Adapted by Channie Koplowitz Stein
After obeying Hashem's command to go to the unknown place Hashem would reveal to him, after experiencing famine and escaping to Egypt where his wife Sarai was kidnapped and then released unharmed, after defeating the four king and saving Lot, Avraham Avinu receives a vision from Hashem. Hashem tells Avraham Avinu that he should not fear, for Hashem promises him to always be his shield. What follows is a dialogue that reveals the depth of the relationship between Hashem and Avraham Avinu : "My Lord Hashem/Elokhim, what will you give me, seeing that I am childless..., and my steward Eliezer will inherit me."
Hashem responds reassuringly, "That one will not inherit you. Only him that shall come forth from within you will inherit you.... Count the stars... thus will be your progeny... Vaya'amein BaHashem/ And he trusted in Hashem, and He/he reckoned it to Him/him as tzedakah/righteousness." This ambiguity between the subject and the object of this last clause raises much discussion among our commentators. Was Hashem crediting Avraham Avinu for his faith in Hashem, or was Avraham Avinu being grateful to Hashem for Hashem's kindness to him?
According to Rashi, Hashem is praising Avraham Avinu for his constant trust and confidence in Hashem, submitting himself to Hashem's guidance and teaching. The Ramban asks a very logical question. After Avraham Avinu has proven himself multiple times, how can we wonder that just now Avram trusted in Hashem. After all, as Rabbi Bick zt”l notes in Chayei Moshe, this s more of a blessing than a trial.
Our question then comes down to how do we define emunah? Is it belief, faith, confidence...? Rav Hirsch zt”l notes that if we define emunah as belief, we are relegating it to the intellectual doctrines of religion rather than to a system of education and subordination that entrusts one's life constantly to Hashem, "as the clay in the hands of the potter." Emunah transforms intellectual belief into practice. As the Daas Torah explains, emunah is dvekus, clinging to Hashem as a child clings to its mother.
In Golden Apples, Rabbi Lopiansky provides greater depth to our understanding of emunah. To the non believer, the world runs on its natural course, on laws of cause and effect, and therefore events are within his control. In contrast, the believer understands and accepts that there are myriad possibilities beyond his understanding and his line of sight. The believer relies on Hashem, trusts that Hashem will lead him along the path He wants. That is why Avraham Avinu could obey Hashem's command and begin the journey to an unknown land that Hashem would show him only later, at the proper time. Avraham Avinu relied on Hashem every step of the way; his "comfort zone" was in Hashem, not in a path he already knew.
This definition helps us understand Hashem's response to Moshe when Moshe asked Hashem for His Name, for how he should identify Hashem to Bnei Yisroel. Hashem replied, "Ehekeh/I will be." Hashem is teaching Moshe that the God Who created the world and nature is not bound to the laws of nature, but can constantly change. We survive only through His hashgachah, His constant involvement in our lives. This reliance on Hashem in the face of the unknown, as is every future moment, is the essence of emunah.
It is this level of belief that lets us see beyond the here and now into the blurry future. Our job is to do our share and trust that Hashem will give us what we need, either through our efforts or through another path of which we are not aware, writes Rabbi Ezrachi zt”l.
Interestingly, the Ohel Moshe suggests that since only here does the Torah mention Avraham Avinu's emunah, it must mean that here Avraham Avinu achieved the highest level of faith rather than at the akeidah, the binding of Yitzchak. As Rabbi Wolbe zt”l notes, nature screams out the impossibility of Hashem's promise that Avraham Avinu will father a child at this advanced age. Yet, Avraham Avinu believed, and he kept believing for twenty five years until the promise was fulfilled, adds Rabbi Munk zt”l. It was this belief in defiance of nature that defined Avraham Avinu's entire life, writes Hegyon Levov.
This faith in Hakodosh Boruch Hu beyond the realm of physically perceived reality created a higher level of reality in Avraham Avinu , a belief that could bridge the gap between Hashem's promise that Avraham Avinu's legacy would be transmitted through Yitzchak Avinuand the command to raise him as a sacrifice on the altar, explains Rabbi Belsky zt”l.
We all have challenges and flashpoints of emunah, processes in our belief system that may take many years, as did the fulfillment of this blessing to Avraham Avinu. We never know what the future will be. Through it all, we must retain our vision of Ehekeh, God will always be. Thus, our relationship with Hashem is dynamic, not static, but changing as circumstances change, continues Hegyon Levov. Our simple faith is beyond logic, a precept the Baal Shem Tov held dear. It begs us to work on our faith, to see Hashem everywhere in the world, at every point in our lives.
To ensure that we never forget Him, Hashem has given us many mitzvoth that will keep us connected throughout our lives, that remind us that what we observe is only illusion, teaches us Rabbi Levenstein zt”l. Hashem runs the world in a way beyond our intellectual comprehension. Our faith must include an emotional and spiritual component. Avraham Avinu saw this new dimension "above the stars," as the promise of this son was from another dimension. It is Hashem Who orchestrates every moment on His schedule, not on ours.
We tend to have faith in ourselves and in our abilities, but do we really have faith in Hashem, asks Rabbi Gamliel Rabinowitz in Tiv Hatorah. While we seek out the best job and the top tier doctors, it is Hashem Who is sending the proper agents to fill our needs. When we fully attribute everything to Hashem, we do not become angry or frustrated, for neither we nor those we have chosen are at fault. Hashem has the final decision. Hashem can turn disaster into success; Hashem can reverse medical infertility and give a couple a child. Our effort must also include our prayer.
Our duty is to work on ourselves to uproot our negative characteristics. We undoubtedly struggle with these issues many times before they finally are no longer challenging. While it is reasonable to think that Hashem rewards us for our struggle, what is even more gratifying, tells us Rabbi Broide zt”l, is that Hashem keeps rewarding us when the improved behavior becomes our second nature, that Hashem keeps rewarding us for our previous struggles. Similarly, Hashem credited Avraham Avinu now for all his previous struggles, for the challenge of Nimrod's fiery furnace, for going forth to the new land, and so forth. That Avraham Avinu could now accept whatever Hashem told him, whether the promise of a child or the request to sacrifice that child was all the result of his work in building his absolute faith in Hashem without any intellectual understanding.
The Sifsei Daas, adapting the work of the Sifsei Chaim, interprets the dialogue between Hashem and Avraham Avinu somewhat differently. While the Sifsei Daas agrees that Avraham Avinu sees his legacy ending since he has no biological children, the Sifsei Daas interprets Hashem's response to Avraham Avinu to be that the work Avraham Avinu has already done is not yet the main thing, for its full impact will be realized only twenty five years later, after the covenant of circumcision when Hashem will grant Avraham Avinu a child. Avraham Avinu accepted that he could wait for Hashem's timeline and continue to have faith. This acceptance is what Hashem considered righteous.
The promised child, Yitzchak, will inherit the full faith and spiritual legacy of his father not because it was promised, but because Avraham Avinu himself practiced this faith throughout his life. Yitzchak, witnessing this belief and behavior, would imbibe it as he would Sarah's milk, and it would become his legacy to his children as well.
Rabbi Schwab zt”l presents us with the perfect example. An angel had appeared to Manoach's wife, informing her that she would bear a child. She must train him even from pregnancy to be a nazir, to refrain from wine, grapes, etc. When Noach heard of the prophecy, he asked that the angel appear to him and repeat the prophecy, not because he didn't understand the laws, but to get instruction on how to educate this son to be a nazir. Rabbi Schwab reads these repeated instructions as the angel telling Manoach that, in order to properly educate his son, he himself must also follow the laws of the nazir and refrain from wine. Instruction in the home is produced by modeling behavior, not by words and instructions.
While Hashem Told Avraham Avinu he indeed merited great reward, it was the first words of the dialogue that reassured Avraham Avinu that Hashem would indeed give him a son; "Do not fear... I am your shield." Avraham Avinu understood that he was unworthy of all that Hashem had given him, and the promise of a son was a gift, a kindness from Hashem. With Hashem's words of introduction, Avraham Avinu further realized that even if he were no longer worthy, Hashem would still fulfill this promise and give him a son. This, explains Ramban, was what Avraham Avinu considered the loving kindness of Hashem toward him, a kindness beyond anything he may have merited.
We could never repay Hashem for all the good we receive from Him no matter how many mitzvoth we do. How much more so should we appreciate all Hashem's gifts to us? How much more so should we ask, "Why did this happen to me," when we are blessed with goodness, not only when we experience something negative. As Rabbi Bloch zt”l says in Peninei Daas, Hashem even gives us the ability to do mitzvoth and the ability to daven.
As Avraham Avinu understood that everything comes from Hashem's kindness, so do we proclaim in the Nishmat prayer of Shabbat that "Thy mercies have helped us and Thy lovingkindness hath not forsaken us," and we ask Him to continue that lovingkindness forever, writes Rabbi Yaffe citing the GR"A.
The Slonimer Rebbe zt”l gives another beautiful interpretation to these last phrases. Avraham Avinu had total faith in Hashem. But as Avraham Avinu realized that all blessings come from Hashem, He thanked Hashem for the ability to believe in Him and connect with Him. The Slonimer Rebbe cites King David's blessing Hashem at the inauguration of the Beit Hamikdosh, verses we recite when we remove the Sefer Torah from the Ark: "Lecha Hashem.. Yours, Hashem, is the greatness... Yours, Hashem is hahamamlachah /the kingdom..." But the Nesivot Shalom would translate hamamlachah not as "the kingdom," but as the ability to coronate You as King; kingdom would be meluchah, while mamlachah implies the kingship, the coronation. We bless Hashem for our ability to coronate Him as King and bless Him. Similarly, Avraham Avinu thanked Hashem for his ability to believe, for his emunah. When we feel appreciation for everything, we grow in our emunah.
When Hashem then takes Avraham Avinu out to observe the stars and says, "Thus will be your progeny," Avraham Avinu understands that the blessing to Avraham Avinu include that his faith and belief will be passed down to all his future generations. This is what Avraham Avinu here thanks Hashem for. This promise that Avraham Avinu's descendants will all be believers is proven when Moshe questions, "They will not believe me [that You have sent me to redeem them]," and Hashem punishes Moshe for his lack of faith in the nation of believers.
Our emunah is the vessel we create to receive the blessings Hashem wants to bestow on us, writes the Slonimer Rebbe. Just as all the ingredients for soup may be ready, but if there is no pot, there will be no soup, just so, if we have no faith, if we do not fully believe in Hashem's abilities that go beyond nature and beyond logic, we do not have the vessel to receive Hashem's blessings. Hashem is waiting for us. Let us build on the emunah our ancestor Avraham Avinu has bequeathed to us, and may we be the vessels to receive the many brachot in Hashem's storehouse.