וַיּוֹצֵא אֹתוֹ הַחוּצָה וַיֹּאמֶר הַבֶּט נָא הַשָּׁמַיְמָה וּסְפֹר הַכּוֹכָבִים אִם תּוּכַל לִסְפֹּר אֹתָם וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ כֹּה יִהְיֶה זַרְעֶךָ
He [Hashem] took him [Avram] outside and said, “Look now toward the heavens and count the stars if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” (15:5)
Commenting on the opening words, “He took him outside,” the midrash explains that Hashem took Avram outside of his astrological boundaries and limitations, which had determined that Avram was incapable of fathering children. To this, Hashem said, “Avram cannot father children, but Avraham can!” In a parallel discussion of Hashem elevating Avraham above mazal, the Gemara references the famous principle that, “Ain mazal le’Yisrael – Mazal does not affect Israel.”
The Meshech Chochmah explains that the notion that Israel are above mazal applies specifically to the Jewish people as a whole, for their national destiny is overseen directly by Hashem and is not subject to the forces of mazal. On an individual level, however, mazal can exert influence. And indeed, there are numerous statements and discussions in the Gemara which describe and discuss the effect that mazal has on people; these discussions pertain to the individual.
1 Bereishis Rabbah 44:10, cited by Rashi s.v. vayotzei.
2 Nedarim 32a.
3 See e.g. Moed Katan 28a and Shabbos 156a.
Rabbi Immanuel Bernstein2023 / 5784
MESHECH CHOCHMAH
Parshas Lech Lecha
However, in light of this distinction, we return to our pasuk, where we see that Avraham was elevated above mazal, and we are confronted with a simple question. Given that Avraham was one person, how could he be placed beyond the influence of mazal? The answer, says the Meshech Chochmah, is that an individual upon whom the entire nation is dependent is himself judged as the nation would be.
Here, too, as the progenitor of the Jewish people, Avraham’s ability to bring them into the world certainly entitled him to partake of the principle of “Ain mazal le’Yisrael” which pertains to them as a people.
