פרשת לך לך תש"ב - ברית בין הבתרים

ויירא...ויצר HE FEARED GREATLY AND WAS DISTRESSED — He was afraid lest he be killed, and he was distressed that he might have to kill someone (Genesis Rabbah 76:2).

But God said unto me: Thou shalt not build a house for My name, because thou art a man of war, and hast shed blood.

הן לי לא נתתה זרע BEHOLD, TO ME THOU HAST GIVEN NO CHILD —What use, then, is all else that thou givest me?

And he believed in the LORD; and He counted it to him for righteousness.

ויחשבה לו צדקה AND HE ACCOUNTED IT UNTO HIM FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS — The Holy One, blessed be He, accounted it unto Abraham as a merit, because of the faith with which he had trusted in Him. Another explanation of במה אדע is: he did not, by these words, ask for a sign regarding this promise that he would possess the land, but he said to Him, “Tell me by what merit they (my descendants) will remain in it (the land).” God answered him, through the merit of the sacrifices (Taanit 27b).

And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him as righteousness. Rashi explains: The Holy One, blessed be He, accounted it to Abram as a merit and as righteousness for the faith that he believed in Him. But I don't understand what merit what merit this is [for Avram] Why should he "not" believe in "the G-D of trust" (Isaiah 65:16)! He himself was the prophet [that heard G-D's word!] How could someone who believed in G-D [to the extent that he was willing] to slaughter his only dear son, and the other tests, now not believe in [G-D'S] good news?! The most correct explanation in my view is that [the Torah] is saying that Avram] believed in G-D, but he thought that it would be because of G-D's righteousness (kindness) that He would give him children, anyway., and not because of Avraham's righteousness or his [deserved] reward although G-D told him "your 'reward' is very great" and he would not fear that maybe sin would cause [him not to have offspring]. Although he thought the first prophecy was conditional- in accordance with the reward for his actions, now that [G-D] assured him that he need 'not' fear because of sin, and He would give him a child [in any case] he believed that the matter was "ready before G-D," as a true, fact from which He would not take back. Because being [the result of] the righteousness (kindness) of G-D, it would not be canceled, like what is written (Isaiah 45:23) "By Myself I swore, righteousness emanated from My mouth, a word, and it shall not be retracted." Also, you could say the verse s saying Avraham believed that he would have descendants to inherit him in any case[through his merit]. G-D [however] further considered this promise that he promised him to be [based on] righteousness (kindness) because He would fulfil it through the righteousness of G-D. [the meaning of ויחשבה ("He considered it") [is] like "G-d considered it for good" (below 50:20). Likewise, [we see] by Pinchas, "It was 'accounted' for him as kindness, [for generations, to eternity"]. psalms 106:31) [meaning] G-D] counted for him the trust the had in G-D in that action [of killing Zimri] as a reason [to] show "kindness( צדקה) for generations."[Meaning] that G-D forever would keep His compassion and kindness to [Pinhas] because of [his faith in G-D], like "I will forever keep My kindness for him."

And this He accounted. God reckoned Avraham’s trust as an act of righteousness, which proves that his subsequent inquiry, “How will I know, etc.?” could not have been an expression of doubt.

ויחשבה לו צדקה, G’d credited Avram with having performed an act of righteousness by believing so unquestioningly in His promise that he personally would become a father. In view of the fact that both he and his wife were in the process of aging, such faith was even more remarkable.

And it came to pass, that, when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, a dread, even a great darkness, fell upon him.

BEHOLD- A DREAD, A GREAT DARKNESS FELL UPON HIM. [The Rabbis] learnt this, saying its a hint to the subjugation by the Four kingdoms. For the prophet [Avraham] experienced a "dread" in his soul; after he entered into a [feeling] of "darkness"; then that darkness became "greater;" and then he felt as if [the darkness] was "falling upon him" like a heavy load to that's too heavy[to handle. [The Rabbis] said "A dread" refers to Babylonia. "Darkness" refers to Media, who caused the eyes of the Jews to become darkened from fasting. "Great" refers to Greece. "Fell upon him"-Edom. The relevance of this to Avraham was that when G-D made the covenant with him to give the land to his descendants as an eternal inheritance, He said to him, like one keeps certain rights when giving a present, that the Four kingdoms would rule over his descendants and rule over their land. This was conditional [only] if Avraham's offspring's would sin before Him. After this [hint of the exiles of the 4 kingdoms], [G-D] told him 'explicitly' of another exile that [his descendants] would go through before [the other] which had already been [decreed] as punishment to Avraham, as I explained.

And he took him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each half over against the other; but the birds divided he not.

ויבתר אתם AND HE SPLIT THEM — He divided each into two portions. This verse does not lose its literal meaning although there are various Midrashic explanations of it. Since He was making a covenant with him to keep His promise to give the land as an inheritance to his children — as it is written (Genesis 15:18), “In that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying …” — and as it was the custom for parties to a covenant to divide an animal and to pass between its parts, as it is said elsewhere (Jeremiah 34:19) “who passed between the parts of the calf”, so also here the smoking furnace and the flaming torch which passed between the pieces (Genesis 15:17) were representative of the Divine Shechinah which is spoken of as fire.

ואת הצפור לא בתר BUT THE BIRDS SPLIT HE NOT — Because other nations are compared to bulls, rams and goats, as it is said (Psalms 22:13) “Many bulls have encompassed me”, and it says, (Daniel 8:20) “The ram which thou sawest having two horns, they are the kings of Media and Persia” and it further says, (Daniel 8:21) “And the rough he-goat is the king of Greece” — and Israel is compared to young doves, as it is written, (Song 2:14) ‘‘O my dove that art in the clefts of the rock” — he therefore divided the animals indicating that other nations will gradually perish, ואת הצפור לא בתר but “the birds split he not”, suggesting thereby that Israel will live forever (Pirkei D'Rabbi Eliezer 28).

ואת הצפור לא בתר BUT THE BIRDS SPLIT HE NOT — Because other nations are compared to bulls, rams and goats, as it is said (Psalms 22:13) “Many bulls have encompassed me”, and it says, (Daniel 8:20) “The ram which thou sawest having two horns, they are the kings of Media and Persia” and it further says, (Daniel 8:21) “And the rough he-goat is the king of Greece” — and Israel is compared to young doves, as it is written, (Song 2:14) ‘‘O my dove that art in the clefts of the rock” — he therefore divided the animals indicating that other nations will gradually perish, ואת הצפור לא בתר but “the birds split he not”, suggesting thereby that Israel will live forever (Pirkei D'Rabbi Eliezer 28).

וישב [AND ABRAM] SCARED THEM AWAY — The word means “blowing upon a thing and making a thing fly away”, similar to (Psalms 147:18) יַשֵּׁב רוחו “He causeth His wind to blow”. It is a symbol that David, the son of Jesse, will wish to destroy them (the nations), but that he will not be permitted by God to do so until king Messiah comes (Pirkei D'Rabbi Eliezer 28).

AND (AVRAM) DROVE THEM AWAY. It was hinted to him that the nations would come to put an end to the offerings, but Avraham's descendants would drive them away.

And He said unto Abram: ‘Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;

וגם את הגוי AND ALSO THAT NATION — The word וגם and also—(that nation also will I judge)—suggests that other nations will be judged as well: it is used here to include the four Monarchies (of the book of Daniel) who also will perish because they enslaved Israel (Genesis Rabbah 44:19).

But also that nation. Even though God Himself decreed enslavement and oppression for Avram’s descendants, their oppressors would be punished for overstepping the sentence. If, on the other hand, they had only intended to carry out the sentence they would have been rewarded.