Category: Beraishis Ch. 15

In the Torah’s narrative of Avraham, there are only two times when the expression אחר הדברים האלה “after what has been related thus far” appears. The first time is at the start of chapter 15, immediately following Avraham’s victory over the four kings. The second time is preceding עקידת יצחק, the binding of Yitzchak.

The word אחר means “after” and it also means “other”. What follows is the other side of what preceded. The “other side of the coin”. The words “front and back” are פנים ואחור.

The idea here is that each part of Avraham’s life was a stepping stone to the next. Each was a preparation for the next phase.

During phase one Avraham’s task was to trust God, living a life of isolation while calling out in God’s name demonstrated by the way he lived. During this phase Avraham would find continued success. He would win over and conquer the world’s heart by demonstrating his faith in God and the success it brings.

God now prepared him for the next phase of his life. This will be the decree of exile necessary for the formation of the nation. He is promised he will have children of his own, but they will have to endure exile in various stages.

The third and final phase, the binding of Yitzchak, will be the zenith of Avraham’s growth in faith.

 

Beraishis 15:1
pages 346-347

God told Avraham not to fear. What was the reason behind Avraham’s fear?

RSRH cites some opinions. 1) He was afraid that perhaps among those he killed in the battles of the previous chapter, there were some innocent men. 2) Perhaps the great victory of the war he won had used up his merit and he would no longer merit to save mankind through his children.

RSRH then says that a more plausible explanation can be found clearly in the text, as follows:

The manner in which God presented Himself to Avraham is what caused the fear. God spoke in a vision. The seer of a vision sees from afar. The words used for God’s communication is דבר השם. The word means a decree from God. Something absolute. (When used together with לאמר as in וידבר השם אל משה לאמר its meaning is that God communicated something absolute and wants it to be explained in a way that is understood. Here too the word is added, meaning something of great importance is about to be said whose significance must be conveyed to the following generations.) The manner of revelation shook Avraham and prepared him for a harsh prophecy.

Additionally, telling Avraham to not be afraid was itself cause for fear. This is similar to when God later tells Yaakov, on his way to finally reunite with his son after a long separation, not to be afraid. The declaration itself was the sign that what is to come will be fearful, but that Yaakov should have faith that it is necessary and will bring to the outcome that God is directing as part of His plan for mankind.

In both cases, this is the expression God uses before the announcement or the next phase of גלות exile. What follows in this chapter is the covenant between the pieces wherein God declared the need for exile.

God continues… He assures Avraham that while a sacrifice will be demanded of him (instilling fear in him), he will be compensated for it. “I will shield you. Your reward is very great.”

Beraishis 15:1
pages 347-349

וַיֹּאמֶר אַבְרָם אֲדֹנָי יֱהוִה מַה תִּתֶּן לִי וְאָנֹכִי הוֹלֵךְ עֲרִירִי וּבֶן מֶשֶׁק בֵּיתִי הוּא דַּמֶּשֶׂק אֱלִיעֶזֶר

This is the first time in Scripture that this designation of God is used. It only appears 3 other times. (See commentary)

Avraham was the first person to call God “אדון”. This is a name that is always mentioned by an עבד השם, a prophet. A person who serves God and who is like an instrument in God’s hand calls God “אדון”. He uses the plural from (not Adoni) to proclaim that there are no other masters. God is not a master among other masters. God is “all the masters”; the Only Master.

יֱהוִה is a combination of two Names. It is written in the form of the attribute of mercy and is pronounced in the form of the attribute of strict justice. This signifies that even when God acts through His attribute of strict justice, mercy in inherent in the justice. Even when God conducts Himself in His attribute of justice, He lays the foundation for a blessed future. It is the same God of mercy, only it is prounounced (GS-perceived) as the God of strict justice.

 

Beraishis 15:2
pages 350-351

 

לֹא יִירָשְׁךָ זֶה כִּי אִם אֲשֶׁר יֵצֵא מִמֵּעֶיךָ הוּא יִירָשֶׁךָ

This one (the descendants of Eliezer) will not be your heir; rather, he who will come forth from your inner parts will be your heir.

The מעים are the seat of the emotions, particularly of pity and compassion, which are characteristically Jewish traits and the heritage of all זרע אברהם. (See Yevamos 79a שלשה סימנים יש באומה זו הרחמנים והביישנין וגומלי חסדים –  רחמנים דכתיב (דברים יג, יח) ונתן לך רחמים ורחמך והרבך ביישנין דכתיב (שמות כ, כ) בעבור תהיה יראתו על פניכם גומלי חסדים דכתיב (בראשית יח, יט) למען אשר יצוה את בניו ואת ביתו וגו’ כל שיש בו שלשה סימנים הללו ראוי להדבק באומה זו)

Explains RSRH: It is possible to teach Torah to others and to convey to them  spiritual values, but it is difficult to change and refine character; for character traits spring primarily from מעי אבות. … God built His nation on the basis of its innate inclination to joyfully undertake all good and moral action.

Beraishis 15:4
pages 352-353

 

Avraham had lost hope of having a child. In the natural course of events, he could no longer expect the joys of fatherhood.

From the vantage point of earth, where every effect comes from its given cause, Avraham’s loss of hope was logical.

Therefore God told him to look up toward heaven. In heaven, we behold the work of Creation; There everything was created directly by God.

God asks Avraham if he can count the stars. God is telling Avraham that these creations, created directly by God, are more numerous than the limited creations of indirect origin on earth. Therefore, desist from your natural, earthbound speculations and open your mind instead to the concept of the starry world. (As the Talmud Shabbos 156a explains this verse, צא מאיצטגנינות שלך)

“So shall be your seed.” Thus shall your people be, like the work of God’s hands; not the result of natural conditions. Against all calculations, like a second Creation, created יש מאין ex nihilo.

(Hirsch cites Psalms chapter 146 and explains that even if the dispersed exiles of the Jews are demeaned and humbled, they are are compared to the stars. Each one of them depends directly on the utterance of God’s mouth. Through all the trouble and distress he remains a a Jew, under השגחה פרטית  Divine Providence, which, as the stars, “calls him by name.” For he has attained freedom (to rise above the cause and effect of the natural world -GS) by exercising his free will to follow God’s direct guidance. (חרות על הלוחות)

Beraishis 15:5
pages 353-355

Avraham’s whole life had been lived by his faith. Through the name of God which he expressed above, declaring God as merciful even when acting with strict justice, he showed his complete faith in God.

אמונה is the essence of Judaism and it is not aptly translated as “faith.” Belief is an act of the mind and sometimes only an opinion. Every believer thinks his beliefs are true. (see more in the commentary) … Religion has thus become divorced from life and converted into a catechism of doctrines, a system of faith-slogans, required for admission to the hereafter.

More correctly, אמונה בשם means to rely upon God, in theory and in practice. To take strength from Him and to follow Him. (see commentary for proofs of this.)

One who declares Amen after a bracha not only declares the truth of the statement of the bracha but also dedicates himself to this truth as a guide for his conduct.

(See Collected Writings Vol. 1, pages 183-209 for a detailed essay on Judaism’s attitude toward belief, religion, theology and ritual.)

Avraham had just been shown the heaven and the stars as the vantage point to view God’s guidance of the Jewish people. God told Avraham, “so shall be your seed.” Israel’s creation and existence will depend directly on God, against all natural calculations. And Avraham had long been living with faith in God, translated into the way he lived his life. Just as his descendants will depend on God alone, so did Avraham precede them with this אמונה and illuminate the way for them.

 

Beraishis 15:6
pages 355-357

See post 15G on the meaning of the word צדקה Tzedakah.
See post 15F on the meaning of the word אמונה Emunah.

Through Avraham’s Emunah he fulfilled his life’s mission in complete faithfulness to his duty. Avraham reached the zenith of his life’s mission through his Emunah. He entrusted himself to God completely and unconditionally; he sacrificed himself for a promised future,  although he didn’t see its first blossom, and all human calculations ruled out this promised future every coming true. Through his faith he made his greatest contribution toward building this future.

Avraham’s would be commanded to observed 613 mitzvos but he was not. He task was Emunah – to base his life on God, to entrust himself totally to God’s guidance and education. This was a difficult task. Avraham had no previous experience of God’d miraculous providence to give him the confidence to go on. And yet he accomplished his task completely. By this he laid the foundation for the future that would now be revealed to him in the ברית בין הבתרים Covenant Between the Pieces.

 

Beraishis 15:6
pages 358-359

God took Avraham out of Ur Kasdim. According to tradition God saved Avraham from the fiery furnace that he was put into by Nimrod. (Ur means fire).

In advance of telling Avraham that his descendants will go to Egypt, an exile referred to in verse 17 of this chapter as “a smoking furnace and a flaming torch,” God mentions Avraham’s own rescue.

Once again we see מעשה אבות סימן לבנים The events of the forefathers would play out in the lives of their descendants. Avraham was thrown into a fiery furnace and his descendants, too, would be tested in the crucible of exile, the “burning furnace” that was Egypt.

Being taken out of the fire of Kasdim was a prototype of the Exodus from Egypt.

Beraishis 15:7
page 359

The text and translation of Covenant Between the Pieces is available for printing by clicking on this link.

Avraham had asked God how would he know when the time had come for him to conquer the land. God’s response, that he would not do that, his descendants will (See post 15J), follows; first by symbolically showing him, and then by explaining the symbolism.

For three generations Avraham’s descendants will be strangers and slaves, oppressed and without homeland, freedom or power of resistance. The fourth generation will return to this land. The people who currently live in the land have not yet becoming fully degenerate, warranting them to be driven out and conquered.

You will receive the covenant. You will go to your fathers in peace and the covenant will be fulfilled with your children.

Explanation of the symbolism:

• Three generations are represented by: three times a female calf, three times a goat, three times a ram, a turtledove and a young pigeon.
• They were cut in the middle (by God) and birds of prey came to attack them. This symbolizes the terror of death, which was decreed upon the coming generations. The turtledove and young pigeon were not cut.
• God is saying: “Your descendants will have to bring an offering three times. Three generations will have to surrender themselves to God, offering to him the qualities represented by a female calf, a goat, a ram, a turtledove and a young pigeon. For three generations I will decree annihilation on the qualities represented by a female calf, a goat and a ram. Only the qualities represented by the turtledove and the young pigeon will I permit to survive.”
• Avraham chases away the birds of prey. This symbolizes that it is only in Avraham’s merit that the descendants will not be consumed.  They will suffer but they will not be consumed.

Symbolism of the Animals:

Each animal represents specific aspects of the human personality. (This applies to all animals the Torah designates for various sacrifices. The gender and species are in accordance with the personality of the offerer, his circumstances and his relation to this environment.)

• A young calf – עגלה: Represents energy and activity. (As these are working animals)
• צאן, sheep and goats, the flock, are pasture animals, led by the shepherd. They represent the relationship of people and nations to God. The עז: As it clear from its name (which means goat but also bold and firm) the goat is strong, resolute and firm. The goat symbolizes the power of resistance – and at the same time, using its nature to be led by its master. The goat represents the quality of heeding the command of one’s master while resisting all temptation.
• The איל, ram: The ram leads the flock. It represents the “man of property” – wealthy individuals endowed with possessions and power.
• צפור the kosher bird (as opposed to non-kosher birds of prey) has neither strength nor powers of resistance. Its main feature is its ability to escape man’s dominion by flying away. The birds here represent the older generation (תור) and the younger generation (גוזל).

God told Avraham to take all the animals in front of him. God cut them in two. He broke all their strength, all the resistance, and all the authority in three generations of Avraham’s descendants. But he did not break the birds, ie. the inner strength to take wing and soar above any hardships (The older generation will keep the younger generation under its protective wings. -GS)

God then explains the symbolism in words, as follows:

• גרות - Your descendants will be strangers (without rights) in a land that is not theirs. (This is the meaning of the ram that was cut in half.)
• עבדות - They will become slaves, without freedom of action. (This is the meaning of the young calf that was cut in half.)
• עינוי - They will be oppressed and will have to bear everything without the ability to offer resistance. (This is the meaning of the goat that was cut in half.)
• Nevertheless, they will be ready for redemption. (The birds were not cut.) The pieces were cut in half, lying opposite each other, waiting to be reunited. The ability to take wing was not broken and it would be the basis for the future restoration of the broken powers.

(In his commentary to Exodus, RSRH further develops this theme. He shows in the wording of the Torah that these three powers of Avraham's descendants were broken in Egypt. He then explains how the plagues correspond to the three powers (as punishment for overdoing it.) Later, when the Torah gives the command of the Korban Pesach, the Pascal Lamb, RSRH again shows the correlation to these powers emerging again and being the focal point as the nation is preparing to leave Egypt. Once the people have been educated in the crucible of Egypt it must now make use of these powers and characteristics in God's service.)

(See The Hirsch Hagaddah pages 90-95 for RSRH's explanation of the Covenant Between the Pieces, pages 8-19 for the Korban Pesach and 115-118 for the 10 plagues.)

Beraishis 15:9-21
pages 361-367