Genesis

בייה

Genesis 13 – Motivating Ourselves

Dear Friends and Family, most of us want to do good and help others, but sometimes we get disconnected. Perhaps our tank is empty. Maybe we are flat despite our best efforts. We battle with our Evil Inclination, and sometimes our Evil nature gets the best of us. We understand how hellish it can be. Perchance that is why many of us highly regard our father, Abraham. He is a paragon, a megastar, a champion, and a victor to us. Abraham is our ultimate hero. He exhibited good, righteous, just, refined, honest, ethical, moral, and spiritually sensitive characteristics. Abraham is like a graceful grandfather figure who, at 75 years of age, was experienced, wise, logical, perceptive, determined, devoted, calm, kind, loving, humble, non-assuming, influential wealthy individual. (See Genesis 12.4). That is how many of us perceive Abraham at 75 years of age. Fortunately for us, Abraham’s life was an open book filled with many records and much commentary revealing his life from birth coming forward.

Abraham chose to serve Lord with his entire being, even when it was hellish. That is easy, but there are great rewards. Abraham was on a plain all to his own. He accomplished some fantastic Spiritual stuff that caused him to stand out.

A few hundred years before the flood and then later, a few hundred years after the flood, only a [few] righteous individuals knew the Eternal Rock / The True God – like Enoch, who walked with God and was taken (Genesis 5.22 – 23), Methuselah who lived 969 years and died seven days before the world wide flood began. Yalkut Shimeoni, Beresheit 42) Says, ‘Metuselach was a completely righteous man.’ (Genesis 6.9) says, ‘Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and that Noah walked with God.’ (Genesis 25.27) says, ‘Jacob was a quiet man, living in the tents [of Shem and Eber].’ See Bereisheit Rabba 63.10. In The Guide for the Perplexed, Vol. 2, Chapter 39, Rambam states that the above individuals are Prophets. Most of the world’s inhabitants did NOT recognize or know God, the Master of all.

Mishneh Torah, Foreign Worship and Customs of the Nations, refers to Abraham as The Pillar of The World. Sefer Ha Aggadah states that ‘לֶךְ־לְךָ Lehk Lih Kaw in (Genesis 12.1) means, ‘Go for yourself!’ Other commentators say, ‘Go forth.’ At JewishPath.org, we translate the meaning to be, ‘Go! Get Out!’ Each of these translations is correct and valid. Lord expressed to Abraham, it was you that I have been waiting for ten generations, [from] ‘Shem, [through] Arpachshad, Shelah, Eber, Peleg, Reu, Serug, Nahor, and Terah until Abraham. The world continued silently until the birth of the Patriarch Abraham. Etz Hayim Torah And Commentary p 69 says that the divine voice spoke again after 10 generations of silence.

Early in his childhood, Abraham incessantly thought throughout the day and night, wondering: How can the sphere continue to revolve without anyone controlling it? (Beresheit Rabba 39.1) Says, ‘Rabbi Yitzchak said: There was a man traveling from place to place when he saw a castle aglow. He said, “Is it possible that this castle lacks a person to look after it?” The owner of the castle looked at him and said, ‘I am the master of the castle.'” Abraham, our father, questioned, “Is it possible that this universe lacks a Curator to look after it?” The Holy One, Blessed be He, looked at Abraham and said to him, ‘I am the Master of the Universe.'” As noted above, using reason and logic, Abraham became mindful of God and understood the path of righteousness on his own, independent of others. He followed an ethical behavior approach, reflecting his spiritual awareness and accurate comprehension. He realized that there was one God who controlled the sphere, that He created everything, and that there was no other God among all the other entities. He knew that the entire world was making a mistake and what caused them to err was their service of the stars and images, which made them lose awareness of the Truth. Unfortunately, Their worship of idols dulled their sensitivity to spirituality to the point where they lost all awareness of God.

(Beresheit 64.4) discusses the progression of Abraham’s awareness of God and His Truth. At age three, he had an awareness of God. At forty, he achieved an understanding of God. That is when he recognized and knew God on his own. Abraham began formulating replies to the inhabitants of Ur Kasdim and debated with them, and taught them that they were not following the Path of Truth by serving the stars and idols. He overcame them through the strength of his arguments. King Nimrod tried to kill him by tossing him into a burning furnace. See (Genesis 15.7).

(Nedarim 32a) says that at first, when Abraham was three years of age, God Gave Abraham mastery over two hundred forty-three limbs, and later over two hundred forty-eight, the additional ones being the two eyes, two ears, and the membrane when his name was changed. The original name of Abraham was Abram, whose numerical value was 243, but it became 248 when HaShem changed his name to Abraham. His numerical value then became 248, the number of members of a man’s body. V. Mak. (Sonc. ed.) p. 109. n. 5. As a reward for his undergoing circumcision, he was given mastery over those limbs, which, through hearing and seeing, entice one to immorality; but now he was enabled by his will-power to forbid them to look upon or listen to sin. The last mentioned, of course, refers to the control of the sex-lust. Cf. Maim. ‘Guide,’ III, ch. 49. When we take proper initiative, God assists us.

Let’s keep in mind that our father Abraham lived between 1948 F.C. – 2123 F.C. That was 3,660 years ago. Yet, we have many records from various authors, as noted above.

Sometimes we take a wrong turn, miss a connection, or wander off course. The following four Holy Scriptures track the movement of Abraham from Babylon to Canaan to Egypt and back to Canaan. It’s like Abraham wore a body cam 24/7. We have this unique opportunity to watch, read, study, and learn from Abraham.

(Genesis 12.7) says, ‘And Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, to the terebinth of Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the land. And Lord Appeared to Abraham, and said, To your seed will I Give this land; and there he built an altar to the Lord, who appeared to him.’

(Genesis 12.8) says, ‘And he moved from there to a mountain in the east of Beth-El, and pitched his tent, having Beth-El on the west, and Hai on the east; and there he built an altar to the Lord, and called upon the Name of the Lord.’

(Genesis 13.1) says, ‘And Abram went up from Egypt, his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, to the Negev.’

(Genesis 13.3-4) says, ‘And he went on his journeys from the Negev to Beth-El, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Beth-El and Hai; To the site of the altar, which he had made there at first; and there Abram called on the Name of the Lord.’

In Canaan, he did not encounter opposition like in Babylonia. He began calling loudly to all people, informing them that there was one God in the world. He would go out and call to the people, gathering them city after city and country after country. (Genesis 12.5) speaks of the people they had gathered in Charan. (Beresheit Rabbah 39:21) comments, “These are the converts they made. Abraham would convert the men, and Sarah would convert the women.” As he traveled, he proclaimed God’s Existence the entire time. He built altars and called in the Name of Lord. (Sotah10a) states: “Do not read ‘And he called.’ Read ‘And he had others call’ – i.e., Abraham motivated others to become aware of God and call out to Him.

When the people would gather around him and ask about his statements, he would explain to them according to their understanding until they turned to the path of Truth. Ultimately, thousands and myriads gathered around him. These are the men of the house of Abraham.

When we consider determination and devotion to Lord, we speak of Abraham. (Joshua 24.1 – 3) Says, ‘The Lord God of Israel said, ‘Your fathers lived on the other side of the river in old time, Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor; and they served other gods. And I Took your father Abraham from the other side of the river, and Led him throughout the Canaan land, Multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac.’

Shem and Ever lived in Canaan, while Abraham resided in Babylon. The question remains, why didn’t Abraham seek out these righteous men? (Kinat Eliyahu). He had no teacher, nor was there anyone to inform him. Instead, he was mired in Ur Kasdim among the foolish idolaters. His father, mother, and all the people around him were idol worshipers. Our Sages relate that his father had a shop where idols were sold and that he would worship idols with them. (Beresheit Rabbah 39:8) Says, ‘Abraham was constantly worried that God would not absolve him from his sin of worshiping idols. However, his heart was exploring and gaining understanding. Ultimately, he appreciated the way of Truth.

We can be a blessing if we choose if we are a self-starter and have initiative and determination.

Holy Scripture Informs us of that. (Genesis 12.2) shares how Abraham could וֶהְיֵ֖ה Veh Hih Yeh become a blessing. Individuals who are a blessing understand there are conditions. Being a Blessing is not on our terms. Lord Gave Abraham four prerequisites.Remember וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יְהֹוָה֙ אֶל־אַבְרָ֔ם ‘Lord Said to Abraham.’ – ‘Leave your land, country, territory, and leave your kindred, relatives, offspring – and leave your father’s house, Go to The Land that I show you.

(Genesis 12.4) says, ‘And Abraham went forth, as Lord had דִּבֶּ֤ר Dee Behr spoken to him; and Lot went with him; and Abraham was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.’ This is the first usage of דִּבֶּ֤ר Dee Behr spoken in Holy Scripture. In this instance דִּבֶּ֤ר Dee Behr is a gentle form of a command, perhaps a nudge. We can develop an approach like Abraham, who was logical and spiritually sensitive to Lord.

We can be the difference in our sphere. We can do some heavy lifting like our loving Grandfather, Abraham.

May each of us be blessed with Torah Learning to encourage us, enlighten our way, and help others.

Good Sabbath,

Dr. Akiva Gamliel Belk

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