FOR VAYEIRA
SEEKING A GREAT DEAL
Recently I met with a long-time friend. This person had lately undergone a more scrupulous commitment to the Jewish duties and requirements. The intention was for life to be more spiritual through better connection to the Almighty, the Divine Author of the Torah and all those duties.
Since that time, the friend confided, things have taken a non-positive turn. The person has struggled in various areas in life. We entered a discussion regarding “benefits” and “expectations” people have when making commitments to be more conscientious and committed to Heaven.
When people try to “cut a deal” with our Father in Heaven, it comes in different versions. Some are eager to be extricated from a crisis: “I will donate to charity in exchange for passing the state exam.” The commitment here is based on an immediate gain. This commitment will, by and large, not last past the initial time.
Others will be a little more diplomatic, attempting to negotiate a longer term deal: “I will attend services for the next month in exchange for that business deal to go through.” Here, a longer commitment is promised, and it is possible that this commitment could continue on further. Many years ago, I made a bet with a Bar Mitzvah boy over a baseball statistic. Knowing I would be right, I offered him a Game Boy of his choice if I were proven wrong. If he would be wrong, he would have to commit to coming to services every Saturday for the year. It turned out that he really loved the services and the food that followed, and he ended up attending services for a few years, and becoming a committed Jew…
Some may not really have any “deal” to negotiate. It may be High Holidays time, or perhaps due to a deep realization of needing a better path, or one may be in need of patching up some circumstances. This person will undertake a project, a course, to become more vigilant in one or more areas of life, without expectations of a special package of reward.
At the same time, my friend was not expecting what seemed to be a defective package.
Having neither been selected as G-d’s spokesman, nor claiming more knowledge in these matters than anyone else, I do not know why my friend is experiencing these difficulties. Since we met this week, during the portion of “Vayeira,” it was best to point to the opening words of this week’s portion for direction in this matter.
The portion opens in continuation of the previous portion, which ended by describing how the patriarch Abraham, at the age of ninety-nine, had circumcised himself together with all the males in his family. In this context, “G-d appeared to Abraham in the plains of Mamre, while he was sitting at the entrance of his tent, in the heat of the day.” (B’raishis (Genesis) 18:1.)
No record of any instructions or a discussion between G-d and Abraham is found in the Torah. The Talmudic Sages deduce from here that this was a “Get Well” visit by the Almighty to Abraham, who had been suffering the pain of the circumcision. This would explain why the Torah emphasizes that this happened “in the heat of the day”: The heat was deliberately exaggerated for the benefit of keeping people off the streets, and out of Abraham’s kind sight, who, despite the pain, was actively seeking to host guests.
The Talmud adds another detail to this story: This visit occurred not on the day of Abraham’s circumcision, but rather on the third day after the circumcision, the most painful of days. This detail is based on a fact the Torah states later in the book (34:25) regarding people who were circumcised: “On the third day, when they were in pain.”
The pain of the third day occupies the entire person (not merely the tender circumcised area), rendering him a “Choleh,” one in need of a recovery. Hence, Abraham was visited by the Almighty on the third day, when his pain made him eligible for such a visit. Abraham would not have to wait for the third day to end. Shortly after the Divine appearance, he was healed.
According to the above, the obvious question is raised: Why couldn’t the Almighty visit Abraham on the first day and put him out of his misery immediately? Was it really necessary to wait until the pain had spread throughout his body?
The answer is that the definitive connection humans are to forge with the Almighty is about the natural process. Miracles and changing nature are all gifts from Heaven. They appear when necessary. Ultimately, it is about penetrating the nature of the world.
By way of illustration: Rabbi Schneur Zalman, the founding Rebbe of Chabad, was arrested in Czarist Russia in the year 1798, and taken to the jail in the capital, S. Petersburg. These were trumped up charges, based primarily on his support of Israel, at the time under the Ottoman Empire, enemies of Russia. The Rebbe would be released after a few weeks. In the meantime, one evening the Rebbe was being transported by boat from the island upon which he was being held to the mainland. The Rebbe looked up to the skies and noticed the moon. A short prayer is recited once a month, blessing G-d for the moon. The Rebbe requested the driver to halt the boat for a few minutes, to give him time to recite the prayers. When the driver refused, the boat stopped automatically, miraculously. The boat then continued, and the Rebbe repeated his request. This time, the boat driver respected the request of the Rebbe to stop it for the prayer.
The Rebbe refused to benefit from the miracle. He insisted the boat be stopped through natural causes. For ultimately, serving the Almighty is about permeating the physical world through action of mankind. And this, too, is the reason Abraham was not healed on the first day after his circumcision. This bond, the “Bris,” he had forged with the Almighty was to penetrate not merely his spiritual connection with the Almighty, but even his physical body. The pain Abraham endured, as well any boy since then, is to be able to bring the sublime Divinity onto his own skin, right into nature.
This was the message my friend and I learned from the Torah portion: A person assuming greater spiritual responsibility is seeking not merely a connection with the supernatural, but it is primarily about connecting the supernatural with the natural; with the earth. As with Abraham, as well as with the Rebbe, the process had to be natural. Similarly, a deeper connection between Heaven and earth can potentially cause a shakeup on earth.
The goal is, however, to hang in there. Eventually, nothing abysmal can happen as a result of a deeper connection with the Almighty. Sooner or later, the obvious and recognizable good will surely appear.
SUMMARY:Permeating the physical world through action of mankind is the ultimate way to serve the Almighty.