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November 2, 2001/Cheshvan 16, 5762, Vol. 54, No. 8
Have faith that Israel is eternal
Torah Study
RABBI SHLOMO RISKIN
Vayera/Genesis 18:1-22:24
Is faith that profound inner conviction which impels and informs all of our most significant activities? Or as Rashbam teaches, is faith rather to be relegated to the realm of the internal spirit alone, in the sense that one ought to piously pray as if everything depended on God, but humanistically act as if everything depended on us alone?
Let us turn to the commandment of the akedah (binding of Isaac), which begins: "Some time afterward, God put Abraham to the test (nisah)." (Genesis 22:1) The Rashbam - Rav Shmuel ben Meir, known for his strict obedience to the literal meaning of the text - immediately takes note of the biblical connection between God's command of Abraham to sacrifice Isaac and the previous biblical record of Abraham's peace treaty with Avimelech.
God is here punishing Abraham ("Some time afterward") for his commitments to the Philistine King, suggests the Rashbam. After all, Avimelech believed that the Negev portion of Israel belonged to him and his Philistine people.
He approaches Abraham - together with his military general Pichol - with the request that the patriarch not "deal falsely" (tishkor, rebel or betray) with him, his grandchildren or his great grandchildren. Abraham agrees and swears the oath of a peace treaty.
From the Rashbam's perspective, "the Holy One Blessed Be He was angry at Abraham for this, because the land on which the Philistines were dwelling was part of the boundaries of the Land of Israel," the land promised by God to Abraham and his progeny.
How could Abraham have relinquished his patrimony to Avimelech? Indeed, it was not even exclusively Abraham's; it belonged to all of his future generations, and so the patriarch alone didn't have the right to give up what was the property of his descendants.
Hence the Rashbam goes on to explain the phrase (usually translated as God "put Abraham to the test") to mean "criticized, railed against"; in effect, God is commanding Abraham "to now bring Isaac as a whole burnt offering and see how your peace treaty will help you." In measure-for-measure fashion, Abraham now will not have a living son to whom to bequeath any part of the divine-given land of Israel.
This interpretation is reminiscent of an incident in the annals of the history of modern Israel. Before the establishment of the Jewish State, David Ben Gurion was offered a partition plan, which would have left the Jewish people with a rather paltry slice of land - but it would nevertheless have been the realization of a Jewish homeland.
Ben Gurion could not decide and asked his trusted colleague Yitzhak Tabenkin to make the decision. Tabenkin asked for a day in which to consider his response; he wanted to take counsel with two individuals.
At the appointed time, Tabenkin urged Ben Gurion to refuse the offer. "I accept your decision, but from whom did you seek advice?" asked Ben Gurion.
"From two people," answered Tabenkin. "From my grandfather and from my grandson. From my grandfather who died ten years ago, and from my grandson who is not yet born."
The land of Israel does not belong to any particular generation; it is the patrimony of all generations. And, at least according to the Rashbam, no matter how powerful may be the enemy and how threatening may appear his military general, we must have trust in God rather than in treaties of men and have ultimate faith that regarding Israel, "the eternity of Israel will not deal falsely."
Rabbi Shlomo Riskin is the spiritual leader of Efrat, Israel.
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