LECH LECHA III | ךל ךל ג

Adapted from a sichah delivered on Shabbos Parshas Lech Lecha, 5711 (1950)

Introduction

The Rebbe Rashab once said, “The really joyful week is Lech Lecha, for throughout that entire week we live with Avraham.”1 “Living with” someone who lived nearly four thousand years ago is not a study in ancient history. It is an ongoing challenge to emulate his qualities – including mesiras nefesh, self-sacrifice – the heritage which he bequeathed to his descendants, i.e., every Jew. It’s a challenge that we face joyfully, drawing on the infinite Divine energy G-d grants us.

The Legacy of Avraham

1. Every day during the week of Parshas Lech Lecha, we live with Avraham, our Patriarch, the first to open the channel of mesiras nefesh, self-sacrifice,1 who bequeathed this quality as a heritage to all Jews throughout the generations.

This includes even converts because they also share a connection to Avraham. They are called “children of Avraham.” Only the actual descendants of Yitzchak and Yaakov share a connection with these Patriarchs; however, all Jews, including converts, share a connection with Avraham.

Therefore, in his well-known responsum,2 which is based on the Talmud Yerushalmi,3 Rambam writes that converts may also say “to our forefathers” when reciting the Grace after Meals and other prayers because Avraham, our Patriarch, is a father to all converts. Consequently, it is understood that the power of self-sacrifice which he bequeathed as a heritage to all Jews is granted to converts as well. Therefore, they too are called upon to fulfill the Torah and its commandments with complete vigor, even though this requires self-sacrifice.4

Building on the above, it becomes apparent why the week following Parshas Lech Lecha must certainly be a joyous one because there the Torah speaks about Avraham, our Patriarch, after he fulfilled the commandment of circumcision, which was an extremely lofty matter.

In a talk delivered on Simchas Torah, 5710,5 my revered father-in-law, the Rebbe Rayatz, said that when Avraham our Patriarch was seventy-five years old, he was already a “titleholder,” a master over all his conduct, who had attained the spiritual level described as “intellect concealed from all thought.”6 He possessed all these attainments even before being commanded Lech lecha, “Go forth…,” and thus before he circumcised himself. As such, imagine to what level he achieved through the mitzvah of circumcision!

The mitzvah of circumcision is connected with the concept of birth. All of Avraham’s attainments before the mitzvah of circumcision had a connection to the limits of the created beings; therefore, it was possible for him to attain them with his own power. By contrast, the mitzvah of circumcision was granted from Above. Moreover, as explained in Chassidus,7 there are two levels of circumcision: one achieved by man, the actual circumcision of the foreskin, and one granted from Above, as reflected in the verse,8 “G-d your L-rd will circumcise your heart.” Avraham’s circumcision related to that loftier level. And as a whole, Chassidus explains that through the mitzvah of circumcision one draws down exceedingly lofty spiritual lights, levels of G-dliness that entirely transcend creation and the Chainlike Order of Existence (Seder HaHishtalshelus).9

For this reason, circumcision is connected with the concept of birth, for the birth of a child represents something entirely new, the revelation of the power of the Ein Sof, G-d’s infinity, in these lower realms, as explained in Chassidus.10

Consequently, this week must certainly be a joyous one, and the weeks that follow should also be joyous. As the Rebbe Rayatz states,11 on Simchas Torah, there is drawn down an all-encompassing light of a general nature that includes all the encompassing lights of the entire month of Tishrei. And, from Simchas Torah, this impetus of joy is drawn down and extends throughout the entire year.