B

B"H

LECH LECHA

THE CHASSICIC DIMENSION

Circumcision as a Spiritual Catalyst

Accordingly, we may assume that the week following Parshas Lech Lecha is certainly a happy one, for at this point the Torah speaks of Avraham Avinu's spiritual state after his circumcising, which elevated him incomparably.

Now even before the circumcision, and even before the command to "go forth from your land," Avraham Avinu was at a lofty level. In the words of my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe [Rayatz], in the sicha (discourse) of Simchas Torah, 5710 [1949], Avraham Avinu was then a Jew of 75, master of many estates and master of all areas of his conduct. He had attained all the levels that he could have possibly attained by his own efforts, including even the level [in the apprehension of Divinity] known as the Wisdom concealed from any concept.

And at that point he was commanded to "go forth from your land," i.e., to elevate himself to an even loftier level, and then he was commanded further concerning the circumcision. From this we may gain some notion of the sublime level which his circumcision enabled him to attain.

To explain: All of his spiritual levels and accomplishments before the circumcision were secured by dint of his own avodah (work), because they were of a kind that stand in some proportion to finite created beings. The mitzvah of circumcision, in contrast, elicit a flow of divine lights so sublime that they utterly transcend the created universe and Seder Hishtalshelus, the chainlike scheme of orderly descent by which divine light is progressively contracted. These are lights so sublime that they cannot be drawn downward by mortal avodah: they are granted from above as a gift. Of this divine gift it is written, "And the L-rd your G-d will circumcise your heart. In such a case, the function of man is merely to remove the foreskin that derives from the kelipos (the opposite of holiness). This preparation makes it possible for the divine lights to then descend spontaneously.

(A parallel case may be found in today's daily reading of Tanya. Secrets of wisdom (i.e., supernal sparks and lights), which had been in bondage in the exile of the kelipos, are revealed by prior activity of terrestrial beings; these are each garbed in a body stemming from kelipas nogah, whose strength they weaken by crushing the passions; as a result, the celestial beings come to hear innovative insights into the Torah from the terrestrial beings.)

Furthermore, the mitzvah of circumcision upgrades the individual out of all proportion to his former spiritual state - like birth. A newborn infant is a new entity, a manifestation in this nether world of infinite power of the Ein Sof (as is explained in Chassidus).

From this we may grasp how great is the joy of the week following Parshas Lech Lecha, when we live with Avraham Avinu after he had attained the heights made accessible by the mitzvah of circumcision. This joy continues in the following weeks and throughout the entire year as well, just explained by my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe [Rayatz], the transcendent spiritual energy drawn down on Simcha's Torah is the makkif elyon haklali (the geneneral high encompassing divine light) which incorporates all the makkifim of the entire year tear.)

[Proceeding Together, Volume 3, p.100-2]

The Promise of Eretz Yisrael

The above concepts enable us to appreciate why the promise of Eretz Yisrael to Avraham's descendants is mentioned in connection with circumcision. Circumcision reflects the unification of the spiritual and the physical in one's person, while the relationship between the Jews and Eretz Yisrael reflects the unification of spirituality and physicality in the world at large.

In this sense, the attainment of physical Eretz Yisrael represents the culmination of Avraham's spiritual journey. For the most complete departure from any cultural environment is reflected in the transformation of that environment. Thus the fulfillment of G-d's command for Avraham to break the chains of material existence (lech lecha) comes about as his descendants struggle to transform Eretz Yisrael into a dwelling fit for G-d.

The promise of Eretz Yisrael will not truly be fulfilled until the Era of the Redemption. In that sense, the journey that began with the command lech lecha remains as ongoing mission for all of Avraham's descendants. Until the coming of Mashiach, we must be constantly exceeding our spiritual limitations, striving to bring ourselves and our environment to fulfillment.

[In the Garden of Torah, volume 1, p. 19]

LECH LECHA

TALMUDIC SOURCES

Hashem Promises Avram the Inheritance of Eretz Yisrael for his Children

Having predicted to Avram the birth of a son, Hashem now also promised him that his descendants would inherit Eretz Yisrael.

"How can I be sure of it?" asked Avram. "Give me a sign that they will actually inherit the Land!"

Avram's reason for seeking a sign was his fear that as soon as his descendants would sin, Hashem would not allow them to continue living in the Holy Land.

Hashem assured Avram, "Even if they will sin, I have prepared a means of atonement for them, the korbanos (sacrifices)." Hashem then demonstrated to Avram the nature of the future korbanos by telling him to prepare three bullocks, three goats, three rams, a dove, and a turtle dove, representing the various offerings.

Hashem commanded Avram to cut the animals into parts, except for one bird, symbolizing the halacha that only the olah-sacrifice of a bird is cut, but not the chatas-sacrifice.

Then Hashem revealed to Avram a vision of the distant future. A heavy sleep fell upon Avram during which he perceived his children enslaved in the Egyptian exile. "I shall redeem them from the Egyptian exile and also punish their tormentors," Hashem announced. The vision continued. Avram saw his children led away from their land to be taken to four different exiles, first the Babylonian exile, then the Median exile, then the Greek exile, and finally the Roman exile.

"You should know," Hashem told him, "that just as I punished their Egyptian adversaries, so shall I judge all tormentors of the Jewish people. You should know that just as I dispersed them, so will I gather them in. You should know that just as I enslaved them, so will I redeem them,"

Hashem then explained to Avram, Instead of banishing them from their land to atone for their sins, I have another alternative." Avram envisioned a new picture, a blazing furnace of Gehinnom. "Instead of punishment in this world," Hashem explained to him, "it is possible to be cleansed from sin by the fire of Gehinnom in olam haba (the world to come). Now Avram, choose! Which of the two do you want your descendants to experience if they sin, Gehinnom or exile?"

The choice was agonizing for Avram. On the one hand, he knew that tribulations in this transitory world are easier to bear than the suffering of Gehinnom. Yet, how could he request exile for his children, uncertain that they would survive it? Perahaps they would assimilate among the nations and disappear altogether? It was only when Hashem assured Avram that the Jewish people would never cease to exist on the map of history, even in exile, that Avram voted for exile-punishment.

Hashem made a covenant with Avram known as the "Covenant Between the Parts," promising him that his descendants would drive out the ten nations living in the land of Canaan (seven in the time of Yehoshua and three more in Mashiach's time) and that they would take possession of Eretz Yisrael.

[Rabbi Moshe Weissman, The Midrash Says, p.146-8]