INSIGHT & INSPIRATION

By Rabbi Moishe New

ABRAHAM’S MYSTERIOUS REQUEST

Shortly after arriving in the Land of Israel, Abraham is confronted with a severe famine. Having just been promised the land by G-d, he now finds himself compelled to leave it in search of food.

Our Sages identify this as one of Abraham’s great tests of faith. Although he could understandably have questioned the Divine promise, he journeys to Egypt without protest.

As they approach Egypt, Abraham fears that the Egyptians, upon seeing Sarah’s extraordinary beauty, will kill him in order to take her. He therefore asks Sarah to identify herself as his sister rather than his wife.

His reasoning is understandable. As her husband, he would be an obstacle to anyone seeking to take her. As her brother, he would pose no such threat.

But there is an obvious and disturbing question: What about Sarah? Abraham appears concerned with saving his own life while Sarah faces the prospect of being forcibly taken into Pharaoh’s household.

One might argue that the circumstances left him little choice. The famine made remaining in Canaan impossible, and concealing their marriage would at least spare his life.

Yet Abraham adds something truly perplexing: “Please say that you are my sister, so that it may go well with me because of you, and my life will be spared on your account.”

Rashi explains that “it may go well with me” refers to gifts Abraham anticipated receiving from the Egyptians.

Here is Abraham, the great tzaddik, whose wife faces grave danger, speaking not only about saving his own life but about receiving gold and silver! How are we to understand this?

THE PROMISE OF GREAT WEALTH

A similar question arises later in the parshah, during the Covenant Between the Parts.

G-d informs Abraham that his descendants will be enslaved and oppressed in a foreign land, but promises that they will ultimately emerge “with great wealth.”

What significance could gold and silver possibly have in the face of generations of suffering and slavery?

Indeed, our Sages explain that this promise was so important that G-d ensured its fulfilment before the Exodus. During the plague of darkness, while the Egyptians were immobilized, the Jewish people were able to see where their valuables were kept. When they subsequently requested gold and silver, the Egyptians could not deny possessing them.

But surely a people desperate to escape slavery would prefer immediate freedom over remaining in Egypt for the sake of acquiring wealth. Why, then, was the gold and silver so essential?

WHY MUST THERE BE EXILE?

There is a third question, perhaps even more fundamental.

In our festival prayers, we say, “Because of our sins, we were exiled from our land.” Yet the Egyptian exile was foretold to Abraham long before his descendants had committed any transgression. Their enslavement arose not from a national sin, but from the circumstances that brought Jacob and his family to Egypt.

Furthermore, if exile is simply punishment, we would expect its severity to diminish over time. Yet Jewish history appears to have followed the opposite course. Our fourth and final exile, beginning with the destruction of the Second Temple, has been the longest and, in many respects, the most bitter. Above all — surely, the punishment does not fit the crime!

The answer lies in a fundamental teaching of Kabbalah concerning the Divine purpose of creation.

REDEEMING THE HIDDEN SPARKS

The Talmud teaches that the Jewish people were dispersed among the nations so that converts might be added to them.

On its simplest level, this means that the presence of Jews throughout the world creates opportunities for others to discover Judaism and embrace it. But Kabbalah reveals a much deeper dimension to this teaching.

Every created thing contains a spark of Divinity. Nothing can exist independently of the Divine energy that continuously brings it into being. Yet in our physical world, that Divine spark is concealed beneath layers of material existence.

When a Jew takes something physical and uses it in the service of G-d, the Divine spark within that object is redeemed. Food becomes holy when it nourishes a person who serves G-d. Money is elevated when it is used for tzedakah, hospitality or other mitzvos. A home becomes a dwelling place for G-d when the activities conducted within it reflect holiness.

The Talmud’s reference to converts thus expresses a broader spiritual principle. Just as a soul may emerge from an environment seemingly distant from holiness and enter into a revealed relationship with G-d, so too the Divine sparks concealed throughout creation await their elevation.

This is the deeper purpose underlying the Jewish people’s dispersion among the nations. Although exile may be precipitated by sin, it also provides the opportunity to engage with the world in its state of concealment and transform it from within.

One might still ask: Could G-d not have accomplished this without subjecting the Jewish people to exile?

Indeed, He could have.

During the reign of King Solomon, the world was drawn towards Jerusalem. Nations brought their riches and resources to the Holy Land, where they could be employed in the service of G-d. Had this process reached its completion, the world could have attained its ultimate purpose without the Jewish people having to descend into the darkness of exile.

But there is a profound difference between these two forms of transformation. When holiness radiates from above, drawing the world towards it, the world is elevated by a light that comes from outside itself. When, however, holiness is revealed from within the physical world, the transformation is far deeper and more enduring.

This also offers insight into why the darkness of exile has, at times, grown more intense. Kabbalah teaches that the greater the spiritual height from which something originates, the lower it can descend when concealed. As the work of refinement progresses, increasingly concealed sparks must be revealed.

This does not diminish the terrible suffering that has accompanied exile, nor does it suggest that suffering itself is desirable. Rather, it teaches that the long course of Jewish history contains a Divine purpose beyond what is immediately apparent, one that will reach its ultimate fulfilment with the coming of Mashiach.

SARAH’S EXTRAORDINARY ROLE

We can now return to our opening question concerning Abraham and Sarah.

Abraham understood that his descent into Egypt was not simply a consequence of famine. It was the beginning of a spiritual mission that his descendants would later continue on a national scale.

Egypt represented the material world at its most powerful and spiritually concealed. The acquisition of its gold and silver would allow Abraham to employ those very resources for charity, hospitality and spreading the knowledge of G-d.

But why did Abraham say that this blessing would come through Sarah?

Here we encounter a beautiful teaching concerning the unique spiritual quality of the Jewish woman.

Kabbalah and Chassidus explain that the feminine possesses a particular capacity to recognise and reveal holiness within the physical and the ordinary. While the masculine spiritual approach more naturally seeks inspiration by withdrawing from the material environment, the feminine possesses an extraordinary ability to discover G-dliness within the very fabric of everyday life.

This distinction is reflected even in the covenant of the Jewish people. A male child enters the covenant through circumcision on the eighth day, whereas a Jewish girl is considered naturally complete in this respect from birth. Her physical existence itself expresses a greater readiness to receive and reveal the Divine soul.

Abraham therefore understood that Sarah possessed precisely the spiritual quality required for their mission in Egypt. Moreover, he was confident that Sarah would be protected. His words were not an expression of indifference towards her, but reflected his understanding of Sarah’s indispensable role in their Divine mission.

In this light, the words “so that it may go well with me because of you” acquire an entirely different meaning. It was through Sarah that their descent would achieve its intended result.

This also explains the statement of our Sages that the Jewish people were ultimately redeemed from Egypt in the merit of the righteous Jewish women.

THE TRUE WEALTH OF EGYPT

We can now appreciate why G-d insisted that the Jewish people leave Egypt with great wealth.

Had they departed empty-handed, having left Egypt’s material resources behind, an essential aspect of their mission would have remained unfulfilled. The gold and silver would ultimately contribute to the building of a sanctuary for G-d, becoming instruments of Divine service.

There is also a deeper meaning to this wealth.

In Kabbalah, silver and gold represent love and awe of G-d. The soul, before descending into this world, possesses love and reverence for its Creator. But in Heaven, surrounded by the revelation of Divinity, such feelings arise naturally.

Here on earth, the situation is entirely different. The soul encounters a world filled with distractions, competing attractions and endless possibilities. When, despite all this, a person consciously chooses to direct his love and awe towards G-d, those feelings acquire a depth and richness that could not have been achieved in Heaven.

Thus, the descent of the soul into the physical world produces a spiritual wealth attainable only through the challenges of earthly existence.

WHERE HOLINESS TRULY MATTERS

This teaching has profound implications for the way we understand our daily lives.

We tend to regard our most spiritual moments as those spent in prayer, Torah study or the observance of special occasions. These are certainly precious and indispensable. But they are not the ultimate objective.

The ultimate objective is what happens afterwards.

How do we conduct ourselves in business? How do we eat? How do we use our money? How do we treat the people with whom we interact throughout the day?

These apparently mundane activities constitute the very arena in which the purpose of creation is fulfilled.

We have Yom Kippur once a year, Shabbos once a week, and the six ordinary days during which we engage with the physical world. Our sacred occasions and moments of spiritual inspiration equip us to bring holiness into those six days.

We do not conduct business merely so that we can finish and go to shul to connect with G-d. We go to shul so that, when we return to our business, we will conduct ourselves in a G-dly manner.

There is a wonderful story concerning the fourth Rebbe of Chabad, Rabbi Shmuel, known as the Rebbe Maharash.

Unlike his father, the Tzemach Tzedek, the Rebbe Maharash conducted himself with considerable material splendour. He travelled in a carriage drawn by six white horses and possessed beautiful gold watches and other fine possessions.

A visitor to Lubavitch was troubled by this display of wealth. He had expected a great spiritual leader to live with the utmost material simplicity, and upon returning home he voiced his criticism.

The Rebbe’s father, Reb Meir Shlomo, responded with a pointed question: For whom did G-d create gold and silver?

Was it not created so that it could be used in the service of holiness?

The Rebbe, he explained, knew how to transform his gold and silver into a sanctuary for G-d.

And therein lies the essence of our mission. Our moments of prayer, Shabbos observance and Torah study provide the inspiration and spiritual strength to conduct ourselves accordingly. But the real work takes place amid the ordinary circumstances of daily life, through the choices we make, the way we treat others and the manner in which we employ the resources G-d has entrusted to us.

It is through these everyday encounters that the world is gradually prepared for the complete revelation of G-dliness, with the coming of Mashiach, speedily in our days.