Avraham Who Stitched the World Together

1“Hashem said to Avram: Go forth” [Bereishis 12:1]. The Midrash [Bereishis Rabbah 39:3] opens this parshah with a verse from Shir HaShirim. R' Berachiah¹ began: “We have a little sister, and she has no breasts” [Shir HaShirim 8:8]. “We have a little sister (achos)”: this is Avraham, who stitched together (ichah)² everyone in the world. Bar Kappara says: he was like someone who sews up a tear. “Little”: even while he was young, he was gathering mitzvos and good deeds. “And she has no breasts”: no one nursed him with mitzvos and good deeds.

2aTo understand this Midrash, we start with the verse “The heavens are Hashem's heavens, but the earth He gave to mankind” (Tehillim 115:16). Hashem gave the earth to people so that they would raise it to the level of heaven, and bring into it Hashem's presence, His lasting reality and His holiness. Hashem created man “to work the ground,” which also means to serve Him with the ground, using earthly things. As the Torah says, man was placed in Eden “to work it and to guard it” (Bereishis 2:15), and Chazal and the Zohar (cf. I:27a)³ explain: “to work it” with the 248 positive commandments, “to guard it” with the 365 prohibitions. So when a person keeps the mitzvos that depend on the land, leaving gleanings, forgotten sheaves and the corner of the field for the poor, and the rest of the ten agricultural gifts, he raises the earthly and the physical up to heaven.

2bBut in the first “two thousand years of tohu” [Avodah Zarah 9a], the world was still what is called the World of Tohu, a world of chaos, before its tikkun, its repair. Chazal describe that stage as Hashem “creating worlds and destroying them, saying: these please Me, those do not please Me” (Bereishis Rabbah 9:2). In those years there was no one who served the Creator with the ground and with physical things, or who taught his generation to do so. This is the meaning of “and there was no man to work the ground” (Bereishis 2:5): no one to serve Hashem through the earth. As the Midrash explains (Bereishis Rabbah 13:1), there was no one to bring the world to serve Hashem the way Eliyahu HaNavi and Choni HaMe'agel did. Eliyahu declared, “As Hashem, the God of Israel, lives … there will be no dew or rain these years except by my word” (Melachim I 17:1). In this way he taught the Jewish people and sanctified Hashem's Name through earthly matters. Choni drew a circle, stood inside it and said, “I swear by Your great Name that I will not move from here until You have mercy on Your children” (Ta'anis 23a). He too sanctified Hashem's Name before all Israel. He showed that one can serve Hashem with physical things as well: that earthly things are needed for His service, and that He can be served through them.

2cThe Midrash continues: “‘There was no man to work the ground.’ Man was created only to toil; if he is worthy, he toils in Torah.” Toiling in Torah means working hard at learning until one's soul delights⁴ in what is truly essential and spiritual. Through the holiness of the Torah he can then lift simple people up, connect them to our Father in Heaven, and turn their hearts to His service. In the two thousand years of tohu, before the light of the Torah shone in the world, no one could do this work of raising people up to Hashem. But the two thousand years of Torah began in the days of Avraham Avinu. Chazal count them from “the souls they made in Charan” [Bereishis 12:5] (Avodah Zarah 9a). Avraham brought converts under the wings of the Shechinah, drew close those who were far, and purified them for our Father in Heaven. He did it as Chazal describe: “Great is a shared meal, for it draws close those who are far” (Sanhedrin 103b). A “far one” means someone who was once close and drifted away from our Father in Heaven through his sins. Chazal read the verse “Peace, peace to the far and to the near” [Yeshayahu 57:19] as speaking of one who was far and has come close (Sanhedrin 99a; Berachos 34b; Vayikra Rabbah, Metzora). Through a tzaddik's table, and the meals of Shabbos and Yom Tov, a person can come close again to his root, our Father in Heaven.

3aThis is what the Midrash says on “the souls they made in Charan” (Bereishis Rabbah 39:14). R' Elazar ben Zimra said: “If everyone in the world joined together to create a single gnat, they could not put a soul into it. Yet the verse says ‘the souls they made’! This teaches that whoever brings a gentile close and converts him is considered as if he created him.” Avraham brought close those who were far and showed them “the way they should walk” [cf. Shemos 18:20]: the way of Hashem. And this is the heart of toiling in Torah: sharing it with others and so bringing them to Hashem's service, so that they too will know “that Hashem is God in the heavens above and on the earth below; there is no other” [Devarim 4:39]. Chazal ask about the verse “She opens her mouth with wisdom, and a Torah of kindness is on her tongue” [Mishlei 31:26]: “Is there a Torah of kindness and a Torah that is not of kindness? Some say: Torah learned in order to teach it, that is a Torah of kindness” (Sukkah 49b). Hashem created the world out of kindness, to do good to others. So too, a person should share Hashem's Torah with anyone who wants to hear it and learn His ways. That is how the glory of Heaven grows, and how one “makes the Torah great and glorious” [cf. Yeshayahu 42:21].

3bBut someone who wants to be the one tzaddik or the one great scholar of his generation shrinks the glory of Heaven, and also damages the attribute of Chochmah, wisdom. Chazal read the verse “A sword upon the baddim, and they shall become foolish” [Yirmiyahu 50:36] as referring to talmidei chachamim who study bad b'vad, each on his own, “and not only that, but they become foolish” (Makkos 10a; Berachos 63b). These are the scholars who sit off in the corners of the beis midrash, wanting to stand alone in the world. That is the opposite of what Hashem intended in giving the Torah. This is what “studying alone” means: even if such a person learns together with others, he is still alone. And why do they “become foolish”? Because “the Torah comes from Chochmah” (Zohar, Yisro). The word chochmah can be read as ko'ach mah, “the power of ‘what am I?’” And as is known, Chochmah flows into Binah, the “mother”; its nature is to give to another. That is Hashem's will for the Torah: that it be taught to the Jewish people. So when scholars learn alone, only for themselves, they damage the higher Chochmah and become fools, Heaven help us.

3cIf, however, a person reflects that his intellect and wisdom are ko'ach mah, that they come from Hashem, as we say in Shemoneh Esrei, “You graciously give man knowledge,” then he will “teach knowledge and explain what he has heard” [cf. Yeshayahu 28:9] to everyone who longs to hear. He understands that Hashem gave him understanding so that he would pass it on to others, “to teach the sons of Yehudah the bow” [Shmuel II 1:18]. For “the world is built on kindness” [Tehillim 89:3], and Avraham's defining trait, as is known, was kindness. He shared Hashem's Torah with everyone. He made known to the world that there is One, unique and alone, who created the world, brings all things into being and is the Cause of all causes, and he brought people under the wings of the Shechinah.

4This is what the Midrash says (Bereishis Rabbah 49:4): “Avraham used to welcome travelers. After they had eaten and drunk, he would say to them, ‘Bless!’ They asked, ‘What should we say?’ He told them, ‘Blessed is the God of the world, whose food we have eaten.’” Through food and his meals, Avraham brought people close to Hashem. He showed them how to “eat bread before Hashem” [cf. Shemos 18:12]: how to make their food holy and pure, and to serve the Creator through eating. This is the secret of the Torah: through learning Torah, a person becomes able to serve Hashem with physical things, as we explained above.

5aThis is also what the Midrash says (Shemos Rabbah 28:1) on “You ascended on high, you took captives” [Tehillim 68:19]: “When Moshe Rabbeinu went up on high, the ministering angels wanted to harm him. The Holy One, blessed be He, made Moshe's features resemble Avraham's and said to them: ‘Aren't you ashamed before him? Isn't this the one you visited, in whose house you ate?’” In other words, Hashem was telling the angels: You were his guests. You saw with your own eyes that he knew the secret of the Torah, how to bind every earthly thing to Hashem through the Torah. He refined the physical side of his body and ate in holiness and purity, until his food was like “the bread of the mighty” [Tehillim 78:25], the manna. So you understood then that he is the right one to teach the people the knowledge of Hashem and His Torah, because he understands what I intended and wanted in giving the Torah: that it be learned and taught.

5bNow we can understand the Midrash we began with: “‘We have a little sister’: this is Avraham, who stitched together everyone in the world.” Through the power of his righteousness and holiness, Avraham lifted up those who were far, connected them and brought them close to our Father in Heaven, and planted a fierce love for Hashem in their hearts. This is what our parshah says: “Blessed is Avram to God Most High, Koneh of heaven and earth⁵” [Bereishis 14:19]. Chazal explain that Avraham made heaven and earth the possession of the Holy One, blessed be He (cf. Bereishis Rabbah 43:7)⁶. He took lowly, earthly things and raised them up, making them belong to Heaven. He also raised simple people to Hashem's service, for Chazal say that the Jewish people are called “land,” as in “you will be a land of delight” (Malachi 3:12). He drew Jewish souls close, under the wings of the Shechinah.

6a“Bar Kappara said: like someone who sews up a tear.” This is as I heard from the holy mouth of the Rebbe of Biala⁷, zt"l. The Kabbalistic books teach that the World of Tohu is made of separate points, none connected to the next, while the World of Tikkun is a single continuous whole⁸. And he said, in his holy words, roughly this: Although these are great and lofty secrets, every Jew can learn from them how to serve Hashem. He should make sure he belongs to the World of Tikkun, one connected piece, and not, Heaven forbid, to the World of Tohu, scattered points with nothing joining them. Those were his words.

6bThis is the meaning of Chazal's statement that the two thousand years of Torah began with “the souls they made in Charan” (Avodah Zarah 9a). People began to join with one another, binding together and uniting to serve Hashem “with one shoulder”⁹ [Tzefaniah 3:9], and that is how the era of Torah began. For it is through the Torah that the world is repaired. The repair is completed by Hashem's goodness, everything is set right through the Torah, and the Torah completes the World of Tikkun. So each person must join with his fellow in love, brotherhood and friendship. Together they should surrender all their hearts to Hashem and serve Him out of great love. No one should seek honor at the expense of another's shame. On the contrary, his fellow should be dear in his eyes. That is how the world is repaired, and that is why it is called the World of Tikkun.

6cThis unity was the preparation for receiving the Torah. As Chazal say (Vayikra Rabbah 9:9): “When they came to Mount Sinai, they all became one camp. The Holy One, blessed be He, said: Now is the time to give the Torah to My children, as it says, ‘Israel encamped (vayichan)¹⁰ there opposite the mountain’ [Shemos 19:2].” The elder Rebbe, R' Yitzchak of Vurka, zt"l, explained that each person found favor (chein) in the eyes of his fellow, and that is what made them worthy of receiving the Torah. And this is what the Midrash means when it says Avraham “sewed up the tear.” He repaired the World of Tohu, the world of separate points with gaps between them. He taught people to unite with one another, to unite earth with heaven, and to know that there is One, unique and alone, as Hashem wants in the World of Tikkun.

7“Little: even while he was young, he was gathering mitzvos and good deeds.” That is, even as he gathered mitzvos and good deeds, Avraham knew how small he was. He knew that all his righteousness and good deeds were nothing compared to Hashem's greatness. It was the strength of his holiness that let him say, “I am dust and ashes” [Bereishis 18:27]. As it says, “Hashem is exalted, yet He sees the lowly” (Tehillim 138:6). The more a person sees his own lowliness, the more he grasps Hashem's greatness, and that in turn shows him his lowliness even more, as the Rambam writes (Hilchos Yesodei HaTorah 2:2).

8“And she has no breasts: no one nursed him with mitzvos and good deeds.” A child born to a tzaddik, conceived and born in holiness and purity, is helped by his parents' righteousness to serve Hashem and do mitzvos and good deeds, even before he understands how precious they are or what Hashem wants. But Avraham was “pure from impure.” As the Midrash says (Bamidbar Rabbah 19:1), “‘Who can bring the pure out of the impure? Is it not the One?’ [Iyov 14:4]: this is Avraham.” He had no one in his family to nurse him and help him serve Hashem. That is what “no one nursed him with mitzvos and good deeds” means: he drew no holiness from his ancestors. There is more. The son of a talmid chacham humbles himself and does not boast at all, because he knows that what he has comes from his fathers. But when an unlearned man has a son who becomes a scholar, the son grows proud, boasts and makes noise, as Chazal say: “A single coin in a jar rattles loudly” (Bava Metzia 85b). Yet Avraham, though he was the son of Terach, reached great humility. With all his righteousness and holiness, he said, “I am dust and ashes.”

9aThe next verse says, “If she is a wall, we will build upon her” [Shir HaShirim 8:9], and the Midrash explains: “If he stands firm like a wall, we will build upon him” [Bereishis Rabbah 39:3]. That is, Hashem asked Avraham what would become of his children: had he made the light of emunah shine for the generations to come, so that they would endure through their faith? For faith is strong as a wall. As we say in the morning prayers, it is “true and faithful, a law that will not pass away.” A person's faith holds him upright like an iron pillar that does not give way. Every Jew must believe in Hashem with simple, complete faith. He should not be like those who probed the empty words of philosophy and so fell into the yetzer hara's net and into heresy, Heaven help us. One should not even try to investigate Hashem's ways, for “Can you find God by searching? … Its measure is longer than the earth and wider than the sea” (Iyov 11:7, 9).

9bThis is especially true in our times, a time of such great darkness, when “Israel is brought very low” [Shoftim 6:6]. Many Jews have fallen into the net of the yetzer hara, and many Jewish homes have been led astray by heresy, Heaven help us. At a time like this it is not right to seek lofty spiritual insights. The counsel is emunah: to believe with simple, complete faith. And who is greater for us than the holy Ba'al Shem Tov? Before his passing he said, “I set aside all the insights I have attained. I am a simple man and know nothing. I only believe.” As David HaMelech said, “and Your faithfulness in the nights” (Tehillim 92:3): in the darkness of night, the remedy is to believe with simple, complete faith. Then a person will not stumble into the net of the yetzer hara, which fights him with its arguments and raises hard questions about Hashem's ways. He knows his own low state, that he knows nothing at all, only that he believes with simple faith that the Creator is One and unique. That is what the Midrash says on “Then I was in His eyes as one who finds peace” [Shir HaShirim 8:10]: “He went in in peace and came out in peace.”¹¹ Through faith, which is a wall, he will not be tripped up by the yetzer hara's schemes. He goes in in peace and comes out in peace.

10aThis explains the words of the Shabbos zemer [Kol Mekadesh Shevi'i]: “Gladden them with a complete building.” Faith is a complete building, for it is “a law that will not pass away.” Shabbos stands for faith, and keeping Shabbos brings a person to faith. That is why the Shabbos meals are called “the meals of faith” [cf. Zohar II:88a]: through them we gain faith. So through Shabbos, “gladden them with a complete building,” which is faith. The song continues, “In the light of Your face make them shine.” Through the faith with which they believe in the nights, they will merit the light of Your face. You will light up their eyes with the light of the Torah. They will grasp its insights and secrets and see Hashem's kindness with open eyes, “like the light of morning when the sun rises” (Shmuel II 23:4). As it says, “To tell of Your kindness in the morning, and Your faithfulness in the nights” [Tehillim 92:3]: in the merit of believing in the nights, they will merit to tell of Hashem's kindness when morning comes.

10b“The light of Your face” is faith, as Rashi explains “fullness of joy with Your face” (Rashi on Tehillim 16:11)¹²: “with the company that is close to You.”¹³ This fits the verse “Cloud and thick darkness surround Him” (Tehillim 97:2), and what the holy books explain on “and Your faithfulness surrounds You” (Tehillim 89:9): faith surrounds the Creator, as it were, and draws Him in toward the person who believes. And that is the “cloud and thick darkness” around Him. When a person reaches higher and higher levels, it seems to him as if his light has gone dark and he sees nothing at all. As the Zohar says, “That light is darkness compared to the higher light.” So the closer one comes to Hashem, the more one needs faith. Sefer Yetzirah says, “If your heart runs ahead, return to the One” [cf. Sefer Yetzirah 1:8], that is, to simple faith. Through faith, Hashem as it were narrows Himself down to reach the person; faith surrounds, as it were, the infinite light. That is “the company that is close to You”: the closer one is to Hashem, the more one needs faith. And that is “the light of Your face,” which is faith. In the merit of their strong faith, You will “make them shine” and light up all their darkness, as it says, “Though I sit in darkness, Hashem is my light” (Michah 7:8). By the power of our faith in the nights, may we soon merit the light of Hashem, amen.