God of Heaven and Earth: Foundation of Emunah

1“And I will make you swear by Hashem, the God of the heavens and the God of the earth …”¹ Why did Avraham Avinu, here in particular, as he sent Eliezer on his mission, use the long expression “the God of the heavens and the God of the earth”?

2Further on, the verse says, “and two bracelets for her hands, ten gold shekels their weight.” Rashi explains that the “two bracelets” hint at the two Tablets of the Covenant, and the “ten gold shekels” hint at the Ten Commandments.² But what do the Ten Commandments, which were spoken when the Torah was given, have to do with Yitzchak's match [which took place long before that]?

3Let us also cite a verse that comes later, in the reply of Lavan and Besuel: “The matter has gone forth from Hashem.” The Midrash comments, “It went forth from Mount Moriah.”³ What does Mount Moriah, the site of the Akeidah, have to do with the match of Yitzchak Avinu?

4We will explain this with the words of my holy father and teacher, zt"l, on the verse “And Avraham was old, coming into days.”⁴ He based his explanation on a teaching of Chazal: “Each and every day, give Him blessing in keeping with His blessings.”⁵ The meaning is this. The Holy One, blessed be He, renews creation every day, as we say in the blessing of Yotzer Ohr in the morning prayers: “and in His goodness He renews every day, continually, the work of creation.” The Baal Shem Tov, zt"l, explains the verse “Forever, Hashem, Your word stands firm in the heavens” in the same way:⁶ Your word “Let there be a firmament,”⁷ which You spoke when You created the heavens, still stands in the heavens now, and through it the heavens continue to exist at every moment. So too, a person must renew himself every day in avodas Hashem, the service of Hashem. This is the meaning of “coming into days”: every day Avraham Avinu brought something new into his avodas Hashem. Those are his holy words.

5aWe can explain as follows. We know that the wise men of the nations of the world held false views.⁸ They accepted and believed that there is a Creator of the world, but they claimed that He rules only in the heavens and, Heaven forbid, not on the earth. In other words, they said that He has abandoned the earth and does not watch over it or over the deeds of those who live below. This is a denial of emunah in the Creator. Against it the Tikkunei Zohar teaches: “There is no place empty of Him.”⁹ Hashem rules “in the heavens above and on the earth below.”¹⁰

5bMoreover, the Holy One, blessed be He, gives life at every moment to everything that exists in this world: the inanimate, the plant, the animal and the human being. A well-known story about the Baal Shem Tov shows this. He once took a cup and said to his disciples, “Do you believe that this cup is whole only because Hashem gives it strength and existence, and that if He took away its life-force for a single moment, it would at once cease to exist?” While he was still speaking, the cup broke in his hand, and they all saw the greatness of the Creator. From this we see that each and every thing in this world exists only through the life-force that flows to it at every moment from the power of Hashem.

5cThe same idea is taught in the name of my holy ancestor of Shidlovtza, zt"l, on the verse “The heavens are the heavens of Hashem, but the earth He gave to the children of man.”¹¹ Just as it is certain and clear that “the heavens are the heavens of Hashem,” he explained, so He gave the earth to mankind to make it, too, into a kind of heaven. Put simply: just as the power of His kingship is evident to all in the heavens, so He gave the earth to mankind so that on earth too everyone will recognize and know that everything comes from His power.

6The nations of the world do not understand any of this. Only Bnei Yisrael know it, because they are the descendants of Avraham Avinu, who rooted this power of emunah in them and implanted it for all generations. So when Avraham commanded Eliezer to take a wife for his son Yitzchak, he knew that this match was the foundation of the generations to come, and that the whole edifice of Klal Yisrael would rise from it. He therefore prayed, invoking “the God of the heavens and the God of the earth.” His prayer was that the descendants who would come from this match would believe and know that Hashem is the ruler in the heavens and on the earth, and would not be like all the nations who deny this foundation of emunah. In this way he imparted emunah to them and rooted it in their hearts. And he handed this power over to Eliezer his servant, so that it would be bound up with this match from its very start, the match from which Klal Yisrael was destined to arise.

7This is why Eliezer gave Rivkah two bracelets for her hands, which hint at the two Tablets of the Covenant, and ten gold shekels, which hint at the Ten Commandments. The whole edifice of Klal Yisrael depended on this match, so the future receiving and keeping of the Torah by Bnei Yisrael depended on it too. And such receiving and keeping of the Torah can last only if it rests on emunah in Hashem. That is why Avraham Avinu handed this power over to Eliezer his servant: to instill this emunah for all generations. They would believe that Hashem, blessed be He, is the God of the heavens and the God of the earth, as his oath to Eliezer declared.

8This is what the Midrash means by “The matter has gone forth from Hashem”: “from Mount Moriah.” On Mount Moriah Avraham Avinu offered his only son for the honor of Hashem's Name. He recognized that the whole world belongs to the Holy One, blessed be He, Who is the God of heaven and earth, and so a person has nothing of his own. From there, through that same power, the match with Rivkah went forth and came about, the match from which Bnei Yisrael, who believe that Hashem rules over the upper and lower worlds, were destined to arise. And so Lavan and Besuel, Rivkah's brother and father, could not stand in its way.

9The main thing is for us to strengthen ourselves and root emunah within us, so that here on earth too we know that everything comes from His power. This is especially so in these days, when the verse “And I will surely hide My face” is being fulfilled.¹² And as Chazal said, in the merit of emunah the redemption will draw near.¹³ Amen, may it be His will.