Tests of Faith: D’var Torah for Parashat Lekh L’cha (Genesis 12:1—17:27)

Tests of Faith: D’var Torah for Parashat Lekh L’cha (Genesis 12:1—17:27)
By Rabbi Boaz D. Heilman

Every mythological hero has his tests—the proof of his mettle. Hercules had his twelve labors. Abraham had ten, more in line with the Jewish numbers system.

Of course, like so much else in the Torah, what exactly the ten are, is a matter of debate.

What I wonder, however, is why some of Abraham’s tests—at least that’s what they seem like to me—were not included on any of these lists. Why, for example, doesn’t the fact that, when he leaves the home of his ancestors on his journey to the Promised Land and takes Lot—his dead brother’s son—with him, that doesn’t make the top ten list. Is it such common decency to take special care of your nephews that, when Abraham does it, God merely smiles and says—yeah well you would have done exactly the same!

And what about that famous argument to save Sodom and Gomorrah from annihilation? God tells Abraham His plans and just waits for the argument to begin. Would God destroy the cities if there were 50 just people in it? Of course not! What about 45? Nope. 40? 35? 30? 20? 10? No to all. At that point God simply walks away, and Abraham is pretty certain he accomplished nothing. Maybe that’s why it doesn’t count. The cities will be destroyed. When Moses comes along, he will push the envelope even further and finish what Abraham failed to: God will promise to be compassionate, not merely just.

Perhaps when we look more closely at the rabbi-approved list of Abraham’s tests of faith we will be able to discern a common theme. Since this week’s portion only covers the first 6 of these tests, we will look only at those this time and leave the other four for next week’s d’var.

The Rambam (Moses Maimonides, 1135-1204), sees Abraham’s exile from his family and homeland as the first test. The second is his reaction to the famine in Canaan; the third is the moral corruption that he sees around him while in exile in Egypt; the fourth is his behavior in war; fifth is his marriage to Hagar after despairing of Sarah ever bearing a son for him; sixth is his act of self-circumcision.

Leaving home is always difficult. Especially at seventy-five, which, according to our text, was Abraham's age when he set out for the Promised Land. Even allowing for some literary license, he must have been quite old, established and rooted in his homeland. Now he had to uproot himself and his family, leave many of his relatives and certainly any property he must have owned, and go off to some misty far off land, following a voice only he could hear, there to start again, learn a new language, re-establish himself, plant new roots. Did anyone try to dissuade Abraham? Undoubtedly. Yet, without a word, he obeys God’s command to leave, taking his beloved wife (67 years old), his nephew, all his portable possessions, and simply leaves. No map in hand, no GPS on his camel, just following the stars and God’s directions.

Check. He passes that test.

Barely having reached the Land of Canaan, Abraham has to leave it again because of terrible drought and famine. I can hear the “I told you so’s” even now. But Abraham’s faith is such that he knows this is only a temporary diversion. God will bring him back; of that he has no doubt.

Check again.

When in Rome, do as the Romans, goes the popular saying. But not for Abraham. Egypt—rich, powerful, cosmopolitan—was quite the fleshpot. But Abraham understands that moral turpitude undermines our humanity and endangers the Divine image within us. Yet he is also fully aware of the dangers of standing out in the crowd. Deftly negotiating his way, Abraham again follows God’s directives. His faith is that God will protect him and defend the honor of his beautiful wife, Sarai. And for that, he is rewarded with blessings.

Check.

War. When they say “war is hell,” that’s not only because of the bad things we see around us. It’s because of the terrible things it brings out in us. The vicious hatred, the blood-lust, the desire for revenge, the temptation for easy booty—these are enticements that can bring down even the best of us. Yet Abraham remains single-minded and lofty in his objectives—to free his nephew, Lot, who was captured by a warring and cruel overlord. When he is offered a share of the loot, Abraham adamantly refuses to accept even a penny of it. None of the carefree windfall of war for him.

Check plus.

The tests get harder. Family problems at home. Abram and Sarai (as they were still known at that point in the story) have no children. Sarai has Abram take Hagar, Sarai’s maidservant and impregnate her. Sarai’s hope is to raise that child as her own. Abram agrees, but not without marrying Hagar first.

How does Abraham pass this test? What exactly was he thinking at that point? That bringing home a second wife would not be problematic? Why did he give in so easily to Sarai’s impatient and reckless desire for a son? Did he not have faith in God’s promise that he and Sarai would have a child of their own? Without a doubt, all these thoughts must have troubled him immensely. It wasn’t without misgivings that he embarked on this rocky and dangerous path. Yet when he did as his wife requested, he did so with love, compassion and respect for all involved. He didn’t impose himself on Hagar—he married her. Later, when trouble came, he tried to mediate, tried to find a way to resolve the jealousy, to bring harmony and peace back into the domicile. Ultimately, it would be his love for Sarah and his faith in God’s promise that Sarah will yet bear a son that would determine his decisions, painful as these were going to be.

That brings us to the 6th test, the final one for this portion: As God commands him, Abraham (now with an “H”) circumcises himself and all other males living in his household. Ishmael, Abraham and Hagar’s son and the future ancestor of the Arab nations, was 13. Abraham was 99.

Check plus plus.

Life is full of tests. So far, Abraham has proven himself a man of faith and love, a man of his word, a man of vision and hope. But the hardest test is yet to come.

©2010 Boaz D. Heilman