7. Creation 2.0 and 3.0
Finding our theme in two more creation narratives — Avraham and Am Yisrael
The Jewish People
Last week, we noted that the underlying theme of the Creation narrative for both Rav Hirsch and Rav Lichtenstein is the charge for man to step into the Circle of Life. The only creature granted free will, he is meant to utilize everything in creation in service of “developing and safeguarding the world,” giving meaning to every element by incorporating it into Divine service.
This same theme of committing oneself to developing the world through dedication to others is clear from another “creation” story: the creation of Bnei Yisrael. We will illustrate this with Hashem’s opening words to Avraham Avinu, and His preface to giving Bnei Yisrael the Torah at Har Sinai.1
Be a Blessing
The curtains open on Parashas Lech Lecha with Hashem commanding Avraham to leave his birthplace and homeland behind and travel to “the land that I will show you.” If he does so, Hashem promises, he will be made into a great nation, he will be blessed, and his name will be made great; but then the Torah adds another phrase, a puzzling one: v’heyeh berachah. What does this mean? It cannot mean that Avraham will be blessed, because that was just promised! What is the meaning of this phrase? Rav Hirsch explains that this phrase is not part of the blessing, but the purpose of the command: V’heyeh berachah, and be a blessing: I am sending you out to represent Me in the world and bring meaning to the lives of those around you.
{{This is too good to put in a footnote, but it also doesn’t necessarily belong in the main text, so I’ll just put it here:
Bereishis Rabbah 39:11 seems to convey the same idea with a creative exegesis: rather than read “v’heyeh berachah,” the Midrash reads “v’heyeh bereichah — and be a pool,” explaining: “Just as a pool purifies those who are impure, so too you should bring close those who are far and purify them for their father in Heaven.”2
How creative is that read!}}
The nation that you will establish wherever you arrive will be tasked with lifting up humanity to the level that they were meant to reach on their own, until they lost their direction and drowned in a flood of their own making. Rav Hirsch writes:
I would make you into a nation to which other nations have only to look to become conscious of what their task is, and this task, which you are to accomplish, in contrast to the efforts of all other nations, is “to become a blessing”! All others strive, not to be a blessing, but to be blessed…In the midst of a world of men who stamp naaseh lanu shem as the motto on all their endeavors, and self-aggrandizement and ruthless extension of their own well-being the deciding goal for all their efforts, the People of Abraham are, in private and public life to follow the one calling: heyeh berachah, to become a blessing. To dedicate themselves with all devotion to the Divine purpose of bringing happiness to the world and mankind, thereby as models, to re-establish for Man its original pure calling of Adam… (Commentary to the Torah, Bereishis 12:2)
Hashem’s charge to Avraham, and by extension to the nation that Avraham was destined to establish, was heyeh brachah — be a blessing. While it may sound innovative, it actually flows directly from the previous chapters of human history:3
God created a world and directed man to protect and develop it. From the very beginning, we were meant to recognize that we worked not for ourselves, but for God, the ultimate Creator (Shabbos, especially issur melachah). Man quickly went off the tracks, though, consistently derailed by two things: pleasure (eitz hadaas, nefilim, Dor Hamabul) and pride (eitz hadaas, Kayin, Dor Haflagah).
In order to keep the rest of humanity focused on their calling, Hashem designated one nation whose sole purpose would be to remind everyone else of this truth: They exist not for themselves, but to serve God by serving others. “Therefore, there would be introduced into the ranks of the nations one people which would demonstrate by its history and way of life that the sole foundation of life is God alone; that life’s only purpose is the fulfillment of His will…”4
This was meant to be the mission statement of this new nation: to remind the world of the Creator. And who better to be the forefather of this nation than Avraham, who had already begun to dedicate himself to just that objective?5 Therefore, at this fateful juncture of history, Hashem directed Avraham to commit to the fulfillment of the task originally set for all of humanity: to raise this world back up to Hashem by introducing its inhabitants to the Creator.6
Sinai: A Kingdom of Priests and a Holy Nation
Hundreds of years later, after guiding and directing the family of seventy souls down to Egypt, Hashem chose to formally establish Avraham’s descendants as this “model nation.” He redeemed them from slavery, acquiring them for Himself, and brought them to Sinai to formalize His relationship with them.7 Now would be the perfect time to reiterate the purpose for which this nation was being formed. And in fact, Hashem calls to Moshe upon arriving at the mountain and directs him to inform the people:8
So shall you say to Beis Yaakov, and tell to Bnei Yisrael: “You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and I carried you on the wings of eagles and brought you to Me. And now, if you will listen to my voice and observe My covenant, you will be my treasure (segulah) among all the people, for the entire world is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” These are the words that you shall speak to Bnei Yisrael.
Bnei Yisrael are told that they will be a mamleches Kohanim, a kingdom of priests, among the nations. Just as the Kohanim’s primary role among the Jewish People was to teach them Torah,9 so too Bnei Yisrael’s role among the nations. In the words of the Seforno: “This will make you special (segulah) from the other nations, for you will be the kingdom of priests to teach and cause the entire human race to understand to call out in the name of God together, and to serve Him as one group, as will be the role of the Jewish People in the future…”10 Standing on the cusp of receiving their Constitution, their founding document, this pronouncement serves as the goal of the entire endeavor: to model for the rest of the world what a God-centered life can look like. The Jewish People live not for themselves, but for the entire human race. They serve to bring humanity back to God, accomplishing His original purpose for the world.
Returning to Halachic Man
Three different places in the Torah, each one the start of a new era in history, communicate the idea that man is meant to be focused on contributing to this world: The creation of Man, calling him to join the symphony of Creation and dedicate himself to the ideal of l’ovdah u’l’shomrah; Hashem’s selection of Avraham, informing him of his mission to “be a blessing” to the nations of the world; and the introduction to Matan Torah, where Hashem declared our mission statement to be a “kingdom of priests and a holy nation,” informing the nations of the world of our shared imperative of avodas Hashem. In the Rav’s words, we are called to be not Religious Men, striving to leave this world behind to escape to the World to Come, but to be Halakhic Men, stubbornly striving to bring Hashem down into this world.
This is the mindset of a soldier in the Great Battalion: we are meant to lead the way for the rest of humanity, reminding them that we are all meant to take part in this project of developing this world according to the vision of our Commander in Chief. Next week, we’ll continue with the Torah’s narrative to see the practical expression given to this guiding principle.
As a teaser, we’ll later reveal a bombshell Midrash that actually stitches together all three of these moments — Creation, Hashem’s revelation to Avraham, and Hashem’s revelation to the Jewish People. If you know what I’m referring to, let me know!
This aligns beautifully with the Rambam’s description of Avraham Avinu’s quality of ahavas Hashem, which he expressed by bringing people to belief in God (Sefer Hamitzvos, Mitzvas Asei 3, quoting the Sifri).
For more on this, see Letters 5–7 and Rav Hirsch’s Commentary to Bereishis.
Letter 7.
Bereishis 12:5, 8.
See Netziv to Bereishis 17:4–9 for a similar perspective on the role of Avraham and Bnei Yisrael in relation to the rest of the world.
The centrality of Har Sinai in the Exodus narrative is expressed by the fact that already at Hashem’s initial revelation to Moshe Rabbeinu, He noted that Bnei Yisrael would be brought to Sinai to worship (Shemos 3:12).
Shemos 19:3–6.
See Devarim 33:10; Malachi 2:7; Rambam, Hil. Shemittah V’yovel 13:12.
Rabbi Avraham ben HaRambam explains similarly in his commentary to the Torah.