As Hashem First Spoke: Pure, Simple Service

1“So Avram went, as Hashem had spoken to him.”¹ We may ask why the verse needs to say “as Hashem had spoken to him.” We already know that Hashem commanded him, “Go for yourself from your land.”² We must also look closely at the words “as He had spoken,” ka'asher dibber. Dibbur, speaking, is a harsh form of expression.³ Yet Hashem told him, “Go for yourself: for your benefit and for your good …”⁴ So why is this called harsh speech?

2Let us first cite a teaching in the sefer Divrei Binah, in the name of its author's father, the holy R' Nosson Dovid of Shidlovtza, zt"l.⁵ He taught that in Heaven they look above all at a Jew's first desire toward Hashem. Even if things later go wrong, Heaven forbid, and his intention is not carried through as it should be, his first desire was good, and so it is dear to Hashem. He gave as an example the custom of Jews to gather together at shalosh seudos, the third Shabbos meal, and the like. Sometimes quarrel and strife result in the end. Even so, Heaven looks at the first intention, which was for the good, and counts it as good. Those are his holy words. But what do they mean? Chazal said, “The main thing is not study but deed.”⁶ If so, when the outcome was not as it should be, Heaven forbid, why is it counted as good?

3My holy father and teacher, zt"l, explained our verse through what the Toldos Adam cites in the name of the holy Rebbe of Lentshna on the verse “And Avraham circumcised Yitzchak his son at eight days old.”⁷ Why does it say shemonas and not shemonah?⁸ Because the moment Avraham Avinu heard the Holy One, blessed be He, tell him to circumcise his son, he longed for it intensely. He was already waiting with yearning eyes for the eighth day to come, so that he could fulfill the mitzvah. So the verse credits him as though he had fulfilled the mitzvah of circumcision at once, through all eight days. That is “he circumcised … shemonas yamim”: as though for all eight days he was fulfilling the mitzvah. The same explanation applies to our verse, “So Avram went, as Hashem had spoken to him.” The moment Avraham heard Hashem's command to go, he was filled with great longing and fervor to fulfill the mitzvah, and it was counted for him at once as though he had already fulfilled it. Those are my holy father's words.

4We may add a further explanation. As is well known, the goal in avodas Hashem, the service of Hashem, is to serve the Creator without any hope of reward, and even without a lofty spiritual grasp. It is told that the Baal Shem Tov once said, “I set aside all that I have grasped; I want to serve Hashem like a simple Jew.” The meaning is this. A simple Jew may have no understanding, clarity or vitality in his avodas Hashem.⁹ If he still serves Hashem wholeheartedly, this is very precious in Heaven.

5With this we may explain the verse “So Avram went, as Hashem had spoken to him.” When the Holy One, blessed be He, gave Avraham the command, he did not yet have a lofty grasp or a feeling of vitality in the mitzvah. That is the order of things: vitality and deveikus, cleaving to Hashem, come only when the mitzvah is actually done, for only then are the inner intent of the mitzvah, the feeling of vitality and the spiritual grasp drawn down. The verse is telling us that by the time Avraham Avinu actually carried out the mitzvah of going, he had already been privileged to reach a spiritual grasp and high levels. Even so, he did it in exactly the state he had been in when “Hashem spoke to him.” Then he still had no grasp or feeling of vitality, and his only intention was to do Hashem's will, which, as we saw with the simple Jew, is the true goal in avodas Hashem. This answers our first question.

6This also answers our second question, about the words “as He had spoken,” ka'asher dibber. Avraham Avinu had a lofty grasp and many inner intentions in doing the mitzvah. Even so, he strove to make his chief intention that of one who obeys harsh speech, a stern command, as though he had no taste or grasp of the mitzvah at all, so that he would do it solely for Hashem's honor.

7aWe find the same with Avraham Avinu's faith. On the verse “And he believed in Hashem, and He reckoned it to him as righteousness,”¹⁰ the Ramban asked why this should be reckoned as righteousness. Everyone is obligated to believe in Hashem. What righteousness or great merit was there in it?

7bWe may answer according to what the holy sefarim explain, among them the Shelah and the Maayan Ganim of the Bnei Yissaschar: there are two paths in faith in Hashem.¹¹ The first is “Know the God of your father and serve Him.”¹² This is simple faith, which comes through the tradition of the fathers without any investigation: simply what we received from our fathers. The second path is higher: “Lift up your eyes on high and see Who created these.”¹³ This is faith that comes through investigation and contemplation. Avraham Avinu reached faith through investigation.¹⁴ Yet he set aside all that he had grasped and all his levels and believed in Hashem with simple faith. That is “And he believed in Hashem, and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.” Hashem counted this very thing as righteousness: although Avraham had a great grasp of faith, he left it all behind and believed in Hashem with simple faith.

8We may say that this is what my holy ancestor of Shidlovtza, R' Nosson Dovid, meant when he said that in Heaven a mitzvah is valued by the thought at its beginning. At the beginning, the thought is simple and pure, without any spiritual grasp, and one's whole intention in doing the mitzvah is only for the honor of Hashem's Name. So even if things go wrong afterward, Heaven still sees that first thought as the main thing, and the good desire at its beginning is accepted with favor before the Master of all. [And Chazal's words “The main thing is not study but deed” refer to one who does not want to fulfill the mitzvah in practice, only to study. But for the fulfillment of the mitzvah itself, its chief importance lies in the pure thought at its beginning. So even if a person was not privileged to carry it out, it has great importance in Heaven.]

9May the Holy One, blessed be He, help us to be privileged to do all the mitzvos wholeheartedly and with simple faith. And may the merit of our holy Rebbes, whose yahrzeit falls today, protect us until the coming of the righteous Redeemer.¹⁵ Amen.