Rabbi Frand on Parshas Chayei Sarah
These divrei Torah were adapted from the hashkafa portion of Rabbi Yissocher
Frand's Commuter Chavrusah Tapes on the weekly portion: Tape #348
Determining the Salary of the Shadchan.
Good Shabbos!
The Reciprocal Nature of Personal Providence
When Avraham came to purchase a grave site from Efron the Chittite, for
his wife, Sarah, the Torah says "Efron was sitting (yoshev - present
tense) among the people of Ches" [Bereshis 23:10]. However, the verb
'yoshev' is written 'defectively' without the letter vov. It could thus be
read as he (just) sat down (yoshav - past tense).
Rashi notes that the reason for this spelling is to teach us a hidden
meaning. On this very day that Avraham came to negotiate with Efron, Efron
had been appointed governor of the city council. He rose to power and began
his reign, so to speak, on that very day. Why was this necessary? Rashi
tells us, "because of the importance of Avraham, he arose to leadership."
Until that day, Efron was just another citizen of the town. It would be
beneath Avraham's dignity to haggle over a piece of real estate with 'just
any Joe'. Therefore, G-d interfered and had Efron appointed to a position
of authority and power so that when Avraham came into town to purchase a
burial plot, he would be dealing with the town's most respected citizen.
What is this Rashi really saying? Do we really think that Avraham Avinu -
who just lost his wife -- gave a moment's thought to the status of the
person with whom he would have to negotiate to purchase a burial plot? Does
it make sense that G-d Himself should need to get involved in the local
Chittite politics so that Avraham should not have to deal with a low
level real estate broker? This was the last thing in the world that Avraham
was worried about at that moment!
And yet, we learn from Chazal that G-d did feel it was worth the 'effort'
to intervene in the local election and bring Efron to power for the sake of
Avraham's honor.
Rav Eliya Meir Bloch quotes from his father that we learn a very basic
principle in the concept of personal Providence (hashgocha pratis) from
this incident. Hashgocha pratis is a very difficult and a very
misunderstood concept. Liberally translated, it means that G-d intervenes
in the lives of people. It means that He is personally interested in my
life and He will interfere on my behalf.
Most people only mention this idea when something 'big' happens in their
lives. We often hear it mentioned regarding finding one's marriage
partner. In this instance, it is quite common to hear people say "This was
'Hashgocha' [Providence]".
What does 'Hashgocha pratis' really mean? Is it 'Hashgocha pratis' if I
find a parking space right next to the entrance of the supermarket? Or
does Hashgocha pratis only apply to big things in life, like finding a job
or finding a spouse? Is it reserved for such things as 'major illness', or
are mosquito bites also 'Hasgocha pratis'?
The answer is that it all depends on the person. Our Sages tell us that
Divine Providence is like a shadow. "The L-rd is your shadow upon your
right hand" [Tehillim 121:5]. The relationship that He has with us is like
that of a shadow. If I raise my hand, my shadow raises its hand. If I lift
my foot, the shadow lifts its foot.
A person determines the amount of involvement that G-d will have in his
life. If G-d is a major factor in my life then G-d WILL BECOME a major
factor in my life, correspondingly. To the extent that my actions are
determined by G-d and G-d plays a role in my life, to that extent, that
which happens to me will be determined by G-d and I will play a role in
His 'life', so to speak.
It is possible for G-d to be intimately engaged in every step of our lives
-- even in the smallest details which are basically irrelevant to us -- if
we have made G-d intimate in our own lives.
It did not make a difference if Avraham was at all perturbed whether he
would be dealing with Efron the Governor or Efron the simple citizen.
Avraham was on such a high spiritual level that G-d was 'personally'
concerned with whom Avraham had to deal. Avraham was so intimately involved
with G-d that G-d personally took care of even the minutia of this
righteous person's life.
"Reward" versus "Merit": A Cryptic Baal HaTurim Analyzes Eliezer's Prayer
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There is an interesting but difficult Baal HaTurim on the verse "And he
said, "Hashem, G-d of my master Avraham, may You arrange it for me this day
that You do kindness with my master Avraham (v'asay chessed im Adoni
Avraham)" [Bereshis 24:12]. The Baal HaTurim states that the last letters
of the last three words of the pasuk (im Adoni Avraham) spell 'mayim - mem
yud mem' [water]. The Baal HaTurim extrapolates into Eliezer's words "in
reward for 'Please take a bit of water' [18:4] (where Avraham offered a bit
of water to the Angels at the beginning of last week's parsha), please
answer me by the water".
Eliezer made a deal with G-d. The deal was that the woman who would bring
him water and also offer water to his camels would be the woman he would
pick to be Yitzchak's wife. Eliezer prayed that G-d in fact give this sign
as a reward for Avraham's offering water to the Angels (who he thought were
common wayfarers).
The Baal HaTurim points out that if we do not only look at the last three
words of the pasuk (im Adoni Avraham) but also at the previous four words
(chessed im Adoni Avraham), the last letters of those four words spell
'domim' - daled mem yud mem [blood]. This alludes to a request by Eliezer
that he be answered by virtue of the merit of the blood of the Akeidah
[Binding of Yitzchak] in which Avraham was prepared to sacrifice his son
Yitzchak to obey G-d's command.
The Sefer Kishutei Torah discusses this Baal HaTurim and raises the
following powerful question: Eliezer had two 'merits' of Avraham to offer
as justification that G-d should answer his prayers. One merit was the
Binding of Yitzchak and the other merit was the fact that he offered water
to guests. These, however, would seem to be totally incommensurate merits.
Why even bring up the offering of water when the merit of the Akeidah is
available? After all, on Rosh HaShanah, when we invoke the merit of the
Akeidah, we do not mention the merit of the water offered to the Angels. In
all our prayers, the merit of the 'Akeidah' is always our 'ace in the
hole'. Yet, here Eliezer asks to be answered in merit of the water. The
Akeida is almost like an afterthought. Why?
The Kishutei Torah notes that the Baal HaTurim chose his words carefully.
Regarding mentioning the merit of offering the water, the Baal HaTurim says
"b'schar" [in reward for]. Regarding mentioning the Akeida, the Baal
HaTurim merely says "b'zechus" [in the merit of].
There is no question that in terms of 'zechus', in terms of acts of
greatness, the 'Binding of Yitzchak' was a far more important act than that
of offering water to the guests. But there is something about doing a
chessed [kindness] for another human being that creates an indebtedness by
the Master of the World. When we do favors for our fellow man, G-d 'owes us
one', so to speak.
Fulfillment of commandments between man and G-d (such as Akeidas Yitzchak)
is a great thing. It establishes merit. However it does not make G-d
'indebted' to us. The only thing that makes G-d indebted to us, as it were,
is if we go out of our way to help another person. This creates an
'indebtedness' by G-d.
This is why the Baal HaTurim said, "in reward for" the offering of the bit
of water. Eliezer was asking to be paid off. When we pray before G-d and
ask to be "paid back" for our actions, the most effective "line of credit"
we can present is not our fulfillment of commandments between man and G-d,
but fulfillment of the commandments between man and man. The fact that
Avraham put himself out and gave of his own for the benefit of someone
else, creates -- as it were -- a debt by G-d such that when the chips were
down, Eliezer could pray to "cash in" that good deed and ask for "pay back".
This write-up was adapted from the hashkafa portion of Rabbi Yissocher
Frand's Commuter Chavrusah Torah Tape series on the weekly Torah portion.
The complete list of halachic topics covered in this series for Parshas Vayeira are provided below:
Also Available: Mesorah / Artscroll has published a collection of Rabbi Frand's essays. The book is entitled:
and is available through your local Hebrew book store or from Project Genesis, 1-410-654-1799.
