then that Hashem first gave him the promise of זרע and ארץ. Avraham then built a מזבח for Hashem. Then came the famine. Avraham, Sara, and Lot went to Egypt for food. Avraham told Sara to lie and tell the Egyptians that she was Avraham's sister, not wife. He probably did this for two reasons. First of all, he didn't want to be killed so that the Egyptians could take his wife. Secondly, the promise of זרע required Avraham's wife. We know now that זרע refers to the descendants of Avraham and Sara. Without her, the promise might have been void. Hashem afflicts Pharaoh's house and the three of them return to Canaan. Then, Lot became corrupted. He decided that instead of following the ways of ethical monotheism, he would follow the ways of the people of Egypt: corruption and immorality. He decided to move to Sedom, a city as corrupt as Egypt. It was then that Hashem repeated the promise to Avraham.

Throughout Avraham's lifetime, Hashem repeated the promise when the validity of the promise was in doubt. Here, the problem appeared in the promise of זרע. At this point, Avraham was over age seventy five, and it seemed very unlikely that he would ever have children of his own. Therefore, he believed that the promise of children would come through Lot. When Lot strayed from the path of morality, Avraham considered that the promise was void. Therefore it was necessary for Hashem to renew the promise and to prove to Avraham that he would have numerous descendants and that those children would inherit the land of Canaan.

Promise

Hashem made Avraham a series of promises. These were that he would have so many future generations that he would not be able to count them, Avraham would be given all the land and after him his children would inherit it after him, material wealth, anyone who curses him will be cursed and anyone who blesses him will be blessed, and lastly he will be a bracha to everyone. After Hashem gives him these promises, Hashem brings him, his wife Sarai, and lot to Egypt due to a famine. Avraham has to leave his homeland and follow G-d. Avraham of course follows. When they get there, they pretend that Sarai is really Avraham's sister rather than his wife, to safe his own life. Pharaoh takes Sarai as a wife only to find out later that she is really Avraham's wife. Pharaoh throws him in jail but miraculously send him out on the condition that he leaves Egypt. From this we learn how immoral Egyptians are. They were willing to kill Avraham just because he was married to a beautiful woman whom they wanted. Avraham, Sarai, and Lot take their belongings and their wealthy and leave Egypt. The only problem is that Lot was very influenced by the immoral ways of the Egyptians that he decided to go live in a city that was like it. Avraham on the other hand, uninfluenced by Egypt decides to keep going on his path like he was before, going in the name of G-d. Hashem though, must sense a feeling of uneasiness from Avraham because He feels the need to repeat the promises to him again. This could be because Avraham might have thought that he was already 75 and he could not have children anymore, thus making Lot his only descendent. Now that Lot chose this "bad" city though, Avraham could have been worried that he would not have any future generations. Hashem comes to the rescue and reassures Avraham that he will have future generations who will be as great as the dust of the land. Hashem also tells Avraham to look at all the land from one side of the world to the other. This is probably because Avraham might have felt that he would not get all the land because Lot just chose this bad city. Hashem thankfully steps in and reassures Avraham, calming all his nerves.

The Promise

Hashem told Avraham that he should go with Him and He will take Avraham to a land that he will show him. Avraham took his wife, Lot, and his belongings and went to the land. Avraham got to the land which was Cana'an. Hashem promised to Avraham that he would become great, wealthy, known, blessed, a source of blessing, everyone that blesses him will be blessed and everyone that curses him will be cursed, and that he will be the leader of a great nation, and have many kids, as many that he will not even be able to count how many. Avraham runs into many predicaments that causes him to rethink if the promise will ever be fulfilled. Every time that this happens Hashem has to reassure him that the promise will come true and he doesn't have to worry.

אור כשדים

Avraham almost gave up his life for his love of G-d. Avraham destroyed his father's place of worship because he wanted his father to believe in Hashem. Avraham's father was so into it that he was willing to kill his own son. They threw Avraham in a pit of fire to see if he will die. Avraham had faith in Hashem so he was pushed into the pit and he completely survived. Haran also jumped into the pit but he died. Haran died because he just wanted to stick with the winner of this fight, he didn't have the complete belief in Hashem that Avraham did.