Avraham, the Blessing

Rabbi Yaakov Bieler

Parshat Lech Lecha, 5764

            At the beginning of Parshat Lech Lecha (Beraishit 12:2-3), in order to reassure Avraham that his sudden departure from Charan and most of his family will not unduly handicap him in terms of being productive and successful, HaShem Blesses him in seven different ways.

            Yehuda Kihl* explains the nuances of these blessings in the following manner: (1) “VeE’escha LeGoi Gadol” (And I will make you into a great nation)—Avraham’s descendents will be numerous; (2) “VeAvarechecha” (and I will bless you)—the work of your hands will be exceedingly accomplished; (3) “VeAgadla Shemecha” (and I will make your name great)—you will gain fame and renown; (4) “VeHeyeh Beracha” (and you will be a blessing)—others who are associated with you will be blessed merely by your proximity to them; (5) “VeAvaracha Mevarchecha” (And I will bless those who bless you)—those who will grant you the greatest blessing, i.e., live with you in peace and even make a covenant with you to that effect, I will bless in turn; (6) “U’Mekallcha A’ohr” (and those who curse you , I will curse)—those that treat you badly will be cursed by Me; and (7) “VeNivrechu Becha Kol Mishpachot HaAdama” (and all of the families of the earth will cite you as a model of blessing and success, and will bless others by wishing that they resemble you.

            Six out of seven of these blessings, in one form or another, already begin to be  fulfilled during Avraham’s lifetime. Avraham has a number of progeny (Yishmael 16:15; Yitzchak 21:2-3; the children of Ketura 25:2-4), Eliezer attests to Avraham’s wealth and possessions (24:35), Malki Tzedek (14:19-20) and the Hittites (23:6) speak as if Avraham has made a great name for himself, the incentive for Avimelech to wish to make a peace treaty with Avraham appears to be a recognition that his presence in the land has been materially beneficial for the entire area (21:22), and both Pharoah (12:17) and Avimelech (20:3) precipitate  supernatural reactions when they attempt to take Sara as a wife.  

            However, the seventh, “VeNivrechu Becha Kol Mishpachot HaAdama”, a blessing that is reiterated by God in 18:18 (“…VeNivrechu Bo Kol Goyai HaAretz” [And  all of the nations of the world will bless by citing his example]) appears not to have manifested itself to the point where Avraham could perceive that it had even minimally come true. Pharoah, after recovering from the plague that God sent on Sara’s behalf, not only does not view Avraham and Sara as models of blessing, but summararily sends them out of Egypt. Malki Tzedek blesses Avraham to his face (14:19-20) but is not cited as mentioning him in other contexts. Avimelech in the end makes a non-aggression pact with Avraham (21:22 ff.) but appears to do this more out of self-interest, than as a result of wishing to model himself and his subjects after Avraham’s example. And the compliments uttered by the Hittites (23:3 ff.) in general and Ephron in particular, could be viewed as little more than negotiating etiquette, rather than sincere acknowledgement of Avraham’s special spiritual standing and how he deserves emulation on the part of all. 

            It could be said that the expectation that the nations of the world will see in Avraham the paradigm of Divine Blessing is something that could not be reasonably expected to happen during Avraham’s actual life. Only when people could reflect on the totality of his life, something that would happen once he no longer was alive, would they be in a position where they possibly could reach the conclusion that Avraham was truly blessed. In the same manner that despite Yaakov’s declaration (48:20) that Yosef’s sons, Ephraim and Menashe, would be templates for blessings, this probably did not actually begin to happen until after they too had departed this world, when a full evaluation of how they had lived could finally be made, a similar expectation should apply to this seventh blessing that God extended to Avraham.

            However, according to Moshe Shternbach’s interpretation of the seventh blessing,** Avraham was already able to experience the beginning of its fulfillment  as well. He writes, “It appears that the purpose of Avraham’s leaving Charan (12:4-5) was to publicize the existence of God, May His Name be Blessed, and to sanctify His Name in every place. And the meaning of ‘VeNivrechu BeCha’ is that his travels should constitute a sanctification of the Divine Name, that all should see the ethical and moral purity of those who walk in the Way of HaShem, and they (the inhabitants of Canaan, and wherever else Avraham would travel) would come to bless themselves by striving to become like them. And even though the essential fulfillment of the commandment to sanctify God’s Name is in the midst of the Jewish people (VaYikra 22:32), the ancient commentators have emphasized that we must strive to enhance the name of the Jewish people among the nations of the world as well. And this is one of the rationales for the Exile (see R. Elazar’s view cited in Pesachim 87b), i.e., that the nations to which Jews have scattered, will come to recognize and understand the special qualities of a life of observance of Tora and Mitzvot. Furthermore, it can be understood how destructive Chilul HaShem (the profanation of the Divine Name) can be with regard to this metaobjective of Judaism, which would then by definition negate one of the justifications of the Exile.

            According to such an approach, the success that Avraham experienced with regard to those that he and Sara were able to educate concerning monotheism (see RaShI on 12:5; 14:14), as well as the results of their efforts connected to the “Eishel” (RaShI on 21:33), could have been understood by them to constitute yet another fulfillment of the prediction/promise that God made at the beginning of Lech Lecha. God told Avraham that the nations of the world will not so much bless by invoking Avraham’s name, but rather, and obviously much more significantly in the ultimate scheme of things, they will become blessed through Avarham and his example in terms of altering their beliefs and ritual practices to bring them more in line with the religious teachings of Avraham. Apparently, the many times that the Tora describes Avraham as “calling on the Name of HaShem” (12:8; 13:4; 21:33) should be assumed to include   a somewhat sympathetic audience that took seriously what he was teaching.

            Bruce Feiler*** understands the manner by which the nations of the world will bless via Avraham in a different sense. Feiler strives to view Avraham as a universalistic figure that symbolically unites the three great Western religions, since he figures in each of their theological schemes. And indeed, the name change and the significance attributed to it by the Tora, (17:5) “And I have made you into a father of the multitude of nations”, would appear to lend credence to Feiler’s approach. He writes the following: “After promising to fulfill Abraham’s individual need for biological fertility…God offers Abraham the opportunity to provide surrogate, spiritual fertility to the entire world…Abraham is no longer just an individual, with individual needs. He has become God’s proxy on earth. This symbolism is so profound that it reverberates down through the centuries, growing louder with each generation, until it echoes in billions of daily prayers to this day…” Consequently, each prayer offered by anyone in the world to a monotheistic deity, starting with Avraham’s own times, but continuing down to today, could be understood as a series of blessings based upon the example that Avraham set and the lessons that he taught throughout his life.

            Ironically, with the rise of contemporary anti-Semitism, to the point where a leader of an Asian Moslem nation can say with impunity at an international conference, “The Jews control the world”, one can legitimately wonder about whether the nations of the world are at all concerned with offering blessings inspired by Avraham. However, it is possible that even Islam has been significantly affected by our first patriarch’s example, whether or not they wish to admit this. And if one comes to the bleak conclusion that indeed at this point in time, blessings in the name of Avraham are few and far between among the nations of the world, that should provide us with incentive to seek out that many more opportunities for Kiddush HaShem, while at the same time avoiding Chillul HaShem. Only by doing such deeds, can we hope to turn negative trends around, for the sake not only of the honor of the Jewish people, but also for the civility and propriety of the world as a whole.

Shabbat Shalom, and let us keep in mind the profound influence that Avraham has had, and should continue to have, upon us all.

*Da’at Mikra, Sefer Beraishit, Vol. 1, Mossad HaRav Kook, Jerusalem, 1997, pp. 319-23.

**Sefer Ta’am VaDa’at, Vol. 1, p. 45.

***Abraham, A Journey to the Heart of Three Faiths, William Morrow, New York, 2002, p. 43.