Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Lech L'cha לך לך – The Path to Eternity

In parshas Lech L'cha Hashem tells Avraham avinu to leave his home in Ur Kasdees (Sumer) and travel to the Holy Land. After arriving, a famine ensues; therefore Avraham decides to go to seek food in Egypt. Noting the beauty of Sarah, his wife, and concerned about the rampant immorality in Egypt, Avraham is fearful that the Egyptians will kill him in order to steal his wife. Therefore they decide to claim that they are brother and sister rather than husband and wife.

The plan quickly goes awry. The Midrash Tanhuma (Genesis 5) brings a legend as to how Sarah was taken to Pharaoh. When they were approaching the official border crossing, Avraham hid Sarah in a large basket. The guards, interested in collecting a customs tax and asked Avraham what was in the basket. When he replied barley they responded that he was saying that because it had the lowest tariff, therefore the basket must contain wheat. When Avraham promptly agreed to pay the tax on wheat, the guards said in that case it must contain spices. This continued until Avraham agreed to pay the tax on pearls. At that point the guards said that the basket must be opened. Upon seeing Sarah they said this woman is a jewel fit for the king.

Things go badly for Pharaoh after that. He and his household are struck with disease. When the sores make relations impossible he realizes that Sarah is in fact Avraham's wife and restores her to him. Pharaoh then rebukes Avraham for the ruse and expels him from the country.

Pharaoh's actions are inconsistent with the general point of view of the Torah. To marry a woman a man must first obtain her agreement. In addition the family approval may also be necessary. Even a king may not simply seize a woman for his harem.

The Ramban (Bereshis 12:10) is critical of Avraham because of this ploy saying he mistakenly committed a big sin. He should have trusted in G-d and not exposed his wife to this hazard. Upon examining this situation it seems that Avraham over reacted to the potential dangers. Pharaoh was a very unsavory character; however it does not seem that he would have gone so far as to kill Avraham in order to steal his wife. It would also seem that this encounter was arranged by Providence so as to uproot the negative characteristics that are found in both the righteous and the less than righteous.

There is a similar interplay between Moshe and the children of Israel when the nation has no water (see Exodus 17:4-5). When Moshe is afraid that the people will stone him, G-d tells him to walk right in front of them. Rashi explains this was to show Moshe that his negative estimation of the people was excessive.

A major objective of the Chumash is the purification and perfection of man. For this reason it provides case studies of sins. In the physical world the Ribono shel Olam (Master/Teacher of the Universe) puts the righteous into situations which will reveal and uproot their shortcomings, even those that are very slight.

Ultimately a road to redemption is expressed by King David in Psalm 139. Much of the Psalm explores the omnipresence of G-d. It concludes with a prayer that G-d should search his heart, test him, and know his thoughts to see if there is any sorrowful path in him, and place him in the path of eternity.


I would like to thank my friend Ed Eriksen whose recent comments to me provided the inspiration for much of this article.



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