A thought on Parshas Lech Lech
"...v'he'yea bracha..."
"...and be a blessing..." (12:2)
HaShem seals his promise to Avraham with the assurance that He will bless him and make his name known, and that Avraham will "be a blessing."Many of our sages have offered interpretations of this curious phrase, "be a blessing." We can better understand the idea of a person becoming blessed, or that his deeds are blessed. The idea that a person can become a blessing is harder to fathom. We do not usually look at a blessing as a noun which can define an object. It is a free standing noun which refers to a statement as in "say a blessing" or "make a bracha." Or, the word can be an adjective as in "his blessed memory" or "may you be blessed." What is the meaning of HaShem's saying that Avraham would become a bracha?
If you have ever gone swimming in Israel, you may know that a pool is called a braicha. The Recanati tells us that this is a deeper aspect of the word bracha in our verse. Just as a pool cleanses the impure, Avraham was promised that he would cleanse the spiritually impure. He was blessed with the power to reach people who would struggle with matters of the mind and spirit. The Recanati says that Avraham (this is a direct quote) would "m'karev es ha'rechokim".
He then illuminates the spiritual and metaphysical dynamics of such a bracha. The Recanati tends to see ways in which this world, this life, is a mirror of the Higher realm. He tends to write about the symbiosis between our actions below and actions Above, as well as between those from Above and our experience below.
Impurity, in the spiritual plane, has six levels, beginning with the source of tuma (such as a corpse) and descending to peripheral tuma, such as that which might affect sacred property in the Bais HaMikdash. Why six? Because the seventh sphere of Divine influence is known as Chesed - Kindness. Kindness transcends impurity; Divine kindness protects against impurity or provides the remedy and antidote for impurity, which is tahara. Seven is the zone where six becomes inert, powerless. Tuma cannot connect with Chesed.
Avraham Avinu dedicated his life and existence, in this world below, to chesed. His mortal acts of persistent and selfless kindness towards others, as we know from so many of the events in Bereishis, were a replica of Divine chesed. They were more than the imitative deeds which try to emulate the Ways of HaShem. They had, in this mortal existence, a mirror role of the powers and emanations of Kindness Above. That is, his acts of kindness were able to purify others, a remedy to their distress and confusion, a balm for their strife.
This is the meaning of HaShem conferring on Avraham the status or title of "bracha." By way of his acts of chesed, he would have a cleansing and purifying effect on others. He was given the promise that his kindness would change people and transform the world.
How many of us know people whose being considerate of others seems like a pool of clean water? How many of us feel transformed by the kindness shown us, rather than feel like mere recipients? How many of us reach out to others and offer them chesed with the aim of bringing the distant closer, and bringing greater purity to the world?
Wishing you a good Shabbos. D Fox
"...and be a blessing..." (12:2)
HaShem seals his promise to Avraham with the assurance that He will bless him and make his name known, and that Avraham will "be a blessing."Many of our sages have offered interpretations of this curious phrase, "be a blessing." We can better understand the idea of a person becoming blessed, or that his deeds are blessed. The idea that a person can become a blessing is harder to fathom. We do not usually look at a blessing as a noun which can define an object. It is a free standing noun which refers to a statement as in "say a blessing" or "make a bracha." Or, the word can be an adjective as in "his blessed memory" or "may you be blessed." What is the meaning of HaShem's saying that Avraham would become a bracha?
If you have ever gone swimming in Israel, you may know that a pool is called a braicha. The Recanati tells us that this is a deeper aspect of the word bracha in our verse. Just as a pool cleanses the impure, Avraham was promised that he would cleanse the spiritually impure. He was blessed with the power to reach people who would struggle with matters of the mind and spirit. The Recanati says that Avraham (this is a direct quote) would "m'karev es ha'rechokim".
He then illuminates the spiritual and metaphysical dynamics of such a bracha. The Recanati tends to see ways in which this world, this life, is a mirror of the Higher realm. He tends to write about the symbiosis between our actions below and actions Above, as well as between those from Above and our experience below.
Impurity, in the spiritual plane, has six levels, beginning with the source of tuma (such as a corpse) and descending to peripheral tuma, such as that which might affect sacred property in the Bais HaMikdash. Why six? Because the seventh sphere of Divine influence is known as Chesed - Kindness. Kindness transcends impurity; Divine kindness protects against impurity or provides the remedy and antidote for impurity, which is tahara. Seven is the zone where six becomes inert, powerless. Tuma cannot connect with Chesed.
Avraham Avinu dedicated his life and existence, in this world below, to chesed. His mortal acts of persistent and selfless kindness towards others, as we know from so many of the events in Bereishis, were a replica of Divine chesed. They were more than the imitative deeds which try to emulate the Ways of HaShem. They had, in this mortal existence, a mirror role of the powers and emanations of Kindness Above. That is, his acts of kindness were able to purify others, a remedy to their distress and confusion, a balm for their strife.
This is the meaning of HaShem conferring on Avraham the status or title of "bracha." By way of his acts of chesed, he would have a cleansing and purifying effect on others. He was given the promise that his kindness would change people and transform the world.
How many of us know people whose being considerate of others seems like a pool of clean water? How many of us feel transformed by the kindness shown us, rather than feel like mere recipients? How many of us reach out to others and offer them chesed with the aim of bringing the distant closer, and bringing greater purity to the world?
Wishing you a good Shabbos. D Fox
posted by Rabbi Dr. Fox at 10:21 PM
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