Avraham and Sarah’s Journey (Part One) by Rabbi Shmuel Goldin

we thank the Marcus family for their contribution Their donation of this of the year's class in honor and in memory of Irma and hire to uh two ants of theirs whom I knew personally during my years in Englewood so it's very meaningful for me all right we're going to take a look at the the onset of the Journey of and S and we're going to look at three events that are in and try to understand them and try to learn the lessons that might emerge from them the first I will tell you I was very very tempted to skip because it is one of the most difficult texts to understand and aram's actions are are are it would seem very question and we're going to have to take a look but I realize that it's a pattern that repeats itself intergenerationally it not only repeats itself with but it repeats with as well so to be fair if we're really going to learn we've got to tackle the difficult questions as well as the easier questions so let's take a look at this first event and let's try to understand how we might be able to uh to comprehend it the Torah says now let's understand when this famine occurs let's set the stage was commanded understands that this is supposed to be to the land of Canan and sure enough when he reaches the land of Canan says this is this is your land but no sooner does he reach her Canan then what happens there's a fab right away immediately and mosha and ab goes down to live in the land of Egypt and we're going to take a look at the word in a little while because the the famine is heavy in the land get S close to to Egypt he says to Sarai his wife I know now or I see that you are a beautiful woman woman this is going to be dangerous for us look at the underl line I want you to tell anyone who asks that you are my sister do not let them know that you are my what wife right because otherwise they might kill me and do this so that instead they will treat me well and I will live because of you sure enough they go down to mitan the Egyptians see Sarai these s Paro the um officers of the king see s and sure enough this beautiful lady is brought to the Palace of parro I've C bar who punishes parro for for taking Sarai and he understands what's going on he calls abam and he says why did you lie to me look at what you've done to me and to my household and he chases Abraham out of the country all right so there are two potential errors sins that a makes in this paragraph the first is a little difficult to see the second one is obvious what's the first potential sin that what deception he left Canan he left Canan perhaps wants him to stay and to what to trust in God God told him to come here after all perhaps his his test at this point is to stay in the land to endure the famine and have belief that a who is going to what take care of it's going to take care of him that's numero yeah but they're spam yeah so maybe maybe he's supposed to stay and believe that aage will provide food for him and his family that's like the rule of fundraising land correct leaves the land is castigated for doing so all right so we'll so we're going to explore this I'm not I'm not giving up on your observation all right your observation that there's famine and he why shouldn't he leave the land is an observation we come back to itob Sons also because of the jakob's sons also leave the land because of but after waiting a while after waiting until it gets abam seems to leave how do we know right away he did wait just it's it doesn't the answer is that you are correct it could be that there was a period of time that he waited we don't know all right and what's the second sin potentially lying lying concerning s's identity and endangering sorai right putting her in a position where where they won't take her if his if it's his sister if it's his wife but if it's his sister then perhaps they'll take her and do well for him and what what am I doing I'm sacrificing sorai for my benefit under the bus very difficult very very difficult robbi I don't think necessar to Abra see in ancian time you talk about the the regime of the Egyptian or any other if the man and wife and wife is beautiful the other party usually if they knew this couple they kill the husband and take the wife okay that's what he's saying he's saying you're right you're correct that he's saying say you're my sister because if you say you're my wife they'll kill me and than you I want to protect myself but I my question is obviously I'm protecting myself at whose cost at her cost right in other words they're going to take her yes I think there one of the commentators it was typical for the for brother to control the the sister and then if someone wanted to marry the sister they have to go through the brother so that he could Abraham could drive a hard bargain as to try and protect all right okay I want everybody to hear that cuz we're going to come back to that that per perhaps it was the custom that if I came with my sister the brother is going to be dealt with in terms of purchasing the sister on some King has okay but the king doesn't have to you guys are actually you know what happens is you you cut my Shear short because coming up with with with a whole range of things here that we're going to take a look at yes if if the question of endangering Sarah's life is one thing but he was basically giving her over to another man to do with whatever he wants to do with it because it's a sister not a wife so it's in a sense it's even worse it's not even endanger what you're saying is it's not endangering s's life but endangering s's virtue in other words he's putting her in a position where if the king or anyone thinks it's his sister they're not going to think that they're they're having relations with someone's wife and therefore they'll be in a position of of of difficulty all right yes I'm trying a little bit to figure out the timing of how long she was there right and it says it went well with him and he acquired sheep boxing Etc that sounds like a long sounds like she was there for a while all right well we're not clear it's not clear well they could have immediately given him all these gifts so it could have been the acquiring was all because of her that's correct right the acquiring is because of her all right so let's take a look first at the ramban the ramban it's very interesting says the following let's look at the Hebrew says the ran I want you to know and you should know that Abu sinned a great sin unintentionally right why he should he he sinned unintentionally in other words he felt he had no choice and therefore this is a sin that he's he feels compelled to to make but n nonetheless it's a sin because he puts his wife into a position where where she will be uh abused as it were by by those by the by those around and keep going see I'm moving to the last two words on the second line and the fact that he left Canan in the face of the famine guess what that was a sin too and he should have stayed and he should have had faith if this is where God wanted him to go you should have had faith that hem would be him would would save him from the r okay stay with me yes this is it seems to sound like human beings don't have and what you're suggesting is human beings don't don't have because just sit and Trust in has don't believe okay so if you'll skip for a moment to down the page to Eternal issues I said that one of the things we're going to struggle here with is the balance between his good and amuna and the fact that the ran is taking this position doesn't mean that everyone's agrees it's very possible that we might feel that that aam does the right thing in the face of famine right and that in the face of famine he's not supposed to just sit and say Hashem is going to take care of me but he is told he he is forced to do his his to save his family himself and his family and this is an eternal issue because one has to one has to try to decide in the face of every every event that we have where does my hisus end and myuna begin at what point do I do I end my could vice versa when does my amuna end then my hus begin either way but the fact is this balance is is a balance that we struggle it's amazing it's amazing how the issues in the Torah are as relevant to us in our lives as the pages of the of the newspaper where does our hisus begin and end I I think I told you about that the story of a doctor I knew who who basically one of his patients came in and and during the during the co crisis and wasn't wearing a mask and he turned to him and said put on a mask and the patient said too much too much his what does that mean mean God's going to take care of me I don't have to do his now there if you take what what happened to that guy he kicked him out of his office I don't know if he got Co I don't know if he got Co but he kicked him out of his office all right he got hit by a truck got hit by a truck yes [Music] allows abam very good very good point what was that in the case of ab leaving the land Hashem doesn't stop it in the Next Generation in the face of famine tries to leave the land and and says stay where you are so that might be a hint that in this case this wasn't a sin and perhaps in this case understands that Moshe is doing that AB is doing it his strongness yes in the case of yob hasem told him to go yes but cannot leave yeah can't leave erel for other reasons so we'll get to that when we talk about y okay all right one more comment and then I got to move on could you say that that we have to learn from that that we that we can because Abraham is Abraham so the answer seems to be that the point that's being made is if we assume that Abraham is right in leaving the land then the lesson we learn is that we must do our that we can simply rely on God's benevolence to save us which is which is the point you rais now not none of this explains the second the second sin right in other words none of this explains how AB could possibly have maneuvered things to put s into into danger and the Raman says that there were two sins right the first one we can we can argue was it a sin wasn't a sin in terms of endangering Sarai it would seem that we're stuck it would seem that we're in a position where we we there so you're suggesting that there he that has would help him but but you but you put do you deliberately put your wife in danger and say okay God's going to help me right maybe AB maybe AB should have had belief that Hashem would protect him if he if he said she was his wife right so baby as right where does and why does abam go he's going to the one place where this is going to happen aren't there other places where AB could go where where where it would not be this way apparently not because we'll see that in the case of a the same thing occurs all right two comment have a question just technical yeah women did not cover their faces in those those times women did not cover their faces in no sign good question I have that apparently apparently they were able to see her beauty so it would seem that her eyes may have been beautiful or or whatever okay seems to be a pattern with yakob that he runs away from confrontation when it comes to this he runs he he a runs away from confrontation he tells uh uh Sarah tell say you're my sister and he tells when Sarah wants Yak to leave um to isma to leave he says no and now so he's putting Yak at risk and he's putting uh from ish and he's putting s at risk because he seems to run from confrontation okay we'll see he seems to run from confrontation a pattern I interesting interesting but again but again this is confrontation that he is he is allowing to to to occur now we're going to take a look at theoo has is fascinating in terms of his approach to both of these events now before I go any further the fact that the ran admits that aam sinned is a big deal isn't it all right in other words before we go to the spno let's understand that the that that means that this great commentary was regular was was was comfortable admitting that abam made mistakes now this is an important point for us to stop at before we go to the farno and that is when it comes to the heroes of the Torah there really is a spectrum of opinion there are those who will say they er and they make mistakes and there are those who will even twist and turn to say no no we cannot we have no right to say that I made mistakes or and and perhaps the most obvious case of this twisting and turning is when yov lies to his father right and you find that Rashi will say what does say right he outright says I'm as at his at his mother's beest right request and yet at the same time Rashi will come along and say no you're not punctuating it right period I am who I am as is and you and asov is your first born and what you find is this tension between those are saying you know what yov did what he did and in in a sense there are those who will argue that he gets paid back in his lifetime how many times does yob get deceived by others so although maybe he had a right to do it we're going to get to that and although he may have had every reason every every reason to do it because his mother's basically pushing him to do it nonetheless nonetheless maybe he is paid back so let's understand that when it comes what I what I often say is the pagans treated their Heroes as Gods right the Israel Jews come along and we treat Our Heroes as people the Christians come along and they treat their people their Heroes once again as what gods when you have Heroes who are Gods you can worship them but you can't emulate them when you have Heroes who are people then you can look at them and say there are aspects of them that I wish to emulate and that's that's the way we look at our heroes now the stno is yes last last last point Sorry does the believe that does the raban generally believe like this it the answer to that is I don't know whether he generally believes like that but would seem that from the his comments here that yes that that you should that you should have now let's understand there are cases in the Torah where is very real Yu is about to meet as he prepares in three ways right he doesn't just pray and say's going to take care of me what does he do he sends gifts he prepares with the prepares his army so it's so it's very clear that hisus emerges from the text itself at times no no what I'm asking this is this the philosophy everything okay and my answer is I don't know the answer to that as to whether this is his philosophy on everything I think he takes it on a Case by case basis and and says the fact that you just arrived in in ER Kanan where God told you to go and minute the gets hard you turn around and you leave that's no hus okay last comment might another issue with ran is very into a srl that is correct that's a very good point very good point the ramban is very very much a supporter of the importance of the land of Israel to the point that he says that every Mitzvah you perform even if it's not tied to the land every Mitzvah you perform says the Raman is incomplete outside the land of Israel if a man puts on Fillin in Englewood New Jersey it's not a complete Mitzvah it's only complete mitvah according to the Raman and he proves it from text but we're going we'll get to that we get to that when we get to also makes it one of his also makes it one of his life's missions to one of mitv his list of mitv and he makes it his life mission to come here all right let's go on you know I I'd like to stay where we are because we haven't t the difficult question right now let's take a look at the sparno the sparno comments first of all when concerning Moshe concerning from I gave another class on Moshe earlier concerning Abraham's descent into Egypt he says take a look at the words carefully L now there are two ways that the Torah will normally talk about someone living in in the L one is lur and the other one is l what does lur mean temporarily sojourn right so says the farno and this is in ab's defense he doesn't rise up and say AB did the right thing but from the fact that he's saying lur it it it or focusing on lur it seems to be a defense of ab's actions that he's not going down to stay there he's only going down to remain their temporary but then he does something fascinating with the most difficult of the questions and someone raised this as a possibility and that is the following take a look at the Hebrew section dealing with s's abduction if you go if you take a look at the underline section on page two sparno second paragraph where where in the underline okay and so says the farno what does abam have in mind abam has in mind a delaying attack he wants to delay the danger and what he says is if you say you're my sister then they're going to start to haggle over you come to me and say I'll give you this for her I'll give you this for her and that's going to take time and during that time you know what we're going to do we'll get what we need and we'll leave but aram's plan goes a right aram's plan doesn't work take a look in the Hebrew you tell me why what happens that messes up aram's plants they took who took her the phoh ah what happened was yes it would have worked except what he he didn't predict what would happen what exactly did happen the the the population began to haggle and Along Comes Sor parro and they say we don't have to haggle we're just taking her and we're taking her to the king and that's quite enough and you don't we're not going so in other words there are twoim there in the middle and then and Sor says those are two different steps in the unfolding story and it is the second of those steps that Abraham could not foresee and therefore his plan was not to endanger Sor his plan was a a reasonable plan let them haggle let them talk let and we'll take what we need and we'll go out so here you see Sno defending what almost seems to be indefensible action on the part of and that is one approach to this story that moves in the direction again of of the Patriarchs did not make mistakes and Abraham really had a good plan here it just got messed up where does the sporno take this Theory from from the text itself that thought that it would be haggling and they would give because where does he take the theory that he thought there would be haggling I suppose he takes it from the fact that that there are two two sentences there that MIT the MIT saw him saw her and theno saw her and those two steps represent two different steps in the unfolding Big Stretch is it a big stretch it's the answer to that is depends how you look at it and it some people will look at this and say that this is a stretch others will look at it and say it's a reasonable defense of aam's actions and that the text seems to reflect the the possibility that if The Sur Paro had not seen her that there would have been this give and take and Aram would have been able to save his family and and leave so you take it where you want look where we got what we have we have the ran on the one hand saying it was wrong and we don't shy away from saying it's wrong and we have this pH who says we're going to find a way to find Meritt in abr's action so that we don't have to say it's wrong so the Eternal issues that emerge from this I told you the balance between amuna and right where does one begin and the other end and that is an ongoing struggle throughout Jewish history the B the concept of risk-taking when are you forced to take risks and what risks are are reasonable to take and the last thing is the Raman says something that I did not tell you yet if you look at the last thing the Raman says which is at the top of page two the L line section says the ran you know why we end up in Egypt because of A's mistakes now that's a tough one right because what do we believe about Collective punish do we believe in original sin no no we believe that each person is responsible for their own actions and yet while we believe in that every individual is responsible for their actions and we don't believe in original s we don't believe generally that I'm going to be punished for ab's mistakes we do believe in what I would call intergenerational reverberation what is intergeneration reverberation what happens earlier has an effect upon my life would have never eaten from the tree would our lives be different so we're not guilty of what they did but what they did continues to affect our lives over time so we don't believe we're guilty for what others do but we do believe that what others do can have an effect Upon Our Lives and perhaps in some way that's what the ran is saying that somehow this caused that kind of reverberation it's difficult to see the connection between our going to MIT and what he does here but nonetheless maybe all right I'll take two comments and then we'll move on ran is basically specifying that it's Egypt but the original the original promise that em in was you're going to go down to a land that's not yours okay he doesn't specify this so what raan may be saying is because of this incident it's got to be that had to be M okay what just a very interesting suggestion we we'll see if we get there today uh that in the brisan of God does not specify Egypt as the destination where the Jews will go down to and that maybe what the ramban is saying is it was determined that they would go down to a Strange Land but not but it is this event that causes it to be MRI interesting perhaps he's using his princip except it's a rather strange application yeah this is is that what happens to the AOS actually is a Simon as to what will happen to us ran uses that but here he's this is this is a tough one this is a tough one okay yes no inter generational effect is something you can't get away from that's correct I want to be 6 feet tall and have Wy blonde hair correct this is what they that's and and and you were born where you were born see in some cases it's a decision that's made by others right my English name is Stanley Stanley because my father for whatever reason didn't like the name Sam name me scho and he named me after Stan muel the baseball player in English I was a terrible disappointed when it came to that particular era all right terrible became a t what I terrible disappointment in in Stan usuals world yes I'm just curious about the language of the ran he says Nar it was it was decreed God yeah what right so it again it's hard to understand why the ran would feel that this is why the decree you know occurred that we end up in Egypt it's a difficult it's a difficult stretch nonetheless I just wanted to I just wanted to just understand that other words where does the r on WE Al also know that we that the Torah says that we don't we don't uh the children do not pay for the of we're this is going to become a bigger problem let's hold on okay all right I want to go to event number two event number two is a very very quick study event number two however is fascinating when you think about it let me set the stage ab's traveling along with his nephew Lo for some reason a Riv develops a dispute develops between the Shepherds of Lo and the Shepherds of AR now there are all sorts of interpretations about what that rib is about we're not going to get into that now abam turns to load and says you go west I'll go east let basically the land cannot support us together and therefore what we have to do is unfortunately we have to split up you go one way I'll go you go right I'll go go left you go left I'll go right L travels and ends up in the city of sedone and we're going to talk about Lo's involvement with sedone probably in the next year what what's next there's war and in that war between a series of Kings load is taken captive and here we pick up the story with the following a Survivor and who that Survivor is is the subject of of debate again in the rabbis might be old right this is the end I'm looking now at the bottom of page two and he is living in M where MRE is the brother of and on and they are hears that he that his brother is taken captive is etc etc he goes to S now take a look at those two don't look yet at the English and if you did too late right but there's a problem here number one this is the only time that ABR is called the I was the first time number two why is the Torah giving me all this information he was in and there were people there that that were Val bris what fine just they're his own people so why is that important for me to know now why doesn't the tah simply say told what do I have to know where he is how he is who's he's with not important not important why is it to giving me in the sentence all of this information so if you turn the page we encounter our friend the farno again and in this case aarno actually is is seem seems to be in untable number one he says why is it why does it call abam or I because the Survivor knows that L's in I and aam's an so therefore although he does not know that they're related say Z farno he knows that that this guy might care what's happening to to another if and why is it Torah telling me that he's in Al and there are brothers because it's a harbinger of the fact that when AB goes to save Lo they will go as well and how do I know they go as well because when melet Stone says you know I want to I want to pay you for for the role you played in defeating the Army against me Abra refuses and he says just pay Esh and mam for the thing A and M for the things they did so clearly this sentence is a Harbinger says the ran a reflection of what's about to occur which is that his allies what the for what did I say thank you very much I was t one the scno the scno says that that these individuals are going to rush to Abram's Aid and that's why it's told to us that they are bab there is I believe another explanation you turn back to the sentence again all right so what what parted in not such a great way right in other words there was family friction Abraham here's that load is taking taken captive he has no reason to get involved in fact he has every reason not to get involved he is an iy this is not his battle and he is living in relative safety because he's living in Alon NE MRE in on Abraham so Abraham finds himself facing L's captivity at a point in Abram's life where he could say not my not my problem right not only is it not my problem why should I get involved in something that doesn't affect me and risk the safety that I have so says the Torah immediately hears his brother is taken captive and it's not his brother but it is his brother from a philosophical point of view and he leaves the safety that he's in to go save Lord and therefore that might be why the torist telling us all of that information telling us why abam has no reason to get involved and shouldn't get involved and why it's so great that he does involve himself okay that's that is number two now let's go to to episode number three episode number three will take us a little more time episode number three is the story of the BR the Covenant between the pieces and the Torah basically says the following it was after these things what things am I talking about after the fight that Abraham wins because say he is now concerned that maybe he's used up his Merit so Hashem is reassuring himem comes and he says to do not fear ab and don't worry I am your protection and you are going to get great reward so right off the bat what does amam do does he say thank you God for that promise he says Hashem wait a minute you're promising great things and I have the one thing that I want the one thing I need you're not giving me right now this this returns us back to a debate we had last week where we said that the difference between Noah and Abraham is that Noah is responsive whereas AB is reactive and initiates and a lot of you said are we supposed to do that well it's a good question does AB is AB right in in basically saying Hashem I'm challenging you you're not giving me the one thing I want right then what happens Hashem says to him he again says says to him don't worry elzar will not inherit from you you're going to have a child that will inherit from you and then the Torah says very difficult he had believed in God concerning this promise and God held it in instead so that could beem or AB could be AB felt that Hashem was promising him a child and therefore it was Saka or Hashem found that ab's belief in him was s right could be either one he takes him out side shows him the stars and he says to him you're going to inherit this land and again AB challenges him last underling line the first part by how do I know that I will inherit the land Hashem then takes him out he's taking him outside right now and he tells him to cut some animal to to P some take some animals water them create lines through which Hashem will pass and he promises him don't worry your children are going to be CH Strangers In a Strange Land and they're going to work very hard and be tormented 400 years that issue of 400 years is something we have to discuss at some point and after that I will judge the nation that torments them and the fourth generation will return here which is a fascinating POS I just want to stop on that portion for a moment what does it mean the fourth generation will return here because the aone of the amorites will not be complete until then what am I am I being told that there are other people have their rights and that my I'm going to be delayed in coming to my land because of the rights of the amorites they don't deserve to get kicked out until that point and if if they don't deserve to get kicked out until that point you're going to have to wait and that's fascinating isn't it for those who say that Hashem only relates to Ben isra well that's not correct Hashem relates to all human beings he relates We Believe to us differently but he relates to all human beings and that proof of that is found right here in the text hold on son we'll come back all right now we are faced with some very difficult issues here is Abraham right in in challenging God saying is why is it that he believes ultimately that he will have a child but does not believe apparently that he's going to inherit the land which of those two which of those two issues in your mind is a is a more far-fetched that he's going to have a child at 99 or that he'll inherit the land why does he say B when it comes to that particular to that particular promise so I want you to take a look at the bottom of the page and here we have someone who disagrees with the ran but he says something again that speaks of intergenerational reverberation but it's difficult to understand this is taken from the bot of page four nick name on why was AB then and his children become servants in the land of Egypt so one answer given by is because he he took the those who were in his household and went out to save Lo that that was a problem but more particularly to our said that said the first one says he should never have asked how do I know I will conquer will will receive the land and the fact that he asks that eventually causes the de sent of B Isel to and and that's and he says what's the logic of the gamar the logic of the gamar is why is God talking at this point about a descent to Egypt Hashem he how am I reassured by the story of descent into Egypt and the fact that I'm going to be slaves for 400 years how does that help me so it's so according to the gar it's a reaction to the question not an answer to the question in other words you are you are going to be punished for doubting my words however there's another possibility is this a doubts or motion a doubts all right should should be aam doubts all right now let me just look at that now let's let's go on let's go on the second medish says no the second medish in the name of rash wasn't a question of God it was a question of his descendants how do I know that my children will Merit receiving the land promising me that I'll have a child is up to you promising me that they will inherit the land is not only up to you it's up to them to which God responds with the story but says he responds by sacrificing the animals and his answer to him is they will Merit it in the Merit of the carbon and that is what these animals represent now there are those who say the animals represent something else entirely that it was the custom in those days to make a covenant by dividing animals and walking through like a blood brother kind of thing so Hashem is using the mo the the the process of the moment to to encourage this C but we we are faced with some very difficult questions here how is this really an answer to Abraham's question let's assume even that what he's asking is how my children will married how what's how is this an answer to my question that they're going to be slaves in Egypt 400 years I don't need that information now I don't need that information so perhaps one could say that what hasem is saying is don't worry there will be hard times but you'll get through them perhaps what Hashem is saying is there'll be hard times but your children will Merit eventual Redemption because they will still be redeemable after those 400 years in egy so perhaps these are very very different possibilities in the brisban of s but there's one more question and with this will end that question is what happens when God breaks his rules breaks his rules all right he's telling us the future he's breaking the rules he's telling us what's going to happen here so the rules generally are that God knows the future but does not what doesn't tell us that by telling us he's affecting and once he tells us that then our are all all the things that occur yoseph and his brothers and all the things that lead us down to Egypt are they just players in a play in which they don't have any options because it's already been predicted that we're going down to Egypt so I'd like to answer this by by suggesting the following God sometimes will rede will reveal in Broad terms the scope and the and the trajectory of History but the details of that history are up to us and I'll give an example Hashem says Masia is going to come so I can sit down and say guess what Mia's going to come I don't have to do anything I don't have to work I don't Mia's coming so what do the rabis say no how he comes with what difficulty he comes when he comes all of those things remain within my power when yoseph is sold as a slave by his brothers that is an event that is totally of their free will the fact that it eventuates that they the nation will end up in Egypt again someone pointed out before I think it was say that Egypt is not specifically identified here as the country in which they're going to end up so maybe if yose wouldn't have been sold they would have ended up in a different country there would have been a different kind of slavery and it would have been a whole different kind of story so therefore the God is revealing the trajectory of history but the specifics of the unfolding of the story remain ours