Parshat Lech-Lecha

If we contemplate all the ten difficult and existential trials that Avraham Avinu passed, standing through all of them with courage and mighty strength, let us try to understand: from where did Avraham Avinu have these strengths, and what was his secret to passing these difficult trials? Perhaps we can explain and state a great fundamental principle. The Holy Torah tells us (Devarim 21:10): "When you go out to war against your enemies." It would have been more accurate to say, "When you come to war against your enemy," or "When you have a war with your enemy." What is the meaning of "When you go out to war against your enemies"?

Rather, we must explain and state a great principle: every person goes through ten trials, and every trial is a different trial. People enter from one trial to another trial, and they think that with the same tools with which they passed and conquered the previous trial, they will conquer the second trial. For example, when the Holy One, blessed be He (G-d), said to Avraham Avinu, "Go forth from your land, and from your birthplace, and from your father's house," the trial was to leave the family and the home and go to another place. That is a trial that requires tools of a specific kind. The next trial of Avraham Avinu was to settle in the Land of Israel, and for that one needs different tools.

In every trial, the strengths of the soul and the boldness needed to cope with it are different. Most of the world, when coping with a trial, build for themselves tools for how to cope with the trial. And when the trial ends and they enter another trial, they come with the same tools that conquered the previous trial and try with those same tools to conquer the second trial. But there they fail and there they fall! Because in every trial, the strengths of the soul, the thought, the trust, and the perspective of a person on life must change from one extreme to the other.

A person who wants to take from the previous trial the soul-strengths that he built in the previous trial and cope with the new trial will certainly fail in that trial. Therefore, a person must always look at life in a renewed way — constantly looking at the trials and struggles of life in a renewed manner, and not saying, "What I conquered yesterday, I will conquer today; what I thought yesterday is what will help me for the thoughts of today." "When you go out to war" — every day is a new going out to war. Avraham Avinu, in his ten trials, coped every day with new trials, with a new vision and a new thought. Whoever looks at life this way will certainly conquer the trials. But whoever looks every day at the strengths he already has, and with those same strengths tries to walk and continue in life into the new struggles, will certainly fail and will not succeed, and nothing will come into his hand. This was the secret by which Avraham Avinu, through his strength, passed the ten trials and conquered them.

"And I Will Make Your Name Great": Restoring Deducted Merits

In this week's Parsha, G-d says to Avraham Avinu: "Go forth from your land, and from your birthplace, and from your father's house, to the land that I will show you." And G-d promises Avraham Avinu: here you will not have children, here you will not have a livelihood; however, "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you" — wherever you go, I will give you children and I will give you a livelihood. And G-d promises another thing to Avraham Avinu: "And I will make your name great" — that his name will be great throughout the entire world. We must ask a strong question: Avraham Avinu is the holiest of the holy; what does he care if his name is great or his name is small? What does it give him that people think about him and speak well of him? If so, what is the promise that G-d promised him, "And I will make your name great"?

Rather, we can explain and state a great principle. Our holy Sages say (Ta'anit 20b): Anyone for whom a miracle is performed has it deducted from his merits. Whoever has something supernatural done for him, it goes onto the account of his merits. In Heaven there is something like a bank: every good deed that a person did, he deposited merits there, and when a miracle is performed for him, it is withdrawn from his merits. If so, Avraham Avinu said: "If I go from there and Hashem gives me a livelihood and children, that is above nature! If so, all my merits will be taken away from me, so what merit will I have in this?" Therefore, G-d says to him: "And I will make your name great" — your name will be famous throughout the whole world, the miracles performed for you will be publicized throughout the whole world, and from the publicity of these miracles, people will be strengthened and will return in repentance to the way of Hashem. And thus, all the merits that were deducted because of the miracle that Avraham would have children and livelihood will return to him from the great name that Avraham will have when people talk and speak all day about the miracles performed for him and draw close and become strengthened.

We see in this week's Parsha that G-d blesses Avraham Avinu and promises him children. Once G-d tells Avraham Avinu that his children will be like the dust of the earth — "And I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth" (Bereishit 13:16) — and a second time G-d tells him that his children will be like the stars — "Look now toward the heavens and count the stars, if you are able to count them; and He said to him, 'So shall your offspring be'" (15:5). Let us come and ask: why is the blessing once like sand and once like stars? Why is there this distinction between sand and stars?

Perhaps we can explain and say: the Gemara relates (Berachot 48a) about two disciples of Rabbah who eventually became great Amoraim, Abaye and Rava, who are the foundations of the Oral Torah. On one of the days when they were studying with Rabbah, Rabbah asked them: "When we study and pray, to Whom do we pray?" They said to him, "To G-d." He asked them, "And where does He sit?" Rava pointed toward the heavens — to the ceiling. Abaye went outside and took Rabbah and pointed for him toward the heavens. Rabbah stood and said: "These two disciples will be great in the nation of Israel, as people say: 'A pumpkin, a pumpkin is recognizable from its blossom' (butzin butzin mikatfיה yedia) — while the gourd is still in the ground, one knows whether the gourd will be good; while a person is still small, one can know whether something great or not great will come out of him."

And the difference between the way of Abaye and the way of Rava is that the way of Rava was to sit in the yeshiva and study Torah, and G-d would build pathways in the hearts of everyone to be strengthened in the merit of the Torah that the person studies in the study hall (Beit Midrash). The way of Abaye was to go outside and bring Jews close and strengthen them, to exert a very great influence upon them. And this is the blessing with which G-d blessed Avraham Avinu: on the one hand, that his offspring would be like dust, like sand, which is in modesty — to study Torah in modesty; on the other hand, that his offspring would be like the stars in the heavens, which is to teach Torah and influence people openly.

In our world, wherever most of the people of "Shuva Yisrael" are, every single one of us is obligated in every place to go and exert the greatest possible influence upon another Jew, to bring him close. This is a time when we are obligated to shine like the way of Abaye in the world, and bring close another Jew and another Jew. As the Gemara says (Berachot 63a), Hillel the Elder says: "At the time of gatherers, scatter; at the time of scatterers, gather" — when there is a time when many are gathered in, scatter yourselves out, and at a time when many are scattered, gather in. At this hour, we must scatter out and bring close and strengthen with all our might. The sufferings we went through were sufferings with a purpose — to reveal and spread the Torah, the path, and the service of Hashem of "Shuva Yisrael," and with this to strengthen another person and another person, for this is the path in which light will dwell.

"And Avram Went as Hashem Had Spoken to Him": The Reward of Yearning

One must know a great principle: when one fulfills a mitzvah, there is no reward for it in This World. The mitzvah is so great and the reward is so great that there is no physical thing that can give a reward for the power of the mitzvah. Therefore, the reward for mitzvot is in the World to Come, except for certain mitzvot whose reward is in This World. If so, for all the mitzvot that a person fulfills, how does he receive reward for them, and how can he live in This World, and from what does he draw the power of success and blessing in This World? Rather, we must explain and say that for the yearning (hishtokekut) of a person to fulfill mitzvot, he receives reward in This World! Or an additional thing: mitzvot that a person is not obligated to fulfill, and the person goes and fulfills those mitzvot — he receives reward for them in This World as well.

And thus is known what the Torah says in this week's Parsha: G-d commands Avraham Avinu to go, and the Torah continues and says, "And Avram went just as Hashem had spoken to him." Surely it is obvious that Avraham Avinu fulfilled this and did the will of Hashem! Why does the Torah tell us that Avraham went? Rather, when G-d told Avraham Avinu to go from his land and his birthplace, Avraham Avinu remained in enthusiasm and strong desire to fulfill the mitzvah until he did it, exactly as Hashem commanded him — with great enthusiasm and warmth, exactly like the first moment that Hashem said to him, "Go forth." So too when G-d commanded Avraham Avinu to perform Brit Milah for Yitzchak: "And Avraham circumcised Yitzchak his son at the age of eight days (ben shmonat yamim)" (Bereishit 21:4). On every single day of the eight days, Avraham Avinu felt the same yearning and enthusiasm as on the first day that G-d commanded him!

And it is known what the Gemara relates (Menachot 44a) about a man who went to sin with a woman who demanded four hundred gold coins, and a moment before the transgression, his four tzitziyot struck him across his face and saved him. Had this been another mitzvah, there is no reward for it in This World to protect him; however, because tzitzit is a mitzvah that a person is not obligated to fulfill unless he wears a four-cornered garment, and he went and fulfilled it, it gave him reward and protection in This World as well. Therefore, the Evil Inclination fights with all its might to cool a person down so he will not perform mitzvot with warmth and enthusiasm, because a mitzvah performed with enthusiasm and warmth has reward for it in This World.

It is written in this week's Parsha: "And Avram was very heavy with cattle, with silver, and with gold" (Bereishit 13:2). We must ask: what is the meaning of the words "very heavy with cattle, with silver, and with gold"? Perhaps we thought to explain and say: always, in the way of the world, when a person has a mitzvah to do, the person is "heavy" (sluggish) until he goes and does the mitzvah. However, when it is in matters of money or in matters of This World, a person runs quickly to earn the money and take his profits.

According to this, we can explain and say: Avraham Avinu, in matters of money and property, in matters of This World, was heavy; however, in matters of mitzvot and good deeds, he was agile and ran quickly, behaving the opposite of most people. People, in matters of mitzvot, until they do them, think deeply about how to do them and why to do them, and do them with heaviness, while in matters of money they run quickly. But Avraham Avinu was the opposite: in matters of money he was heavy, going slowly, slowly until he got up and did something; in spiritual matters of his own soul, he was light, and easily got up and did the things.

And perhaps we can explain another principle according to what Rabbeinu the Vilna Gaon says. The Gemara says (Berachot 6b): When a time is set for prayer in the synagogue, G-d arrives among the first to the minyan. If He sees that there is a minyan, G-d is happy and blesses everyone. But if G-d sees that people did not arrive and there is no minyan, G-d is angry at those who came and at those who did not come. Rabbeinu the Vilna Gaon asks: Granted, toward those who did not come, it is understandable why He would be angry at them; but toward those who did come, why should G-d be angry at them? The Vilna Gaon states a great principle: When a person hears that there is money thrown in the street far from him, immediately he runs quickly to overtake everyone and grab the money. When he runs with great speed and enthusiasm, everyone who sees him running will immediately run after him to understand where and why he is running. If so, G-d is angry at the one who came to the synagogue when there is no minyan, because had he run quickly and with enthusiasm, people would have gone quickly to see where he was running so fast and with such enthusiasm! Just like a person who goes to obtain money with great enthusiasm and speed, so too a person must run to the synagogue and to mitzvot and good deeds.

Even Justified Arguments Cause Chillul Hashem

The Holy Torah tells us in this week's Parsha: "And there was a quarrel between the herdsmen of Avram's cattle and the herdsmen of Lot's cattle; and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelt then in the land" (13:7). Every word in the Torah is exact; why did the Torah need to emphasize "and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelt then in the land"? Rather, we learn here a great principle: sometimes people argue and quarrel even for the sake of Heaven, and everyone is right and the arguments are valid. However, "and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelt then in the land" — there are outsiders on the side who see this quarrel! Because they do not understand, they see this dispute among G-d-fearing people in a synagogue or yeshiva, and it causes a severe desecration of G-d's Name (Chillul Hashem). Therefore, in such situations one must disconnect and distance oneself from one another in order to stop quarreling and prevent Chillul Hashem.

"Behold, to Me You Have Given No Offspring": Guarding the Lips

A person must take great care with his mouth and place this as a great foundation in his life: not to open his mouth to the Satan, for our Sages told us (Moed Katan 18a): "A covenant is made with the lips" — what a person says with his mouth is ultimately what happens to him. In this week's Parsha, Avraham says to G-d, "Behold, to me You have given no offspring, and behold, a member of my household (Eliezer) is inheriting me." And the Torah tells us, "And behold, the word of Hashem came to him, saying (leimor)" — G-d told him not to say this! Because the moment he says that he will not have children and Eliezer will inherit him, it will end up like that. Similarly, King David says (Tehillim 34:7), "This poor man called out, and Hashem heard" — when a man cries out all day that he is poor, G-d hears that he is poor and in the end he remains poor! Rather, he should say to G-d that right now he is lacking a bit, and ask that He open the gates of Heaven for him. As we see in the Gemara with the father of Shmuel (Ketubot 23a) and Pinchas the brother of Shmuel (Moed Katan 18a), and as our master and grandfather Rabbi Meir Abuchatzeira used to say: Do not say a word with your mouth until you think seven times, for the angels hear what a person speaks and say that thus it shall be. Even in a quarrel, one must never curse or open his mouth to the Satan.

Rabbeinu Chaim Pinto was a supreme holy man, and he instilled and imprinted in our holy family the attribute of kindness (chesed). All his life was a life of giving, of self-sacrifice for the sake of others, and he even sacrificed his life for the sake of the community. At the time of Kristallnacht (the Night of Broken Glass) — a night in which accursed gentiles rose up and in a single night desecrated dozens of synagogues and perpetrated one of the greatest pogroms that ever occurred among our people — it is known that on Kristallnacht Rabbeinu Chaim passed away.

Just hours before his passing, he called his son, our master and grandfather Rabbeinu Moshe Aharon Pinto ztzuk"l, brought him into a room in private, stood and said to him: "Know that a difficult period is about to pass over the nation of Israel, in which many pogroms and harsh troubles will come upon our people. Behold, I am healthy in my body, yet I am praying to G-d that He take my soul tonight so that I may arouse mercy in Heaven; and you shall accept upon yourself harsh stringencies (kabbalot kashot), and you shall arouse mercy in This World — just as we found at the time of the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash, when Eliyahu HaNavi went to arouse Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov to arouse Heavenly mercy upon the nation of Israel." And on that very night, in holiness and purity, Rabbeinu Chaim Pinto returned his soul to the Creator of the World.

And it is known that his son, our master and grandfather Rabbeinu Moshe Aharon ztzuk"l, accepted upon himself exceedingly harsh stringencies, and accepted upon himself exile (home confinement) for many years, wearing his weekday clothes throughout all the days of the week, and only on Erev Shabbat would he remove his clothes, put on Shabbat clothes, and wash the clothes with his own hands, along with other harsh practices he accepted upon himself. The day of the passing of Rabbeinu Chaim was a day engraved upon the members of our family and is one of the milestones in the foundations of our holy family.

It is told that about an hour after his passing, an unfamiliar man arrived and requested and demanded the clothes that our master and grandfather was wearing at the time of his passing. The righteous Rebbetzin and the family members stood and objected, saying, "What have you to do with the holy garments?" That man began to weep and plead with them. They told him, "We have a custom from our ancestors in our hands that one does not wear the clothes in which the deceased passed away." That man continued to plead to receive the clothes. The righteous Rebbetzin, who was known for her special righteousness and whose words were heeded and accepted by all, stood and decided to give him the clothes. That man of majestic appearance, who was unknown, put on the clothes, entered one of the rooms, and wept with a most unusual weeping, such that all who heard testified and said that they had never heard such weeping in their lives. When they returned from the funeral, they did not find the man; and when they opened the closet containing the personal belongings of the Tzaddik, they found the clothes folded and placed in the most orderly manner, even though the closet was locked with a lock whose key was in the hands of no person except the hands of the Rebbetzin!

Regarding the attribute of kindness that our master and grandfather engraved in our family, many stories are told. All his pain and worry was: "What is with the poor of the nation of Israel?" In the will that he left, he requested of his family members and commanded the order of the funeral: that whoever wished to touch his bier would have to give charity to the poor; and every few steps, whoever wished to lift his bier would have to donate a specified sum; and to lower his holy body into the grave, he asked that the honor be sold to the highest bidder for charity. And thus went out a funeral the likes of which had never been seen in Morocco — a funeral about which many miracles and exalted things were told, and there are people still alive today who remember things from that great day.

In Asking a Rav There Are Two Matters

An incident is brought regarding the "Chazon Ish": there was a man who had difficulty making decisions, and every decision was very hard for him. That man was meticulous about every matter, even the smallest, to go to the Chazon Ish and ask him what to do and how to do it. And thus for years, on every matter, even the smallest, he would sit for a long time with the Chazon Ish. One day, that man came to the Chazon Ish and began to ask for forgiveness and pardon, saying: "I know that people come to consult with the Rav on matters that stand at the pinnacle of the world — whether to buy an apartment or not, whether to undergo surgery, about shidduchim, etc. — and I come to the Rav with questions that seem the simplest of all, bothering and disturbing the Rav."

The Chazon Ish answered and said to him: "In asking a Rav there are two matters: First, Da'at Torah (Torah guidance) for good or for bad, for the Rav is an emissary of G-d. And the second thing is to settle the person's mind so that he has peace of mind (yishuv hada'at). Since you have difficulty deciding in every matter, and you have confusion of mind and distress, and even the smallest things cause you confusion of mind — if so, in what you ask me, I have fulfilled my life's purpose: to answer and prevent a Jew from bother and confusion of mind." If so, the obligation and the measure is how much influence and distress it has on the person, and not how big or small the person feels the matter is.