I have explained the deeper meaning of this commandment elsewhere at length. However, we cannot simply pass by this opportunity to comment on such an important commandment and some of the secrets contained in that מצוה. This is especially so in view of the Torah relating the fulfillment of this commandment to Israel's possessing the Holy Land, seeing that G–d said to Abraham: "I shall give to you and to your descendants after you the land in which you sojourn, the whole of the land of Canaan as an everlasting possession; I shall be their G–d" (Genesis 17,8). Our sages comment that G–d told Abraham: "If your offspring will observe the commandment of circumcision they will enter the Holy Land; if not, they will not enter." (Compare Rashi on Joshua 5,4) We observe that the land of Israel is closely tied up with the rite of circumcision, the relevant verse in Scriptures (Deut. 32,9) being כי חלק ה' עמו, יעקב חבל נחלתו, "For the Lord's portion is His people, Jacob His own allotment (the "allotment" being the land of Israel).

G–d chose us from all the other seventy nations to be our G–d, and chose us to be His people. He gave the other seventy nations their respective languages and countries, all under the supervision of seventy representatives at the Celestial Court. Our tongue, however, is a holy tongue. To us He gave the Holy Land, a land that is supervised by G–d directly and not through one of His agents. This land is situated "opposite" its counterpart in the Heavenly Spheres. We cannot lay a claim to this land except through removal of the foreskin, which represents the קליפה, the symbol of the serpent's pollution, the influence of the סטרא אחרא. If Jews should fail to observe this commandment, G–d forbid, then this would be something shameful for the land, i.e. ערות הארץ, since all students of Kabbalah are aware that the ארץ ישראל in the Heavenly Regions, i.e. the emanations of יסוד ומלכות symbolise the secret of the relationship between Zion and Jerusalem on earth. They are surrounded by קליפות, known also as ערלים, uncircumcised people, seeing that Mount Zion and Mount Moriah are surrounded by the mountains of Esau and his offspring Amalek. As long as Isaac had been alive, Esau's descendants observed the מצוה of circumcision, but as soon as Isaac died they abandoned it (Tanna deBey Eliyahu chapter 24).

All the wicked people surround Jerusalem, as is written: כל גויים סבבוני, "All the Gentile nations surround me" (Psalms 118,10). Jerusalem can be compared to the "lily amongst the thorns," Solomon's description of Israel in Song of Songs 2,2. Because terrestrial Jerusalem is surrounded by such secular turbulence, the ערלה in the emanation יסוד has to be removed as a first step so that the covenant called ברית המעור, the mystical root "סוד" of the emanation יסוד can be revealed and the עטרה be laid bare.

This is the secret of the relationship between מילה, removal of the foreskin and פריעה, the splitting and pulling down of the thin membrane beneath the foreskin (which is part of the operation, and without which the rite of circumcision is halachically invalid). Once this has been accomplished the form will resemble its Creator, and man will emerge in the image of G–d. We have discussed elsewhere how different parts of the human body correspond to different regions of the ספירות, emanations. Just as there can be no peace and harmony in the Heavenly Regions until the power of the emanation מלכות has been revealed as the ultimate objective G–d had in mind when He started the creative processes, so man on earth is not "complete" until his member has been revealed minus the foreskin and the membrane underneath it. This is what the sages had in mind when they said מל ולא פרע כאלו לא מל, "If someone removed his foreskin and failed to split that membrane, he might as well not have removed the foreskin at all" (Shabbat 137). Similarly in the case of a Sotah, (a woman who has to disprove accusations of marital infidelity), the Torah demands that the hair of her head be loosened and thereby prominently displayed to indicate that she had committed a violation of religious norms (Numbers 5,18). [It is considered an act of ערוה, unchastity, for a married Jewish woman to thus display her hair. Ed.]

We read in the Sefer Habahir, that the reason the Torah commands circumcision to be performed on the eighth day of the infant's life is that man possesses eight extremities, i.e. his right and left hand, the right and left foot, the head, the body, the male member and its mate, since the Torah describes man as "ודבק אשתו והיו לבשר אחד, "he cleaves to his wife so that they become one flesh” (Genesis 2,24). When G–d said to Abraham: אני הנני בריתי אתך, "I, here My covenant is with you," this is a reference to the fact that the שכינה is known as Ani, and that the heavenly covenant is symbolized on the body by a ציון, a mark. Once the male glans is uncovered, this enables the שכינה to return to ציון, Zion, and man on earth remains whole, retains the image of G–d. When that condition exists, all his 248 limbs are whole, and this is what the name 248=אברהם represents. When in that condition, Abraham is able to enter the Zion on this earth. We can then be a nation on our own land for the imprint of G–d is on our bodies. This seal signifies that we are permanently different and distinct from the other nations and are indeed part of the holiness of G–d.

This consideration explains what our sages had in mind when they interpreted the words בעצם היום הזה נמול אברהם, "Abraham was circumcised on that very day" (17,26), to mean that if he had circumcised himself at night the other nations would have said: "we would have prevented you from doing this had we known about it" (Bereshit Rabbah 47,9). We must ask ourselves the question why the Gentile nations should have objected to this commandment more than to any other. Clearly, the reason is that performance of that very act drew a clear distinction between Abraham (and later the Jewish people) and the remainder of mankind.

The theme of the linkage between the sanctity of the land of Israel and the giving of the land of Israel to Abraham and his descendants is repeated no less than three times in this portion of the Torah. At the beginning of the פרשה Abraham is invited to move to the land of Canaan and to traverse it. Once he had done so G–d promises the land to Abraham's descendants in 12,7, without specifying any boundaries. We find the specification of the boundaries spelled out in the middle of the פרשה in 15,18: "On that day G–d concluded a covenant with Abraham saying: to your descendants I have given this land from the river of Egypt up unto the great river, the river Euphrates." The promise is reiterated a third time near the end of the פרשה in 17,8 where G–d says: "I have given to you and to your descendants after you the land in which you sojourn, the whole of the land of Canaan as an everlasting inheritance, and I shall be their G–d." Each of the three promises represents an "improvement," something additional.

Here is an instance that shows that the sequence in which the Torah reports events is not necessarily the chronological order in which things occurred. Remember that Abraham was seventy years old at the time of the covenant between the pieces in 15,18 (as we know on the authority of סדר עולם). Our sages also consider the count of the four hundred years that the Torah mentions in that covenant (15,13) as commencing with the birth of Isaac. When Exodus 12,40 mentions a period of 430 years that the Israelites "resided" in Egypt, our sages compute that period as having commenced at the ברית בין הבתרים "the covenant between the pieces," i.e. when G–d revealed Himself to Abraham in 15,1. [Rashi's commentary that this number includes the years spent elsewhere as strangers by Abraham and his descendants, may be based on the letter ו (and), before the word מושב in 12,40. Ed.]

Since Isaac was born when Abraham was one hundred years old, the covenant must have preceded his birth by 30 years, and that places the events reported in chapter 15 as having preceded chapter 12 in which Abraham is reported as seventy-five years old when he emigrated to the land of Canaan. Since Abraham was in the land of Canaan during the time G–d concluded that covenant with him, how is it that he is reported to have emigrated from Charan only at the age of seventy five? The answer must be that Abraham had visited the land of Canaan earlier for some private reason, not at the behest of G–d. During that visit G–d appeared to him and he subsequently returned to Charan. Five years after that visit G–d commanded Abraham to move to the land of Canaan.

The principle אין מוקדם ומאוחר בתורה, that the Torah is not bound by a rule to report events in chronological order, also enables us to explain the question how Genesis 15,12 can speak about the "sun being about to set," when the Torah had reported previously that G–d asked Abraham to try to count the stars in the sky, clear proof that it must have been night at that time (15,5).

The principle I have outlined is confirmed by Tosaphot in Berachot 7b who address themselves to the statement in the Talmud that up until Genesis 15,8 when Abraham said: א-ד-נ-י אלוקים במה אדע כי אירשנה, "O G–d, the Master, how will I know that I shall inherit it?" no one had ever called G–d by the appellation Master. Tosaphot explain that the reason the Talmud did not quote the verse in 15,2, in which Abraham uses the same appellation when addressing G–d is, that verse eight may well have been spoken before verse two seeing that the Torah is not bound by rules requiring it to report chronologically. The paragraph commencing with the words: אחר הדברים האלה, which follows the report about the war between the four and the five kings respectively, and Abraham's intervention on behalf of Lot, must have occurred when Abraham was about 73 years of age. The city of Sodom existed only for a total of 52 years as we know from Shabbat 10. Deduct 12 years from the 52 during which the Sodomites were vassals of King Kedor-Leomer, (14,4) and 13 years of rebellion, and there now remain 26 years during which the city functioned normally. When the city was destroyed Abraham was 99 years old, since Isaac was born a year after that. By deducting 26 years from Abraham's age we arrive at the figure 73 as being his age when the battles between the combined kingdoms of the valley and the forces of Amrafel/Kedor-Leomer took place. It follows that the "covenant of the pieces" preceded that war by three years, though the latter paragraph concludes with the words ויחשביה לו צדקה, "G–d considered it as an act of righteousness for him (Abraham)." This verse forces the Torah to report events contrary to their chronological order. Tosaphot conclude by resolving Rashbam's objection how 15,12 can speak about sunset, when we have previously heard about the stars in the sky in 15,5, by stressing that the two parts of this chapter could not have occurred at the same time. According to this calculation the ברית בין הבתרים came first, followed by Abraham's immigration into the land of Canaan, followed by the commandment to circumcise himself and his male household members.

We have frequently stated that G–d's purpose in creating the universe was to create man, who in turn would be the instrument through which G–d's greatness would be revealed. This is the reason man had to be the last creature to be created at the end of the process. Physical man was created for the sake of "the giant among men” i.e. Abraham. We have an allusion to this in Genesis 2,4: אלה תולדות שמים וארץ בהבראם, where the letters in the word הבראם, are identical with the letters in the word אברהם. It was Abraham who spread the word about G–d's Power, Kindness, etc., to the rest of mankind. An allusion to this is found in the letter ה in the word בהבראם. When we remove this "small” ה from that word we are left with the name אברם. This demonstrates conclusively that that small ה is meant to draw our attention to אברהם when we read that verse.

Nechemiah 9,6-8 is even more convincing. He says: "You made the heavens and the heaven's heaven, and all their host, the earth and everything upon it, the seas and everything in them… You are the Lord G–d who chose Abram, who brought him out of Ur .. and changed his name to Abraham.” Why does Nechemiah bother to mention that Abraham used to be called Abram? The reason is that he wanted to allude to the fact that heaven and earth were created for the sake of Abraham, and to make us take note that Abram's name had been changed. Once you appreciate this, you will also find a hint of this transformation already in the report of creation, i.e. Genesis 2,4. Just as Adam's abode was in גן עדן, and he was expelled from there only because of his sin, Abraham's true abode was the Holy Land, the land which according to Ezekiel 36,35 will become once more like גן עדן. We find that prior to the destruction of Sodom and the neighboring towns, the valley is referred to in the Torah as כגן ה' כארץ מצרים "like a garden of G–d, like the land of Egypt." There is, however, a difference between something described as גן, "garden," and גן עדן.

Creation i.e. בריאה, is divided into three "days." On the first "day," G–d created; on the second "day," He ensured that what He had created would endure. This was the day on which the Torah was given to the Jewish people, when the earth was both frightened and reassured in turn. G–d had added the letter ה to the Torah's report that "it was evening it was morning יום הששי, "the sixth day." [an allusion to Israel having to accept the Torah so that earth's continued existence would be assured based on Midrashim we quoted elsewhere. Ed.] יום הששי, "The sixth day," refers to the 6th of Sivan, the date on which the Jewish people accepted the Torah. G–d had threatened that non-acceptance would result in the world again being turned into Tohu (compare Shabbat 88). The third "day" of creation is the day when G–d's handiwork will undergo a complete rejuvenation in the messianic future, seeing that G–d's original handiwork had been largely ruined through Adam's sin (and that of his descendants). At that time the verse ישמח ה' במעשיו, "G–d will rejoice in His works," will be fulfilled (Psalms 104,31, the word ישמח having the same letters as the word משיח).

We now understand why the promise of the land of Israel to Abraham and his descendants is repeated three times in our פרשה, each time including a dimension not previously revealed. The first promise was made at the ברית בין הבתרים. At the beginning of the story of creation the eventual four exiles of the Jewish people had been hinted at according to the view of Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish in Bereshit Rabbah 2,4. He understands the words והארץ היתה תהו as a reference to the Babylonian exile; the word בהו refers to the exile of the Medes; the word חשך refers to the exile under the Greeks, and the words על פני תהום refer to an exile that has no limit, whereas the words ורוח אלוקים מרחפת, refer to G–d's spirit, i.e. the era of the Messiah. In our portion, too, G–d hinted to Abraham during the covenant of the pieces that his descendants would undergo four periods of exile, as indicated by the words: אימה, חשיכה גדולה נופלת עליו "fear, great darkness, descending upon him"(15,12). The word אימה refers to Babylonia, the word חשיכה to the exile under the Medes; the word גדולה refers to the exile under the Greeks, and the word נופלת refers to the exile under the Romans, all according to Bereshit Rabbah 44,17.

At first glance we are perplexed why G–d should be mentioning or even alluding to periods of distress at the very time when the Torah reports creation, i.e. something positive. Do we not have a principle that at a time of joy one only concentrates on joyful matters?! (based on Rashi Genesis 6,7 and more ancient sources).

Actually, the matter is not quite so. When G–d saw that His handiwork was going to be damaged, He decided to make allowance for this and to provide a method by which such damage could be repaired. This method is the principle of exile. Through the mechanism of exile, Israel, or even mankind itself, could be saved from utter destruction. Mentioning or even merely alluding to such exiles is not something that spoils a happy mood therefore, but on the contrary helps to reassure us that all G–d's plans for His universe will eventually bear fruit.

A different approach to the meaning of the expressions אימה, חשיכה, גדולה-נופלת, is taken by the Arizal, who sees in אימה, an allusion to the generation of Enosh, during whose lifetime one third of the earth was flooded. G–d had done this in order to inspire fear and reverence for Him in mankind, hence the word אימה, fear. חשיכה refers to the generation of the deluge, when according to our sages the luminaries ceased to function, hence the word חשיכה, darkness (Yerushalmi Pesachim 1,1). The word גדולה refers to the generation of the Tower, i.e. מגדל, and the word נופלת refers to the destruction, i.e. תהפוכה of Sodom whose inhabitants were destroyed body and soul. What Abraham experienced was the awareness that these four events represented delays in G–d's plan for His universe, and that the earth needed תקון, a reformation in order to get back on the "right track." Abraham was seventy years old when He received G–d's first assurance that his descendants would possess the Holy Land. An allusion to this is found in the verse יצב גבולת עמים, "He establishes the boundaries of the nations" (Deut. 32,8). In that verse Israel is contrasted with the other seventy nations.

It is no accident that when Abraham's descendants moved to Egypt they numbered seventy, i.e. a counterweight to the seventy nations of the world. There they became refined through their bondage to the Egyptians. When G–d took them out of there they had been prepared to exchange bondage to the Egyptians for becoming servants of the Lord, as G–d says: כי עבדי הם, "For they are My servants" (Leviticus 25,42). G–d instilled in the Israelites the feeling that they were slaves so as to make the transition to becoming G–d's servants easier for them. This is also what G–d had in mind in the first of the Ten Commandments which states: "I am the Lord your G–d who has taken you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage," i.e. in order to become My servants.

Abraham expressed the fear that his slave Eliezer would inherit him (Genesis 15,2). G–d told him: "Not this one will inherit you, but someone who is your very own issue will inherit you" (15,3). The message was that a different servant, i.e. Israel My servant will inherit you.

The reason that in the Bible the Holy Land is referred to as the land of Canaan quite often even after the Jewish people took possession of it, is that Canaan was the first "slave" (Genesis 9,25). The word כנען also is derived from the word כנען, submission. The message to Israel in all this is that as long as they submit to the will of G–d the land remains theirs. When the people rejected their status as servants of G–d, they became slaves of the nations instead.

When our sages tell us that there are three gifts that can be obtained only through (submission to) afflictions, and one of these three is the land of Israel, we have experienced as a nation that we were very close to G–d when we first took over the Holy Land (received that gift). Subsequently, G–d expects more of us; when we disappoint His expectations we are dealt with as severely as a father deals with his son, since he has the son's rehabilitation at heart. Being punished for transgressions immediately after one has committed them is the greatest sign that one is beloved of G–d. In such a situation it is an error to expect G–d to employ His attribute of being נושא עון, suspending punishment for a while. I have explained this at length in my treatise on the letters of the alpha-bet under the heading of the letter ק. When someone who resides in the land of Israel experiences afflictions this is an expression of G–d's love, seeing G–d wishes him to be cleansed of his sins immediately and not to accumulate more sins by deeming himself in G–d's good graces when there is no cause for this. This is precisely what Rabbi Eleazar in Ketuvot 111 tells us when he states that anyone who resides in the land of Israel is devoid of sins.

Anyone who is privileged to live in the Holy Land must constantly bear in mind that he is in the "land of Canaan;" this will remind him of the need for servitude and submission When Noach said of his grandson כנען that ארור כנען עבד עבדים יהיה לאחיו, "Canaan is cursed he will be the slave of slaves to his brothers," we must ask ourselves why Noach did not say ארור יהיה כנען "Canaan will be cursed etc. (Genesis 9,25). Although a simple explanation would be that Canaan had already been cursed, i.e. he was polluted by the original serpent to whom G–d had said "you are cursed," we prefer to believe that Noach had something else in mind. In the future the name Canaan would be associated with those who submit to the will of G–d. This particular "Canaan" is distinguished by not being G–d's עבד, servant, but by being עבד עבדים, a servant of others who are themselves only servants. The servants Noach had in mind are the Jewish people. Canaan is destined to become a slave of the Jewish people.

What we learn from all this is how careful we must be when we reside in a land that enjoys G–d's daily personal supervision. We must conduct ourselves submissively vis a vis G–d. King David expressed this sentiment when he said גר אנכי בארץ , "I am merely a stranger in the land (of Israel)" (Psalms 119,19) David considered himself as at most possessing the status of a stranger in that land. When G–d told Abraham in Genesis 15,13: "Know that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs,” we must ask why He added the words "in a land that is not theirs?" Is it not clear that one can only be a stranger in a land that one does not own? Rashi addresses this problem and says that this expression includes the times when Abraham's descendants would also at times be strangers in countries other than the land of Egypt, during the 400 years which start with the birth of Isaac. Other commentators see in this expression an allusion to the fact that Israel would reside in Goshen, i.e. not Egypt proper, the expression לא להם, referring to the Egyptians who did not "own" Goshen, seeing it had been given to Sarah by Pharaoh. Alternately, it could refer to the resettlement policy of the Egyptians which Joseph had initiated in Genesis 47,21, where Rashi explains that as a result none of the Egyptians themselves had a real claim to the land they were settled on It is clear in our context, that Abraham's descendants, i.e. Israel, were meant to become strangers and subsequently slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt. At a later stage in their history they would become strangers in their own country. This is why G–d emphasized that during these first four hundred years or part thereof they would be strangers in someone else's country. Afterwards they would be strangers just as David described himself as a stranger in ארץ ישראל.

The moral lesson is that just as strangers must not take for granted their right to live in their host country, so Jews must not take for granted their entitlement to the Holy Land not even after they have settled there. When our sages criticise Jacob of whom the Torah said: וישב יעקב בארץ כנען, "Jacob settled down in the land of Canaan," this is exactly what they had in mind. The fact that the Torah underlines in that very verse that Jacob's fathers had only sojourned there, only reinforces our sages' criticism (compare Genesis 37,1 and Bereshit Rabbah 84,1). An allusion to the fact that the tendency of Jews who display a vested interest in their residence in the Holy land can be counter-productive is found in the description of the land by the spies as ארץ אוכלת יושביה היא, "It is a land that consumes those who settle in it" (Numbers 13,32). This is expressed more forcefully in connection with someone selling his house in the Holy Land permanently. The Torah states clearly that the land cannot be sold permanently by ignoring the laws of return to the original owners in the Jubilee year, when G–d goes on record in Leviticus 25,23: כי גרים ותושבים אתם עמדי, "For you are strangers and settlers with Me." The moment Jews want to treat the Holy Land as the Gentiles treat their soil, i.e. for merely secular enjoyment, the land is liable to react by "consuming" those who presume to "own" it. The spies portrayed the land of Canaan in a derogatory manner and thus profaned something sacred; their mouthings had no effect on the land. The Torah has seen fit to quote their words in order to instill in us a positive teaching:

Anyone while dwelling in ארץ ישראל must take to heart the lesson that he must be like a stranger in that land; only in such a way will he merit his place in the World to Come. This is what is meant by Ketuvot 111 that anyone who walks a distance of four cubits in the Holy land is assured of his share in the Hereafter. The significance of the "four cubits" is that someone progresses within the ארבע אמות של הלכה; he who has made his guiding principle in life the adherence to Halachah will enjoy such a future. G–d Himself is described by our sages as having retained only the four cubits of Halachah on earth ever since the destruction of the Holy Temple (Berachot 8). A person who conducts himself in that fashion merits an abode in the ארץ ישראל העליונה, about which it is written ועמך כולם צדיקים לעולם יירשו ארץ, Your people are all righteous, they will inherit the earth forever" (Isaiah 60,21). The reference is to the Hereafter, a region "opposite" the ארץ ישראל on earth. G–d told Abraham these glad tidings when He said to him (Genesis 15,15) ואתה תבא אל אבותיך בשלום, תקבר בשיבה טובה, "And you will join your fathers in peace and be buried in a ripe old age." The word שלום refers to Abraham entering the World to Come immediately after his death on this earth, whereas the word טובה is an allusion that the earth, the country he will be buried in, is a "good" land, i.e. ארץ ישראל. The reason it is called "good" is that anyone buried in that land will be spared the wanderings of the bones of his body until they come to rest in ארץ ישראל (Ketuvot 111). All of the aforesaid was revealed to Abraham in the first recorded communication to him from G–d when he was seventy years old. We have previously referred to this period as ראשית הבריאה, the "beginning" of creation, i.e. the first "day."

The second "day" followed later when G–d told Abraham to go to the land of Israel. This represented the fulfilment of the first part of G–d's promise. The extra letter ה in the description of יום הששי, refers to the day when Israel accepted the Torah at Mount Sinai.We are told in Avodah Zarah 9 that the two thousand years of "Torah" commence with the time that the Torah mentions Abraham and Sarah as having succeeded in converting people to monotheism, i.e. ואת הנפש אשר עשו בחרן (Genesis 12,5). [The foregoing is based on the tradition that mankind prior to the Messiah experiences three periods of 2000 years, the first period described as "Tohu," the second as "Torah," and the last as "days of the approach of the Messiah." Ed.] Abraham and Sarah respectively had proselytized, he the men and she the women. Abraham was 52 years old at that time.

When G–d told him: לך לך, "Go forth for yourself," this meant that he was to embark on a mission that would lead him to still higher spiritual awareness and perfection. Bereshit Rabbah 39,1 describes this command in the following parable quoted by Rabbi Yitzchak. We read in Psalms 45,12: שמעי בת וראי, והטי אזנך ושכחי עמך ובית אביך, "Take heed, lass, and note, incline your ear; forget your people and your father's house." Rabbi Yitzchak says that the verse can be understood as addressing itself to a person who wanders from town to town until he comes to a town that is ablaze. He exclaims that people will say that city surely has no leader. Thereupon the owner of that town takes a look at the wanderer and identifies himself. Before G–d addressed him, Abraham believed the earth [as distinct from heaven Ed.] to be without a supervisor. This is why G–d appeared to him in order to teach him that the earth is supervised. The quotation from Psalms 45,11 continues with the words: ויתאו המלך יפיך כי הוא אדוניך והשתחוי לו, "and let the king be aroused by your beauty; since he is your lord, bow down to him." Thus far the parable quoted by Rabbi Yitzchak.

This parable has been interpreted by many commentators as meaning that Abraham progressed in his philosophical inquiry from one truth to another, i.e. "from town to town," until he perceived that there is indeed an overall force that guides the fates of men on earth and that this force had also created the universe out of nothing. How can we reconcile such an interpretation with the tradition quoted in Nedarim 32 that Abraham recognized his Creator at the age of three?! Surely he not only knew this but also many other relevant pieces of information about philosophical matters.

We must therefore refer to the Zohar who explains on Genesis 11,31 (Sullam edition Lech Lecha page 11) in which the Torah reports Terach, Abraham, Lot and family as having left Ur Kasdim with the intention of moving to the land of Canaan, that the intention to move to Canaan sufficed for G–d to offer Abraham assistance. Up to that point Abraham's intellectual achievements in the field of philosophy had been unassisted. From this point on he received Divine guidance. The crucial factor in bringing about G–d's manifest involvement was that Abraham had made the first move. We learn from here that deeds in our world act as the catalyst that evokes heavenly responses. As soon as Abraham had demonstrated his intention to move to Canaan, G–d told him לך לך. We can apply the same to the ultimate redemption, i.e. until "black light" wakes up, "white light" will not be able to merge with it and suffuse it, i.e. restore the state of the world to what it had been prior to Adam's sin.. This is the message in Isaiah 62,6 that המזכירים את ה' אל דמי לכם, "when (you -the watchmen-) mention G–d, do not practice silence." The prophet cautions the watchmen that silent contemplation is not enough. Whenever man makes the first move towards Him G–d can be depended on to respond and lead man on to greater things. Thus far the Zohar.

A further quote from the Zohar at the beginning of our פרשה (Sullam edition page 12) has Rabbi Elazar saying that the meaning of לך לך is that Abraham is asked to perfect himself further, that the move to the land of Canaan was for the sake of his spiritual advancement. The secret in that command was that G–d instilled in Abraham a spirit of wisdom which enabled him to understand which cosmic forces are active in which parts of the universe. [Expressed in Kabbalistic terms this means which emanations predominate in which happenings in the world. Ed.]

Abraham's previous journeys must be understood in the light of his search for the force that exercises central power in the universe. Every time he thought that he had located such a point, he found that he had been mistaken. He finally arrived at the conclusion that the land of Canaan was the area where all cosmic activity was centered and whence it emanated. This is what prompted his family's move in that direction. The reason he had stopped in Charan was that he had arrived at a point where he could make no further progress. He knew that cosmic mysteries lay beyond, but he could not penetrate them. This resulted in his intellectual progress being arrested, i.e. Charan symbolized the highest intellectual plateau an unassisted intellect could attain.

The expressions מארצך, ממולדך, ומבית אביך, are references to perceptual boundaries that Abraham had encountered in his philosophical quest up to that point. They represented comprehension of the cosmos in astrological terms without taking into consideration that astrology is only part of the forces that activate our universe. [I have deliberately used my own words and summarized the comments of the Zohar. Ed.].

Abraham had known for five years, ever since G–d had concluded the ברית בין הבתרים with him, that the land of Canaan was the Holy Land, and that since G–d had promised that land to him and to his descendants it must be a land in which קדושה resides. Basically, what he had come to appreciate was that holiness is not something totally abstract, but that a country which at first glance seems no different from any other country can still be the repository of holiness, sanctity. This is the reason Rabbi Yitzchak in his parable has the wanderer, i.e. Abraham, refer to that town as one that is ablaze. He means that it is lit up by the presence of G–d's spiritual force. Abraham, however, desired to acquire further spiritual insights without success. The reason Abraham failed to make further spiritual progress was that ארץ ישראל is under the immediate, direct control of G–d. Abraham's knowledge on the other hand, was restricted to cosmic forces which act as G–d's agents. They do not lead to the perception of the Essence of G–d, nor to the awareness that there are areas in this universe in which ordinary cosmic forces do not operate.

Once Abraham determined to locate in that land in the hope of exploring these mysteries further, G–d responded to his quest. He did so, in the words of the parable, by identifying Himself, by revealing Himself as the "owner" of that "town" to the extent that this is possible. G–d continued to reveal more and more about Himself until eventually, Abraham and his descendants after him became the מרכבה, "chariot," or carrier of G–d's entourage. Once they had attained that spiritual level, the שכינה, G–d's Presence, would rest over them.

This is the reason we refer to G–d in our daily prayers as אלוקי אברהם, אלוקי יצחק, ואלוקי יעקב. This is not strictly accurate. Is G–d not the G–d of all mankind? The patriarchs in their close attachment to G–d, have provided Him with a "throne" on earth. That is why we single out their names when we identify G–d.

We can now understand why we are told in Ketuvot 110b that "anyone who resides outside the Holy Land is compared to someone who has no G–d, whereas anyone who resides in the Holy Land is comparable to someone who has a G–d." Why would the Talmud say that someone who resides in ארץ ישראל is only “compared” to someone who has a G–d? Surely he does have a G–d The first half of the statement quoted is not difficult, since, though of course, G–d is omnipresent, He is manifest only in the Holy Land. Therefore, the Talmud does not say that someone who resides in חוץ לארץ does not have a G–d, but that he only does not appear to have a G–d. However, the second half of that statement surely presents us with a problem? The answer lies in the very word דומה, used by the Talmud. This word can mean "is comparable,” but it could also mean "appears as", "it is apparent." The Talmud clearly uses the word in the latter sense. By living in the Holy Land, a person demonstrates (makes it apparent) that he thinks G–d's Presence there is manifest. He includes himself amongst those who wish to serve as a מרכבה for G–d.

When G–d revealed Himself to Abraham at the ברית בין הבתרים, the Torah reports that He took Abraham "outside," showed him the stars, and challenged him to "count them" (Genesis 15,5). The Zohar (immediately following the part we have quoted previously), states, that this verse means that Abraham was told to free himself from the limitations which his astrological studies up to that point in his life had imposed upon him. When G–d asked him at the beginning of chapter 12 to leave his father's house, the message is that "as long as you adhere to part of your traditional philosophy you will not achieve further philosophical/spiritual success. In order to gain further insights, you must go אל הארץ אשר אראך, to the land I will show you." G–d told him that he would not be able to make this "Aliyah" under his own steam. [Why else would G–d need to show Abraham the way to a land in which he Himself had revealed Himself to Abraham already five years earlier? Ed.] The promise ואעשך לגוי גדול is the reason we say in our daily prayers that G–d is אלוקי אברהם; the word ואברכך is the reason we say אלוקי יצחק; the words ואגדלה שמך, is the reason we recite אלוקי יעקב. The final words in that verse והיה ברכה, are equivalent to a signature, and that is why we conclude the first benediction in our daily עמידה prayer with the words מגן אברהם.

On the difference between the מרכבה on earth and the מרכבה in the Celestial Regions: One must appreciate that just as there is a carrier of G–d's Presence here on earth, so there is a parallel carrier, מרכבה in the heavenly regions. This is alluded to in Song of Songs 3,10 ומרכבו ארגמן, "its carrier was purple red," and in Song of Songs 6,12 where we find: מרכבות עמי נדיב, "amid chariots of Ami Nadiv.” We will first explain what is meant by the "purple red carrier," and later, with G–d's help, the meaning of the words מרכבות עמי נדיב. The land of Israel and the Holy Temple have their counterparts in the Heavenly Regions. The Holy Temple consists of a Sanctuary called קדש, holy, as well as an inner sanctuary, קדשי קדשים, Holiest of Holies, and we find an altar outside the Sanctuary as well as a golden altar inside the Sanctuary close to the Inner Sanctum. Both altars were square seeing the Torah describes them as such i.e. רבוע יהיה (Exodus 27,1). Because the Torah has given the exact dimensions of the altars, the statement "it shall be square," seems superfluous. We understand it therefore as an allusion to the heavenly counterparts of these furnishings of the Sanctuary, each one of which is also four-cornered representing four celestial armies headed by the angels רפאל, גבריאל, מיכאל, and נוריאל. The word ארגמ"ן is an acronym composed of the first letters respectively of the angels heading these four armies plus the letter א meaning the One and Only, i.e. G–d. He, of course is the One, who is "carried," i.e. supported by these four armies.

מיכאל represents the attribute of Mercy, uniquely associated with Abraham who is known as an exponent of G–d's kindness, חסד, as we know from Michah 7,20 "who gives kindness to Abraham". גבריאל is the angel in charge of גבורה, the attribute of justice, something Isaac was the prime exponent of, as we know from Genesis 31,42. נוריאל also known as אוריאל to Kabbalists, is in charge of the emanation תפארת which combines the attributes of חסד and גבורה. He is called אור-יאל, inasmuch as he represents חסד, i.e. אור, and נור-יאל, inasmuch as he represents the aspect of גבורה. This latter is an attribute in which G–d appears as a consuming fire, therefore the אור of חסד is turned into נור. There are those who understand the letter א in the acronym ארגמ"ן as an allusion to the dual name of that angel. At any rate, the five letters in that acronym symbolize four camps or armies; רפאל, as the angel in charge of the emanation מלכות, which "receives" from the three aforementioned ones, [seeing that מלכות is the "lowest” of the emanations, the one closest to our physical domain, the word "receives" may mean that it is the recipient of the input of the higher emanations. Ed.]. So much for the meaning of ארגמ"ן.

Although all the patriarchs have been described as the מרכבה, they are all included when Abraham is mentioned; he, being the "father" of them all, represents them also. This is the reason that the first benediction in the daily עמידה prayer concludes with the signature מגן אברהם, "shield of Abraham." The term "shield" is used to describe those who support the מרכבה, namely חסד, גבורה, תפארת. This too is the deeper meaning of the words (15, 1) אנכי מגן לך שכרך הרבה מאד, "I am your shield, your reward is very great." Malki Tzedek, king of Shalem, alludes to something similar in Bereshit (14, 19-20): ויברכהו, ויאמר: ברוך אברם לא-ל עליון קונה שמים וארץ וברוך א-ל עליון אשר מגן צריך בידך. "He blessed him saying: Blessed be Abraham of G–d Most High, Owner of Heaven and Earth. And blessed be G–d Most High, who has delivered your foes into your hand." The Zohar on that verse understands this as a reference to the daily עמידה prayer when we say very similar sounding words in the first benediction. If one examines the composition of that benediction closely one can view the words אלוקי אברהם, אלוקי יצחק, אלוקי יעקב as corresponding to the words ברוך אברהם. The words א-ל עליון גומל חסדים טובים correspond to the words וברוך א-ל עליון. The words קונה הכל corresponds to Malki Tzedek's words קונה שמים וארץ. We find similar wording in the repetition of the Friday night עמידה. Finally, the signature of that first benediction of the daily עמידה is מגן אברהם, corresponding to the last words in Malki Tzedek's blessing אשר מגן צריך בידך. It is true that we also encounter the formula in מגן דוד, "shield of David." The difference is that whereas מגן אברהם includes the other carriers of the מרכבה as we have explained, David is the recipient of the foregoing including the parts of the מרכבה that Abraham comprises, seeing that he, David, personifies מלכות. As such David provides the "fourth leg" of that four- cornered מרכבה that we have described as the מרכבה ארג"מן. At any rate, the significance of the promise to Abraham in 12,2 והיה ברכה, "be a blessing," is that בך חותמים, "they will conclude the benediction using your name," is clear. We shall come back later to the meaning of מגן דוד.

The words ונברכו בך כל משפחות האדמה, "Through you all the families of the earth will be blessed" (12,3), mean that after Abraham follows G–d's directive and immigrates to the land of Canaan, thereby personally accumulating merits in that land, these merits will also devolve on all other families of the earth, seeing that the land of Canaan is the source from which G–d's bounty is dispensed to all of mankind, in the case of the seventy nations or countries through their respective representatives, שרים, at the Celestial Court. The respective שרים, are viewed like the branches of a tree that expand beyond the fence within which the trunk is situated. The expression that the Torah employs, i.e. ונברכו, is based on the expression בריכת האילן, (placing a shoot into the earth to propagate a tree).

Concerning the interval of a year until such shoots take root, or, allegorically, until Abraham's physical transplantation to the land of Canaan is reflected in his entry into the ארץ ישראל העליון, the celestial counterpart of the land of Israel, the Torah goes on to say in 12,6: וירא ה' אל אברם ויאמר לזרעך אתן את הארץ הזאת, ויבן שם מזבח לה' הנראה אליו. "G–d appeared to Abram saying: To your descendants I shall give this land. He (Abram) built an altar there for the G–d who had appeared to him." Why does the Torah in this instance preface G–d's appearance with the words וירא ה' ויאמר, something that we do not find in 12,1?

Another difficulty is why does the Torah add the words הנראה אליו, "who appeared to him," in verse 6? Would it not have been sufficient to tell us that "Abraham erected an altar to G–d?" A simple way of answering this difficulty is that it represents a compliment of the Torah to Abraham who did not build the altar as an act of gratitude for the physical gift/promise of the land and the promise that he would have offspring, but that he built the altar to give thanks for the very fact that he had been found worthy of a private vision of G–d.

In accordance with our method of explaining such nuances in the text, however, we see in this an act of gratitude by Abraham for having achieved deeper insights into the workings of G–d and His universe than he had been able to achieve before entering and settling in the land of Canaan. The Zohar on our verse comments that the new dimension of insight revealed to Abraham here was that G–d rules over earth, and this is why he could now understand matters that had remained hidden from him previously. He therefore built an altar, having noted that although the Torah describes the cursed Canaan as appearing to predominate in the land, (12,6) it was G–d who ruled it.

Rabbi Eliyah Mizrachi explains Hagar's experience and her comments in 16, 13/14 in a similar way. The Torah says: ותקרא שם ה' הדובר אליה אתה א-ל ראי כי אמרה הגם הלום ראיתי אחרי רואי. "She called the Lord who spoke to her 'You are El-ro ee,’ by which she meant: 'have I not gone on seeing after He saw me'!" Hagar had entertained doubts about what she saw in her vision. She was not sure whether it had been an angel of G–d, i.e. a spiritual light, or whether what she had seen was merely physical light. She became convinced that it had to be spiritual light, since one cannot see two successive bursts of physical light, for one is so blinded by a burst of strong physical light that one becomes unable to perceive further visions of light. [Our editions of the commentary of Rabbi Eliyahu Mizrachi do not have this comment, at least not in connection with 16, 13. Ed.] The altar Abraham built alludes to the square altar that I have described earlier and to the fact that Abraham moved from "his birthplace and his father's house," both of which are hyperboles for the philosophies that he had acquired in his original environment as described by the Zohar as the meaning of ויוצא אותו החוצה, "He took him outside” (15,5).

On 12,6 "Abraham traversed the land," Rashi comments נכנס לתוכה, "he entered into it." This is most appropriate, since Abraham began to understand the inner significance of ארץ ישראל. Later on we read in 12, 10 that Abraham descended (into Egypt) and subsequently (13, 1) that he ascended from Egypt. The Torah teaches that one does not recognise the advantage of light over darkness until one has experienced the latter. This was Abraham's experience in Egypt, [when he came from Charan his arrival in the land of Canaan is described only as "Abraham went…..they came to the land of Canaan (12,4/5), not a word about an עליה, an ascent. Ed.]. Egypt was considered a secondary מרכבה, as is alluded to in Genesis 41,43 when Joseph rides in מרכבת המשנה, "Pharaoh's number two state coach." Our sages understand these words as referring to the fact that next to the land of Israel, Egypt serves as an alternate מרכבה for G–d's Presence. The Zohar (Sullam edition Parshat Mikeitz page 23) describes it thus: G–d has a מרכבה עליונה and a מרכבה תחתונה. The latter one is called מרכבת המשנה, "the secondary carrier." Abraham utilized all the great wisdom he had acquired while he was in Egypt. Afterwards he ascended "southward" (13,1). Our sages have taught us the principle that "anyone who wishes to acquire wisdom should turn southward" (Baba Batra 28). Thus when Abraham returned to the "South" of the land of Canaan he began to learn the "real" wisdom, an appreciation of Jewish theology. It was then that he began to appreciate the real advantage of spiritual light over spiritual darkness.

On that subject, the Zohar (Sullam edition Lech-Lecha page 44) comments on 12,11: ויהי כאשר הקריב אברם לבא מצרימה, "It was when Abram came close to arriving in Egypt," that the word the Torah should have used for approaching is קרב. Why then did the Torah use the word הקריב? The answer is that the Torah used an expression it uses about Pharaoh in Exodus 14, 10 when the latter was in hot pursuit of the Israelites. Pharaoh caused Israel to become ready to repent when they realised the immediate danger Pharaoh's pursuit posed for them. This is the meaning of the causative form הקריב. In Abraham's case too, his experiences in Egypt brought him closer to G–d, seeing that all his calculations about protecting himself and Sarah had not prevented her from being taken to the King's palace to become his concubine. Abraham took a closer look at the inadequacies of the Egyptian culture and separated himself from that culture.

In view of the additional insights that we have described Abraham as having acquired, it is difficult to understand how he could allow a wicked person such as Lot to remain in his company. The Zohar answers this simply by saying that Abraham foresaw that David would be a descedant of Lot and that this is why he did not want to do something that might prevent such a development. We need to understand how David is relevant to what transpired here.

First we must know what Nachmanides has written on the subject of the Torah's reports about our patriarchs' experiences. On 12,6"Abraham traversed the land," Nachmanides writes as follows: Let me tell you a general principle that applies to all the stories of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, something that our sages expressed very concisely when they said מעשה אבות סימן לבנים, that "the experiences of the patriarchs foreshadowed the experiences of the Jewish people later on." This is the principal reason the Torah spends so much time on telling us of the journeys, the digging of wells and similar details in the lives of the patriarchs. Those who ponder these details think at first glance that these stories are superfluous and do not serve a useful purpose. Actually, all these events foreshadow events in the future. When these events occur to a prophet in the future they will be understood as something that had been decreed by G–d a long time ago during the lives of the Patriarchs as ordained to happen to their descendants. Whereas during the lives of the Patriarchs these were merely potential happenings in the history of the descendants, they became reality in their respective eras by means of the prophets. This is why the prophets performed certain deeds such as Jeremiah (51,63) ordering Baruch to tie his book to a stone and upon having finished reading it to throw it into the river Euphrates. He added that that act symbolized the descent of the Jewish people into the Babylonian exile. A similar reason prompted Elisha in Kings II 13, 17 when he told King Joash to take a bow and shoot arrows, an arrow of victory for the Lord, an arrow of victory over Aram. Subsequently, Elisha told the king to strike the ground with the arrows. The king did so, but only three times. Elisha was very angry and told him that if he had struck the ground five or six times this would have resulted in the king annihilating Aram in battle totally, but now, Israel would prove victorious over Aram in three wars only. G–d made Abraham experience certain things in the land of Israel in order that these experiences might serve as the forerunners of the later experiences of the Jewish people. [Rabbi Chavell in his commentary on Nachmanides points out that it was not Baruch but the ministers who had been commanded to throw the book into the river. Ed.]

On the verse "There was famine in the land" (12,10), Nachmanides writes as follows: Abraham descended to Egypt on account of the famine, in order to spend some time there to keep alive during the drought, and the Egyptians oppressed him by robbing him of his wife. G–d took revenge on them by striking them with great afflictions and G–d led Abraham out from there with livestock, silver and gold. Pharaoh even ordered his men to make sure that Abraham would depart. Abraham's experience was repeated when Jacob and family descended to Egypt to escape the famine in Canaan, when they were eventually oppressed and the Egyptians separated them from their wives. The Israelites were eventually liberated but only after the Egyptians had been smitten with many plagues. Everything that their patriarch Abraham experienced, his descendants experienced on a national scale. The whole matter is explained by Rabbi Pinchas in the name of Rabbi Oshiyah in Bereshit Rabbah 40,6 who has G–d tell Abraham that he should pave the way for his descendants, and that as a result you find that Abraham's experiences foreshadowed those of his descendants. Example: Abraham experienced famine and moved to Egypt; Joseph told his father Israel that there would be five more years of famine (Genesis 45,6).

On 14,1 Nachmanides writes that the whole occurrence was to teach Abraham that there would be four empires that would rule the earth at different times, but that ultimately Abraham's descendants would prevail over them all and that all their property would be restored to Israel. The first such empire would be the Babylonian Empire, as we know from Daniel 2,38: "to whom He has given dominion over them all -you are the head of gold." Possibly the name of the king Elassar, (14,1) corresponds to a town in Persia by the same name. King "Eylam" may be the name of a town in Greece also. He may have been the first king of that empire, Darius being a later one after the empire expanded. [There are some confusing versions here as to who is who, seeing that Darius was a king of the Medes. This does not matter in our context. Ed.] There is a view among our sages that this king ruled for six years in Eylam before ruling the whole civilized world. The name “מלך גויים" refers to a variety of kings appointed by the king of Eylam as his deputies in different parts of his empire. There is a hint here of the method of the Romans who appointed governors in different parts of their empire. Similar views are expressed in Bereshit Rabbah 42,2 by Rabbi Avin who claims that since the chapter opens with four kingdoms (the problems of Abraham), so his descendants also will suffer at the hands of four kingdoms. [Rabbi Avin, as do others, assumes that the campaign against Sodom was really intended as a campaign against Abraham, and that his involvement was not quite voluntary. Ed.] Rabbi Avin sees in Amrafel king of Shinor a reference to Babylon, in Aryach king of Elassar (a reference) to the Empire of the Medes, in Kedor-Leomer king of Eylam a reference to the Greek Empire, and in Tidal king of "Goyim," (a reference) to the present exile since it comprises numerous kingdoms all of which exercise dominion over the Jewish people. The king "Bela" is called so because he ruled only over a small city with few inhabitants. Thus far Nachmanides' comment. His words are truly those of a wise man. Abraham's experiences foreshadow both the bondage in Egypt and the redemption that was to follow. Later, it foreshadowed Jewish exile (after the destruction of the Temple) and finally the Redemption at the hands of the משיח בן דוד, the Messiah son of David, a descendant of Lot.

On 13,5: וגם ללוט ההולך את אברם היו צאן ובקר ואהלים "Also Lot who went with Abram possessed sheep, cattle, and tents." In Bereshit Rabbah 41,4 Rabbi Tuviah comments that the tents mentioned refer to Ruth the Moabite and Naomi the Ammonite. This is also why later on in Genesis 19, 15 the angels urge Lot to take "your wife and your two daughters הנמצאות, i.e. "who will have an enduring existence, i.e. they will be two tents." Rabbi Yossi says the word הנמצאות, is equivalent to מציאות, finds. The two finds are Ruth and Naomi. Rabbi Yitzchak portrays G–d as saying "I have found My servant David." Where did G–d find him? In Sodom.

Rabbi Tuviah interprets the words "tents" as referring to two women since the place of women is in the tents. Rabbi Yitzchak also understands the verse in that sense although he draws his inference from the word הנמצאות. Perhaps this is also the inference to be drawn from the Torah's report about the exploits of the four kings. As soon as they had captured Lot, they went on their way, i.e. 11 ,14) ויקחו את לוט … וילכו). Although the four kings had never set eyes on Ruth and Naomi they had seen through their horoscopes the role that Lot's issue would play in the history of the Jewish people, and their prime purpose became to prevent the emergence of a Jewish people and thus to frustrate the concept of the Messiah and what he represents. This is the reason why Abraham set out immediately to rescue Lot and to pursue those kings and their armies. He also rescued the king of Sodom and his people in the process, seeing that in Messianic times even the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah will be restored, something we know on the authority of Ezekiel 16,53-55.

When Bereshit Rabbah 41,6 says that the facial features of Lot resembled those of Abraham, what they mean is that just as Abraham was a spiritual giant among men, i.e. אדם, so the numerical value of the letters in the name לוט add up to 45=אדם. We have repeatedly set out that the word אדם is an acronym for אדם-דוד-משיח. Lot wanted to take possession of the land of Israel prematurely, believing himself to be Abraham's heir, as explained by Rashi on 13,7. Since Abraham, however, had not yet acquired that land, seeing the Torah described it as belonging to the Canaanite and the Perisite at that time, this proved impossible. Lot thought that Canaan being cursed however, could not possibly claim legal title to the land. Actually, at that time Lot was also in the category of someone who is cursed since the word לוט is also an expression of לטותא, the Aramaic word for "curse." Even though his facial features may have resembled those of Abraham, he was like an ape i.e. only similar when compared to אדם but not a real אדם. Only at the coming of the Messiah will Lot's facial resemblance become translated into the equivalent of אדם.

We find a clear allusion to this in 13,9 where Abraham says to Lot: "Is not the whole land before you, separate yourself from me; if to the Left, I will go to the Right, and if to the Right, I will go to the Left." The meaning of the verse is that Abraham asks Lot why he quarrels needlessly, seeing there will be a time when he will have the entire land to choose from and does not now need to take things before they are ripe. When would that time come? At the time the kingdom of David will be established, seeing that David is descended from Ruth. That same Ruth had said to her mother-in-law Naomi "only death will part us" (Ruth 1,17). Abraham meant the same thing when he spoke to Lot about הפרד נא מעלי, "please separate from me." According to Rabbi Yitzchak Arama in his commentary on Ruth, the latter made a very significant statement, namely that when members of the other nations die, that does not create a disparity among them because all of them proceed towards an eternal void. Since every Jewish person however has a share in the world to come, death creates a disparity amongst them, seeing their shares in that World To Come are not the same. Bamidbar Rabbah 21,22 comments that any bridegroom who is "greater" than his fellow-bridegroom will be burned by the fire G–d provides for the wedding canopy of the other, [a penalty for being envious of somebody else's status, see Baba Batra 75. The whole discussion is about G–d bestowing honor on the righteous in the world of the future. Ed.]. Thus we see that not everyone's share in the World To Come is equal. Hence the division between people will occur when they die and move to different parts of a new world.

Abraham hinted to Lot later that there is an ארץ ישראל העליונה, a spiritual equivalent to the terrestrial land of Israel, as we know from Sanhedrin 90 based on Isaiah 60,21: "Your people are all righteous, they will inherit an eternal land." Abraham hinted to Lot that both he and Lot would qualify for that future and that they would both reside in Heaven close to G–d. Yalkut Shimoni on Psalms 110,1: The Lord said to my lord "sit on my right side while I make your enemies your footstool," quotes Rabbi Yudon saying that in the future G–d will seat the Messiah on His Right and Abraham on His Left, and that Abraham will feel aggrieved at being assigned the left saying "how can my grandson be assigned the right side while I have to be content with the left side?" G–d will placate him saying: "Your grandson sits on My right, whereas I sit on your right side, וענותך תרבני, "and Your providence has made me great" (based on Samuel II 22,36). Thus far the Yalkut.

Here we have Abraham prophesying that both he and Lot would sit next to G–d, but he did not know who would sit on which side of G–d until the time came. This is the deeper meaning of Abraham saying to Lot that one of them would find himself on the Left whereas the other would find himself on the Right. This also explains why the word ve-eyminah is not punctuated with the vowel patach under the letter aleph as we would have expected, seeing that is the vowel used under the word ve-assme-ilah. Although Rashi says that we have a similar construction in Samuel II 14, 19, the fact is that when the vowel tzeyre is used it indicates an immediate activity.

The message in our case is that Abraham's entire striving from then on was to achieve a position on the right side of G–d. He constantly moved in a spiritually "southward" direction, i.e. striving to come closer to G–d. This is expressed in the Torah by the words 12,9) הלוך ונסוע הנגבה). He achieved his goal: though he sat on G–d's left side, G–d portrayed Himself as sitting on Abraham's right side. Performance of acts of kindness, charity, hospitality, etc. are all expressions of drawing people near with one's right hand, i.e. a symbolic way of expressing one's desire to sit on the right side of G–d. All of the Messiah's eventual accomplishments are merely an extension of a process that Abraham had set in motion, a process of drawing near to G–d. This is the reason that Psalm 110 which the Yalkut quoted commences with words indicating that G–d invites Abraham to sit on His right, meaning that since Abraham had activated G–d's "right," the position of David (the Messiah on G–d's right side) is due to Abraham's accomplishments.

David is the fourth leg of the Divine carrier, מרכבה. This is the innermost secret of the emanation מלכות, seeing it corresponds to the fourth letter ה of the Ineffable Name. It represents both the mystique of ד, inasmuch as it is the fourth letter of G–d's name, as well as the mystique of ה, inasmuch as that fourth letter is the letter ה. Berachot 51 states in the name of Rabbi Yochanan that when one recites a blessing over wine the cup must have been washed outside, inside, be full and be potent, i. e. conform to four criteria, הדחה, שטיפה, חי, מלא, the first letters of those criteria spell חמשה, five. This is a reference to David (who in the Talmud is always portrayed as pronouncing the benediction over the cup of wine), and the Messiah as the Kabbalists have pointed out. The letter ד symbolizes minimal bounty (since דלת means door, i.e. a closed door). The ה on the other hand symbolizes something open, and also the shape of the letter suggests that something is open. Actually the shape of the letter ה is a combination of the shapes of the letters ד and ו. The latter being within the former suggests that the time will come when the light of the moon will equal the light of the sun, i.e. when the דו פרצופים, the “two faced” appearance will be restored. Something similar is in the offing now. Abraham found out that the kingdom of David will be relatively insignificant i.e. ד, and sandwiched between 5 exiles (one in Egypt). In the end however, the four countries which had dominion over us after David will all be swept away forever by Abraham's descendants. When we hear about the five kings of Sodom against the four kings with Kedorleomer, this is a preview of how four will be conquered by five in that rosy future, since we have seen that Sodom will be restored because G–d made a find, i.e. he found Ruth as a seed of Lot.

Let us now get back to our previous statement that when at the beginning of our פרשה G–d asked Abraham to move to the land of Canaan and promised possession of that land to him and his descendants, this was already the second time G–d promised him ארץ ישראל, the first time having been five years earlier at the ברית בין הבתרים. The first promise corresponded to the "first" part of Creation; the second promise was in respect of the "second" part of Creation, i.e the period in history that represents "Torah." That period commenced with the verse telling us that Abraham and Sarah had "made souls in Charan," i.e. had converted pagans to the belief in the One and Only G–d who created the universe (12,5). We have explained the principle that Abraham represents the סוד (real reason) for the creation of the universe as alluded to in the spelling of בהבראם. When G–d speaks about making Abraham's name "great" in 12,2, using the expression ואגדל-ה, this is an allusion to the addition of that letter ה to his name אברם, the way his name would have been spelled in Genesis 2,4 without the "small" letter ה. G–d tells אברם in 12,5 that when in the future he would be ready to be circumcised (17,5) his name would be changed to אברהם.

Another important allusion to be found in the word ואגדלה is the assurance that this universe would endure, i.e. that Abraham is the guarantee that this would be so. The word ואגדלה contains the six first letters of the א-ב, six letters corresponding to the six days of Creation. Although the letter ל in ואגדלה, seems to contradict this allusion, we shall explain this.

[The author constructs an intricate framework of allusions. Suffice it to say that just as the first letter of Creation i.e. the Torah's report, is ב, a letter indicating division, (the opposite of unity), so the last letter in the Torah (לעיני כל ישראל) is a ל indicating the שלום prevailing in the world of the future. If Abram's name were really to be "great," that letter had to be included in the promise ואגדלה. Ed.]

And behold Abraham our father distanced himself greatly from division that was not for the sake of Heaven. That is like he said to Lot, Let there be no strife between [us] (Genesis 13:8). And in the two [cases discussed previously], you will find division in two letters, specifically in bet and lamed. The [author of Sefer Ha] Pardes wrote that the shape of a bet is a dalet, with a vav below, after it, extending as a [horizontal] line, meaning the vav. And the hint in the thing is according to what he wrote there.

We now come to the third and final "day" or stage of Creation. We refer to the period when the handiwork of G–d will undergo complete rejuvenation to finally correspond to the Creator's hopes, the time of which the prophet has proclaimed: ישמח ה' במעשיו "G–d will rejoice in His works." At that time the ירושלים של מעלה will be revealed as being "opposite" the ירושלים של מטה, the former together with the letter symbolized by the covenant of circumcision, i.e. the performance of both מילה and פריעה which together represent the union of ציון, spiritual Jerusalem, and ירושלים, terrestrial Jerusalem. At that time Abraham will emerge as having attained his ultimate spiritual perfection, i.e. he will serve as both the terrestrial and the celestial מרכבה. Whereas at the point of לך לך in his career he had been merely the מרכבה described as ארגמן, he will have qualified by that time to become the מרכבה described as מרכבות עמי נדיב.

Kabbalists have explained that the name אברהם contains an allusion to the מרכבה of the four חיות, described as supporting the throne of G–d in the first chapter of Ezekiel. They are אדם-אריה-שור-נשר. The שור was turned into a כרוב, cherub, after Ezekiel asked G–d to have mercy on that חיה according to Chagigah 13. The reason was that the shape or face of the שור would have reminded G–d of the Jewish people's sin with the golden calf. Therefore we find that the מרכבה described in Ezekiel consisted of אדם-כרוב-נשר-אריה. When you take the name אברהם, the letter א refers to G–d, that He is One who "rides" on His מרכבו, i.e. on בר"הם, which are the final letters כרוב, נשר, אריה, אדם. The word נדיב in Song of Songs 6, 12 alludes to that מרכבה when we employ a method called אבגד. (This means that we take the first letter of the word נשר, the second letter of the word אדם, the third letter of the word אריה, and the fourth letter of the word כרוב). Who is this Nediv? It is none other than אברהם אבינו who is the subject of Psalms 47, 10: נדיבי עמים נאספו עם אלוקי אברהם, "The great of the peoples are gathered together, the retinue of Abraham’s G–d. When our sages comment on Genesis 17,22: ויעל אלוקים מעל אברהם, "G–d "rose" from above Abraham," they had in mind that the patriarchs were the מרכבה, G–d's entourage, (Bereshit Rabbah 47,6).

I have found additional allusions to my claim that Abraham was the end-purpose of Creation and that Creation, i.e. בריאה, is under the aegis of the name אלוקים, in a number of places in the commentary of the Zohar, when he discusses the deeper meaning of the words מי and מה respectively when used in connection with Creation. Isaiah 40,26 says: שאו מרום עיניכם וראו מי ברא אלה, "Raise up your eyes high and behold who has created all these?" We also find in Psalms 8,4: כי אראה שמיך מעשה אצבעתיך … ה' אדונינו מה אדיר שמך בכל הארץ, "When I behold Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,…O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name throughout the earth!" The word מה also appears in connection with G–d's Creation in מה רבו מעשיך ה' כולם בחכמה עשית, "How many are the things You have made, O Lord, You have made them all with wisdom" (Psalms 104,24). In the Zohar a great deal more attention is paid to the deeper meaning of the word מי, than to that of the word מה.

A great deal of attention also is paid to the meaning of the word ברא. This word with the letters reversed i.e. אבר, is considered as a limb, or better, link to what are called תולדות עליון, "developments having their root in the spiritual and abstract sphere of the heavens," such as are implied by the verse אלה תולדות השמים והארץ. When combining the word מי and the word אלה, we get the word אל-הים, or the answer to the question מי ברא אלה. Now we see how to understand the word ברא as a link, i.e. as אבר, as the "organ" that procreates or initiates creation of a physical universe. Since this process cannot continue endlessly, G–d also functions as the One who commands די, "enough." Hence one of G–d's names is שדי, "the One who says enough!" We have explained on another occasion that the emanation יסוד symbolizing the covenant מעור, is called שדי, and this is why G–d introduces Himself to Abraham when He commands him to circumcise himself as אני א-ל שדי. Coming back to the "small" letter ה in the verse אלה תולדות השמים והארץ בהבראם, which we had taken as an allusion to the world having been created for the sake of Abraham, we find that the letters ברא-אבר, when combined with the word מה, result in the word אברהם Keep in mind that the spiritual level represented by the word מי is superior to the spiritual level of the word מה; the former resulted in the attribute of G–d as אלוקים the Creator, whereas the word מה only triggered the appearance of this gigantic human figure called Abraham.

Summing up, we find that the paragraph dealing with circumcision contains three great gifts 1) The kingdom of David will endure forever. 2) The gift of the land of Israel to the Jewish people will be a permanent possession of the people. 3) The Presence of G–d will rest visibly over the people and the land of Israel. Concerning the first promise Abraham is told ומלכים ממך יצאו והקמותי את בריתי, "kings will come forth from you; and I will maintain My covenant" (17,5). Correspondingly, we find in connection with the dynasty of David: כרתי ברית לבחירי, נשבעתי לדוד עבדי, עד עולם אכין, זרעך ובניתי לדור ודור כסאך סלה, "I have made a covenant with My chosen one; I have sworn to My servant David. I will establish your offspring forever, I will confirm your throne for all generations selah” (Psalms 89 4/5). Concerning giving the land of Israel to Abraham's descendants, G–d said: ונתתי לך ולזרעך אחריך את ארץ מגורך … לאחוזת עולם, "I will give to you and to your descendants after you the whole land of Canaan the land you sojourn in, as an eternal possession" (17,8). This means that even while we are in exile, the land will never be an inheritance of our enemies, but they will only be there on a temporary basis since it will be desolate while they occupy it. Once we shall return to it as an eternal possession the Presence of the שכינה will become manifest, and there will be fulfilled the last line of G–d's promise to Abraham "I shall be their G–d."