In lashon hakodesh, we find two words that mean tests – bechinah and nisayon. What is the difference between a bechinah and a nisayon? A bechinah is a test meant to evaluate what you already know. A nisayon, on the other hand, is meant to challenge you to bring out hidden strengths you didn’t know you had, to raise you up, to strengthen your connection with Hashem. It’s like spiritual exercise. A nisayon doesn’t measure where you are; it raises you to a new level.
That’s the meaning of the pasuk, “VehaElokim nisa es Avraham” - Hashem tested Avraham. The Ramban explains that Hashem doesn’t give a test to find out anything; He already knows the outcome. The purpose of a nisayon is to benefit the person being tested, to help him recognize how much ahavas Hashem and emunah he truly possesses.
Now imagine this nisayon: a man packing his bags and walking out the door, no address, no map, no destination. Just one command: “Lech lecha - go.” That was Avraham Avinu. Hashem tells him, “Lech lecha mei’artzecha...” - leave your land, your birthplace, your father’s house... but no destination where to go. Why the mystery?
Rashi explains that Hashem purposely kept Avraham Avinu in suspense so the journey itself would be precious in his eyes. And more than that, every step Avraham took, every moment of travel, was another act of emunah. For that, Hashem would reward him for each and every step. If Avraham had known the destination from the start, he would have received one reward for going, not for every step along the way.
Rav Baruch Ber Leibowitz adds a beautiful insight. Had Hashem told Avraham Avinu to go to Eretz Yisroel, the traveling would have been only a hechsher mitzvah, a preparation for the mitzvah. The mitzvah would begin upon arrival. But since Hashem withheld the destination, the going itself became the mitzvah. Each step Avraham took was a fulfillment of Hashem’s command.
Rav Yechezkel Abramsky connects this to the Mishnah in Sukkah (25a): “Shluchai mitzvah peturin min hasukkah” - one who is traveling for a mitzvah is exempt from sitting in the sukkah. Rashi explains that this refers to someone traveling to learn Torah. Rav Abramsky asks: why specify traveling to learn Torah, why not one who is learning Torah?
He answers that Torah learning is unique. Every second of learning is a new mitzvah; when one second ends, a new mitzvah begins. There’s no continuous state of osek b’mitzvah. But when a person is traveling to learn Torah, the entire journey is one long, continuous mitzvah. Every moment on the road is part of one mission; he’s truly osek b’mitzvah. That’s why Rashi gives that example of travelling to learn Torah as an example.
So too with Avraham Avinu. If Hashem had said, “Go to Eretz Yisroel,” the mitzvah would begin upon arrival. The travel would be only preparation for the mitzvah. But since Hashem said simply, “Lech lecha” - “go”, the mitzvah was in the journey itself. Every step, every stride, every day on the road was a new fulfillment of Hashem’s command.
The Birchas Peretz (the Steipler) adds that not knowing where he was going made each step more difficult and therefore more precious. Walking toward the unknown demanded constant emunah and bitachon. That’s why Chazal say that Avraham was rewarded “for every step he took”, because each step was another victory of emunah.
In life, we often face our own nisyonos, moments when we don’t see the map, when the next turn is unclear. But if we keep walking with emunah, trusting that Hashem is guiding every step, then our journey, too, becomes a mitzvah. Every step is precious.
