The sedros of Lech Lechoh and Vayeiro
deal primarily with the ten nisyonos of Avrohom Ovinu.
In Michtav MeEliyohu )vol. 2, pg. 162 (Rabbi Dessler
z"l points out a surprising anomaly in the nature of
these tests. Avrohom Ovinu is most famous for his
middah of chessed, loving-kindness.
Correspondingly, one would have expected that the
nisyonos he was given would have been ones wherein he
was challenged to perform chessed under difficult
circumstances. However, this was not the nature of most of
the tests. In fact, in most of the tests he was challenged
not to perform chessed.
Most of his nisyonos challenged him to use his
middah of gevurah in order to continue along
the path of his life. For example, Avrohom had to be hard-
hearted in sending away Yishmoel in order to protect
Yitzchok. He had to separate himself from his elderly father
Terach and all of his friends and acquaintances in the
nisoyon of Lech Lechoh, and he had to separate
himself from the rest of humanity in the nisoyon of
bris miloh.
Rabbi Dessler z"l explains that this is because
Avrohom Ovinu reached perfection in the trait of
chessed by himself. The purpose of the nisyonos
that Hakodosh Boruch Hu gave him was to develop his
trait of gevurah, inner strength. Avrohom's trait of
chesed would only be complete in conjunction with his
developing to the utmost his middah of
gevurah.
This requires some explanation, why does
chesed require gevurah in order to reach its
complete fruition?
It would seem that this is the process of inner emotional
growth that Rabbi Elchonon Wasserman z"l Hy"d referred
to upon his being visited by a number of bochurim who
were leaving Europe prior to the onset of the Second World
War. He told them as follows; "When I was 20 years old I
decided to change the world. When I got to 30, I looked
around myself and saw that I had very little impact on the
world, so I decided to limit myself to changing my city. Ten
years later I saw the limited impact that I had had even upon
my city, so I decided to try just changing my local
neighborhood. That also didn't work, so at the age of fifty I
decided to try changing my immediate family. When I became 60
I saw that that also hadn't worked so I decided that I would
try to change myself."
In other words, it might be that you can't change the world,
but you can create a world of your own. This does not mean
that the rest of the world will not follow suite. It might
well conclude that the new world that has been created is
very worthwhile and well-worth being a part of. The extent to
which the rest of the world will relate to and change as a
result of the new reality that has been created will depend
upon how great that world has become and how many it can
accommodate.
This is how the gedolim of all the generations created
glorious worlds of Torah, avodah, and gemilus
chassodim. They created such resplendent realms of
Yiddishkeit within their own selves and their
immediate surroundings that large segments of Klal
Yisroel found succor and inspiration within the sphere of
their greatness The Alter of Novarodock, in explaining his
outreach philosophy )in his sefer Madregas HaAdam,
(refers to this concept with a moshol of one who sets
the time on his clock extremely accurately. Thereafter,
others will set their own clocks in accordance with the time
showing on his.
Avrohom Ovinu was challenged to use his middah of love
to create an inner world, so intense and radiant that it
would accommodate in its glow the entirety of the world. He
was placed in situations which he had to grow out of using
great personal strength with which he built further his own
inner world, until finally he fathered klal Yisroel.
Here is a listing of some of the nisyonos, how they
challenged him, and how he responded by growing to meet the
challenge.
Ur Kasdim
Avrohom achieved emunah in Hashem and defied idol-
worship in general and Nimrod's immortality in particular. He
was therefore handed over by his parents (Bereishis
Rabbah, 38/19) to Nimrod to be sentenced to death. He was
sentenced not only to be killed, but also to be killed as an
outcast from society, someone whose only remembrance would be
ignominy. Even amongst the members of his family he would
have no fond remembrance. Nevertheless, Avrohom did not
waver but rather stood his own, thus he gained respect and
admiration for his emunah (see Yalkut Shemoni
chelek 1, perek, 77).
Lech Lechah
Avrohom was told to terminate his acquaintanceship with his
countrymen, neighbors and family. He would not be able to
continue to develop his old relationships, or to have old
friends to cherish. His capacity to love was much reduced
(compare to Sichos Mussar from Rabbi Chaim
Schmuelevitz z"l, Parshas Bahaaloscho, page 112).
However, Hashem told him that from him would come a great and
blessed nation, and even the other nations of the world would
come to be blessed through him. Thus through temporarily
terminating his love towards his immediate surroundings
Avrohom would create his own world of goodness so great that
it would indeed one day encompass the whole world.
Bris Miloh
Avrohom Ovinu said to Hashem, "Before I entered into this
bris people came to me. Will they really continue to
come to me after I enter the bris?" (Bereishis
Rabbah, 46/3).
Avrohom was concerned that although he would now elevate
himself to a higher madreigoh he would thereby cut
himself off from the rest of the world. This is why he waited
so anxiously at the entrance of his tent at the beginning of
Parshas Vayeiro, to see if anyone would still come by.
Avrohom overcame the gap between his new madreigoh and
the rest of the world, and continued his outreach at a new
higher level.
@SUB TITLE = Gerush Yishmael
Avrohom had to drive away his son, Yishmael. In perek
21, possuk 10; "And she (Sarah) said to Avrohom, Drive
away this maid-servant, for the son of this maid- servant
shall not inherit together with my son, Yitzchok."
Avrohom had to limit his chesed towards even his own
family, in order to preserve the purity of his lineage. Not
only was Avrohom told that Yishmoel had been determined to be
an unfitting recipient his legacy, but he was also told that
even one of Yitzchok's children would be similarly
segregated, "Ki beYitzchok yikorei lechoh zora -- velo kol
Yitzchok.". Avrohom sent away Yishmael and raised Yitzchok to
be the second founder of Klal Yisroel.
The Akeidah
This was the ultimate limitation of Avrohom's own personal
world. Had he been makriv his son, he would be left
with no heir to whom he could bequeath his great legacy.
Rabbi Dessler z"l explains (Michtav MeEliyohu,
vol. 2, pg. 194) that had the akeidah been actuated
then the madreigoh that Avrohom would have reached
would have been so great that the whole world would have been
huchzar bitshuvah automatically through his
influence.
Moshiach would have come and Yitzchok would have been
resurrected in the ensuing techiyas hameisim. The
limitation of the spread of his own world would have elevated
him internally to being individually someone whose heart
would encompass the whole world. The reason why Hashem told
Avrohom not to proceed with the akeidah was because
the world at that time was not meritorious of the coming of
Moshiach. Nevertheless the zechus of the
akeidah sustains Klal Yisroel until today.
