Parshat Lech Lecha – To Believe, Yet Not to Believe – Part III

By: Yekutiel Guzofsky

The Torah continues to unveil the story of our forefathers, revealing that not only did Adam, Eve, Kayin, and Noach exhibit great faith on the one hand while showing a lack of faith on the other, but Avraham also had his moments when his faith faltered. Adam thought he could run away from God in the Garden. Kayin also thought he could hide from the Almighty. Noach hesitated to enter the ark. In this week’s parashah of Lech Lecha, our biblical commentaries say the unthinkable: they refer to Avraham as one who is lacking in faith, and who brought future exile and servitude upon the Jewish people as a punishment for this lack of faith.

If these words were not written by our sages, who would dare to utter such seemingly blasphemous statements about Avraham Avinu — our father? Avraham HaIvri, who stood alone on one side of the river against the entire world standing on the other side. Avraham, the pillar of faith who introduced monotheism to mankind, who rebelled against his idol-worshipping father — who threw him into a burning furnace that he miraculously survived in the merit of the faith he placed in God. As the verse teaches: “He believed in God, and God accounted it to him as righteousness” (Bereishit 15:6).

God promises Avraham and his offspring the Land of Israel (Bereishit 12:7). Nonetheless, Avraham leaves the Land during the famine to seek sustenance in Egypt. Despite God’s promise, he not only departs from Eretz Yisrael, he also lies to Pharaoh — claiming that Sarah is his sister and not his wife — and in doing so places Sarah at risk of sin, in an effort to save himself from death. (Avraham feared that Pharaoh would kill him to take Sarah if Pharaoh knew she was his wife.)

The Ramban (Naḥmanides), Rabbi Moshe ben Naḥman, the great Torah scholar and classic biblical commentator, points out that Avraham sinned and lacked faith in God. He explains that Avraham should have believed that God could protect both him and Sarah, and that he would survive if he remained in the Land of Israel. (Ramban, commentary to Bereishit 12:10.) The Ramban goes even further and states that this sin was the trigger and cause for the future exile and enslavement of the Children of Israel in Egypt. “For the place of the punishment is the place of the sin,” measure for measure. In other words: faith brings redemption and salvation, and lack of faith in God — when we instead place our faith in man — brings exile, as we fall victim to our fears.

The Baal HaTurim explains that when Avraham asked God for a sign to prove that he and his offspring would indeed inherit the Land, his very request for such a sign brought about the future bondage and exile in Egypt.

Yet on the other hand, we also see that Avraham had incredible faith in God when he rose up to fight for the release of his nephew Lot, who had been captured by the four ruling empires. Rashi explains that Avraham said, “I am ready to go and fall in battle in order to sanctify God’s Name” (Rashi to Bereishit 14:14). Can we even imagine the level of faith required for Avraham to take 318 of his students — who were not professional soldiers — and go to war against the four empires that ruled the world, just to free his nephew who was being held hostage? And in the merit of that great faith, he was victorious. The Torah reiterates over and over again that the path to victory is paved by men of faith.

Avraham went out and risked his life to free the hostage. There were no negotiations and no compromises. This stands in stark contrast to Avraham’s conduct in next week’s parashah, Vayera, when he makes a peace agreement with Avimelech and effectively gives up sovereignty over a portion of the very land that God had promised him. As we will see next week, Avraham is punished for this display of fear of the nations and his apparent lack of absolute faith in God. The Rashbam writes there that the future exiles are rooted in that lack of faith, when Avraham made a treaty with Avimelech. (Rashbam to Bereishit 21:1.)

That is the golden rule, repeated again and again throughout the Torah: Faith in God — and fighting our wars with faith until we achieve full victory — brings redemption and salvation. But fear of the nations, surrendering our sovereignty, and placing trust in foreign powers brings slavery, defeat, and exile.

Yekutiel Guzofsky, Director of the Israel Dog Unit, will be arriving on a speaking tour in the U.S. next week. To hear him, or to receive his weekly commentary on the parashah and current events, email [email protected].