Walking with Hashem: Avraham's Path of Love

1The Midrash Tanchuma [Lech Lecha 1] opens on “Hashem said to Avram: Lech lecha, go forth” [Bereishis 12:1]: “Let our master teach us: may a Jew accept the Kingship of Heaven upon himself [that is, recite the Shema] while he is walking? R' A. and R' H. said in the name of R' Y. son of R' Sh.¹: It is forbidden to accept the Kingship of Heaven while walking. He should stand in one place and turn his heart to Heaven with dread and awe, with trembling and quaking, as he declares Hashem's oneness. He should say ‘Shema Yisrael…’ [Devarim 6:4], each word with full intention² of the heart, and then ‘Blessed is the Name of His glorious Kingdom forever and ever.’ Once he begins ‘V'ahavta,’ ‘You shall love…’ [Devarim 6:5], he may walk, stand or sit, as he wishes, for it is written, ‘when you sit in your house and when you walk on the way, when you lie down and when you rise up’ [Devarim 6:7].”

2At first glance, it is hard to see how these things connect. What does this halachah have to do with Parshas Lech Lecha? Moreover, the Midrash seems to go against the ruling of the Behag (Ba'al Halachos Gedolos) and the Ra'avad (see Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 63), who hold that one must stand until the words “al levavecha,” “upon your heart” [Devarim 6:6]³. Still, it is possible to say that there is no real disagreement.

3aThe idea follows a teaching of Chazal (Berachos 54a)⁴ on the verse “…which I command you this day, upon your heart” [Devarim 6:6]. On “with all your heart”⁵ they teach: “with both your inclinations, the yetzer tov and the yetzer hara.” The yetzer tov and the yetzer hara stand for reward and punishment, since they are what bring them about. But someone who truly serves Hashem should not do the mitzvos out of fear of punishment, nor to receive a reward. What should loom largest in his mind, above all else, is that he has the privilege of fulfilling the word of Hashem's own mouth. As David HaMelech said, “I have not turned away from Your judgments, for You have instructed me” (Tehillim 119:102): because I knew Who it was that commanded, I did not turn away from Your judgments. What reward could be greater than this: to realize that one is privileged to come close to “the light of the face of the living King” [cf. Mishlei 16:15]? As the verse says, “From the heavens I spoke with you” (Shemos 20:19). Take this to heart. Hashem passed over all the hosts of heaven, all the angels, seraphim, chayos and holy ofanim, and did not want their service. Instead, “I spoke with you”: He chose the service of “those who dwell in houses of clay” [Iyov 4:19], human beings. Surely this will set a person's soul aflame with fierce love, with an intense longing and desire to do Hashem's mitzvos, even with no reward at all.

3bThis is the meaning of “which I command you this day”: the delight of doing a mitzvah while knowing that it is I, Anochi, Who command you will rise above both the delight of receiving a reward and the fear of punishment. And when a holy person has reached this level, even if his great fervor keeps him from carrying out the mitzvah in every detail the halachah requires, it will still be accepted, valid and pleasing to Hashem. As Chazal said, “His skipping over me is love”⁶ [cf. Shir HaShirim Rabbah 2:4].

4aThis explains the Midrash we began with. At first a person must work hard, with a great deal of avodah, until he reaches yichud Hashem, the unification of Hashem's Name: everything he does and every move he makes is “for Hashem alone” [cf. Shemos 22:19], with a united heart and united deeds. When he rises further and reaches this, he arrives at genuine love of Hashem, where he loves nothing but Him. That is what the Midrash means: once he reaches “V'ahavta,” the level of loving Hashem, “he may walk, stand or sit, as he wishes,” because then everything he does comes only from love of Hashem. And because the awe of Him is always before his face [cf. Shemos 20:17], he cannot rest or keep still or stay in one place. The Rambam describes the prophets in a similar way⁷: at the moment of prophecy a prophet was like a man beside himself. That is, he was in a state of complete self-nullification, and he no longer sensed himself, his own being or his movements. So a person who is always in this state cannot be told that he must stand or sit, since at such times he is not in control of himself. But “not every mind can bear this,” and “not everyone who wishes to take the name may take it” [Mishnah Berachos 2:8]; people of such a high level are few [Sukkah 45b]. For everyone else, the Behag and the Ra'avad ruled that one must stand until “al levavecha” and direct his heart to the unification of Hashem's Name.

4bAvraham Avinu truly stood on this level, the level of one who loves Hashem, as it says, “Avraham, who loves Me” (Yeshayahu 41:8). All his limbs were sanctified like the Sanctuary itself, a throne for the Shechinah to rest upon, and they did nothing but the will of the Creator. As Chazal say (Yerushalmi Sotah 5:5), “Avraham Avinu made good out of bad”: he took all the bad traits in a person and brought them into holiness. He trained himself and his limbs never to make even the slightest movement that was not the Creator's will; everything was done in holiness and purity. This is the meaning of “Avraham was one” (Yechezkel 33:24), as we explained at length above (maamar 3). So all his speech, his walking and his sitting were entirely the will of Hashem, because his own will and senses were nullified before Hashem's will. And this is the connection between this halachah and our parshah. Hashem told him, “Lech lecha,” which Chazal read as “for your benefit and for your good” (Rashi on Bereishis 12:1). For whatever would be for Avraham's benefit and good would itself be entirely for the sake of uniting the Holy One, blessed be He, and His Shechinah, on the level of one who loves Hashem.

5aThis also answers the holy Ramban's complaint against Avraham: how could he leave Eretz Yisrael for outside the Land (Ramban on Bereishis 12:10)? First, he was never told explicitly to go to Eretz Yisrael, only “to the land that I will show you” [Bereishis 12:1]. But beyond that, everything he did and everywhere he went was entirely for the sake of uniting the Holy One, blessed be He, and His Shechinah, and to bring Him satisfaction. As Chazal said [cf. Tanchuma Lech Lecha 9], the Holy One, blessed be He, told Avraham, “Go out and pave the way for your children.” So the Midrash says (Bereishis Rabbah 44:16) on “The birds of prey came down upon the carcasses” [Bereishis 15:11]: “R' A. said: Avraham took a stick and struck at them, but they would not be beaten off. Even so, ‘Avram drove them away (vayashev)’: he brought them back through teshuvah⁸. R' A. said: When your children⁹ become like carcasses without sinews or bones, your merit will stand for them.”

5bThe explanation is this. Hashem sends a person suffering so that he will return and improve his ways; that is the stick Avraham struck at them with. As the verse says, “Hashem desired to crush him with sickness” [Yeshayahu 53:10], as Chazal expound it (Berachos 5a)¹⁰. But this works only for a person of understanding, who through his sufferings takes to heart what they are, why they came upon him and what they are meant to achieve, and then “he will return to Hashem, and He will have mercy on him” [Yeshayahu 55:7]. If the person is a fool who does not feel the suffering at all and is not stirred by it to teshuvah, what good will more suffering do him? For such people Avraham brought about another way: to bring them back to teshuvah through the good that Hashem would shower upon them. That is “vayashev osam,” “he brought them back,” in the sense of “Through returning (shuvah) and rest you shall be saved” (Yeshayahu 30:15): their salvation would come through goodness and calm. And that is the meaning of “when your children become like carcasses without sinews or bones.” It hints at a time when, Heaven forbid, they will have transgressed the 365 prohibitions, matching the number of sinews, and the 248 positive commandments, matching the number of limbs [cf. Makkos 23b]. Even then, “your merit will stand for them,” so that they will be saved through “returning and rest.”

6This is what the poet means in the Motzaei Shabbos zemer [B'motza'ei Yom Menuchah]: “Lead Your people like a merciful father.” We see ourselves in this long exile, surrounded by troubles on every side, some of us plundered, some taken captive, some beaten, and still we have not turned back from our mistakes. So what is gained by the sufferings with which Hashem chastises us? Far better to follow Avraham's counsel described above. That is the meaning of “Lead Your people” in the way counseled by the “merciful father,” Avraham Avinu. And should You object that if You shower us with good, we will claim it comes to us because of our good deeds, and will not understand that the Creator gives it so that we will learn to return and improve our ways, we answer with confidence, in the words of the zemer: “The people that is not widowed will sing out¹¹ the faithful word of Hashem, when You fulfill the promise.” That is, we will declare that this good is not because we deserve it, but because Hashem is keeping the promise He made to Avraham: to lead us by bestowing good, so that we will return to Him in truth.