Letter 8: The Founding of the Jewish People

From Avraham to Egypt to Israel, all in just one letter

Summary

Avraham was chosen as the ancestor of the nation who would serve the role described in the previous letter. Hashem highlights this purpose in His first directive to Avraham: “V’nivrichu v’cha kol mishpechos ha’adamah — All the families of the earth will be blessed through you.” Later, Hashem identifies Avraham’s standout quality as his ability to “teach his children to keep the ways of God to do kindness and justice.”

Rav Hirsch highlights three qualities expressed by Avraham:

• Love for Hashem, expressed by loving His children: “He cared for them, he saved and instructed them… and prayed on their behalf to the Judge of All.”

• Emunah — rock-like trust

• Yirah — fear of God which is ready to surrender everything to Him.

These traits are passed from Avraham to his children, eventually yielding a family of 70 imbued with these qualities. However, in order to become Hashem’s nation — meaning a nation that represents Hashem on the world stage — they had to first lose everything that would establish them as a nation naturally. It had to be clear to everyone that the Jewish People exist solely due to Hashem’s intervention, just as Avraham and Sarah only gave birth to Yitzchak once it was clear to everyone that he would not give birth naturally. For this reason, they had to endure slavery in Egypt. Upon redemption, it became clear to everyone that they would represent Hashem’s influence among the nations of the world. By receiving the Torah in the desert (rather than in Israel), the Jewish People became a nation, “a body whose soul was Torah.”

Thereby, it came to be a mamleches kohanim, a “kingdom of priests,” a nation serving as the guardian of God’s Word in the midst of humanity., as a priest serves amidst his people. At the same time, by fulfilling God’s Word, it was to become a goy kadosh, a “holy nation,” standing apart in holiness, never entering into the activities and aspirations of the other nations, but demonstrating human sanctity by its own way of life.

The one trait that the Jewish People needed to work on in Egypt and the desert was emunah — rock-like trust. Everything they were to receive after becoming a nation — “a land, prosperity, and the institutions of statehood” — was contingent on the original acceptance of the Torah and God’s guidance. In other words, the promise of a land was a means to the end of Divine service and modeling for the nations of the world what a country with God at the center should look like.

Next week, letter 9 — Exile.

Diving Deeper

Avraham’s Mission

In the previous piece, we noted Rav Hirsch’s centering of the Midrash about Hashem desiring/establishing a dirah b’tachtonim, a “dwelling place below,” throughout his commentary to the Torah.¹ At last count, I’ve come across at least fifteen references — just in Bereishis and Shemos, with one each in Vayikra and Tehillim. While there are various versions of this Midrash — Tanchuma Naso 16, Tanchuma Pekudei 6, Bereishis Rabbah 19:7, Bamidbar Rabbah 13:2, Shir Hashirim Rabbah 5 — each one highlights Avraham as the one who reversed the trend of Hashem distancing Himself from the world and started bringing Him back towards the goal of living among us down below.²

In addition to Rav Hirsch’s read of “V’nivrichu” in the letter, he understands “V’heyeh berachah” as communicating a similar calling to Avraham: not “and you will be blessed,” but “and be a blessing.” Rav Hirsch writes:

These two Hebrew words capsulize the whole moral mission on whose accomplishment the fulfillment of God’s own wish depends: “I wish to make your name great; therefore, you, become a blessing! I wish to make of you a nation that will be a beacon to the nations, a nation to which the others need only look in order to become aware of their own tasks. And the task that is assigned to you — as distinct from the aspirations of all other nations — is: to become a blessing!”… Its life is to be devoted to the Divine aims of bringing harmony to manking and to the world and restoring man to his former glory…. Its name will become prominant among the nations, so that they, too, should be educated to these same aspirations: “Va’avarcha va’agadlah shimecha.”

In one of my all-time favorite bits of Midrashic wordplay, the Midrash reads “v’heyeh berachah” as “v’heyeh bereichah — and be a pool,” a mikveh. It explains: “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.”³ Avraham is charged to serve as a mikveh for mankind (which immediately calls to mind Rabbi Akiva’s description of Hashem doing the same for us — “Mah ha’mikvah mitaher es ha’temei’im, af HKBH metaher es Yisrael”).

Finally, the Rambam gives halachic expression to this mission by establishing it as the “shiur for the mitzvah of ahavas Hashem”:⁴

וכבר בארנו שזאת המצוה גם כן כוללת שנהיה קוראים לבני האדם כולם לעבודתו יתעלה ולהאמין בו, וזה שאתה כשתאהב איש אחד תספר בשבחיו ותרבה בהם ותקרא בני האדם לאהוב אותו וזה עד"מ כן בשתאהב אותו יתעלה באמת כאשר הגיע לך מהשגת אמתתו אתה קורא בלי ספק הסכלים והפתיים לדעת ידיעת האמת אשר ידעתו. ולשון ספרי ואהבת את ה' אהבהו על הבריות כאברהם אביך שנאמר ואת הנפש אשר עשו בחרן ור"ל כמו שאברהם מפני שהיה אוהב כמו שהעיד הכתוב אברהם אוהבי וזה בעוצם השגתו קרא בני האדם להאמין בשם מרוב אהבתו כן אתה אהוב אותו עד שתקרא אליו בני האדם.

Just as Avraham expressed his love for Hashem by calling others to His service, we are meant to do the same. (I once brought this idea up in a conversation with someone who thought we’re not meant to have anything to do with the nations of the world and was told “We’re not supposed to emulate the Avos like that.” Then I showed him this Rambam. But was the Rambam really needed to know such a line was misguided?)⁵

For more on this theme, see Rav Hirsch to the introduction to bris milah — Bereishis 17:2 and especially 6.

What Is Emunah?

Rav Hirsch consistently explains emunah as trust, not belief. In the context of Avraham accepting Hashem’s promise of descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky (“v’he’emin baHashem”), Rav Hirsch writes:

Emunah is the essence of Judaism; but to define emunah as “belief” is to empty the term of its true content. Belief is an act of the mind, sometimes only an opinion. Every believer thinks his beliefs are true, based on the reasoning and assurances of someone else. Nowadays, religion is identified with belief, and belief is thought to be the essence of religion… He’emin baHashem means to put one’s trust in God; to be in God’s hand like clay in the potter’s hand. A maamin casts his burden on God; God is his Fashioner and Educator, Supporter and Guide. in short, a maamin entrusts himself entirely to God.⁶

Rather than (blind) faith, Rav Hirsch understands Judaism to be based in the knowledge established by our encounter with Hashem at Har Sinai.

Mamleches Kohanim V’Goy Kadosh

Rav Hirsch’s understanding of mamleches kohanim lines up with two approaches in the Rishonim — the Seforno, and R’ Avraham ben haRambam in the name of his father.

Seforno:

ואתם תהיו לי ממלכת כהנים. ובזה תהיו סגולה מכלם כי תהיו ממלכת כהנים להבין ולהורות לכל המין האנושי לקרוא כלם בשם ה', ולעבדו שכם אחד, כמו שיהיה ענין ישראל לעתיד לבא, כאמרו ואתם כהני ה' תקראו וכאמרו כי מציון תצא תורה:

Rav Avraham ben haRambam:

ופירוש ממלכת כהנים, שהכהן של כל עדה הוא המנהיג, שהוא הנכבד שלה והדוגמה שלה שאנשי העדה ילכו בעקבותיו וימצאו את הדרך הישר על ידו. ואמר תהיו אתם בשמירת תורתי מנהיגי העולם, {ש}היחס שלכם אליהם {יהיה} כיחס הכהן אל עדתו – ילכו העולם בעקבותיכם ויהיו מחקים את מעשיכם ויתהלכו בדרכיכם. ענין זה אני מעתיקו בפירוש {פסוק} זה מן אבא מרי ז״ל

This reinforces the approach of the Jewish People serving as the teachers of humanity discussed above and in the previous letter. However, that needs to be considered together with the call to remain a goy kadosh, a holy nation standing apart in holiness. It would be self-destructive to insert ourselves among the nations of the world; rather than them learning from us, we would much more quickly learn from them, spelling the end of the Jewish People and their mission representing Hashem and His values. We cannot accomplish the former phrase without insisting on the latter.

Israel as Means to an End

Throughout the past few letters, Rav Hirsch has used the phrase “means to an end” contrasted to “an end unto itself.” Everything in life, for Rav Hirsch, is meant to revolve around fulfilling one’s Divinely appointed mission. The moment something else becomes intrinsically valuable, an end unto itself, such as building up wealth and possessions, one is already off-track. Here, he applies the same thought to Eretz Yisrael: Hashem gave us a country as a means of accomplishing the mission He gave us of centering Him in all aspects of our lives (and modeling for the nations of the world what such a life looks like). Thus, as we’ll see in the next letter, when we fail to use our country that way, Hashem takes it away from us — exile.

Rav Avraham Yitzchak Hakohen Kook, zt”l, and his son Rav Tzvi Yehudah, zt”l, both held that such a description of Eretz Yisrael was wrongheaded.⁷ There were a few issues for which both Rav Kooks criticized Rav Hirsch pretty strongly, such as Rav Hirsch’s critique of the Rambam (spoiler alert, coming up in Letter 18); I could well be wrong, but my feeling is that this perspective explains some of the vociferousness. One even accused Rav Hirsch of rejecting the kedushah of Eretz Yisrael and declaring Berlin to the be the new Jerusalem, something which is demonstrably out of line with Rav Hirsch’s writings on the kedushah and eternal importance of Eretz Yisrael.

Exile in Egypt and Our Formation as a Nation

This idea is too big to summarize here. If possible, I’ll try to write up in advance of Pesach. Suffice it to say that this an essential part of understanding the entire narrative of galus Mitzrayim — to become Hashem’s nation in a way that was incontrovertibly obvious to the nations of the world that we only exist because of Him. Matzah/chametz reminds us of that truth, as well.

1. I was informed over Shabbos that in Israel, this idea is referred to as “dirah l’matah” because “dirah b’tachtonim” has a bit of a different connotation in modern Hebrew.

2. Interestingly, the version in Tanchuma Naso has “he’emid Avraham” as opposed to “amad Avraham,” implying that Hashem proactively brought about an Avraham figure rather than Avraham being the right person at the right time. Also important to note that this doesn’t include the shutafim b’tachtonim Midrashim, which seems to be a parallel idea (highlighted by the Rav in Halachic Man).

3. Bereishis Rabbah 39:11. Good, no?

4. Formulation of Rabbi Mayer Twersky, shlita.

5. What about “Jews don’t proselytize”? A couple of points: 1 - Rambam seems to be talking about bringing non-Jews to monotheism and 7 mitzvos, not Judaism. 2 - that entire idea seems to be based in the fact that we initially rebuff non-Jews who express interest in converting. But it seems clear that that is a tactic to establish their seriousness and commitment, not an anti-proselytization approach. I’d be curious to see sources that are explicit about not proselytizing, if anyone has to share.

6. Bereishis 15:6.

7. Sources required.