October 20, 2021|י"ד חשון ה' אלפים תשפ"ב Lech Lecha 5782 - Because We're Different, We're Ivrim By Rabbi Beni Krohn

In the mid-1950s, The Long Beach rosh yeshivah, Rav Yitzchak Feigelstock was asked by Rav Aharon Kotler, the founding Rosh Yeshiva of the Lakewood Yeshiva, to accompany him on a hot summer day from Lakewood to a meeting in Philadelphia, pertaining to the founding of the Philadelphia Yeshivah.

 

As they were being driven back after a very long and tiring day, Rav Aharon was exhausted and hot; there was no air conditioning then in cars, and he was reclining on the back seat of the car, as Rav Fiegelstock was sitting in front with the driver.

 

As they came over the bridge from Philadelphia into New Jersey, Rav Aharon noticed, out of the corner of his eye, two 12-year-old boys, not Jewish, trying to hitchhike on the side of the road.

 

Of course, with the great Rosh Yeshiva in the back seat, the driver sped along on his way.

 

But Rav Aharon was unsettled.

 

“Did you see there were two boys on the side of the road looking for a lift?” he asked.

 

“I don’t pick up hitchhikers,” the driver said. “They can hurt you.”

 

“But they’re only kids — yungitchkes,” Rav Aharon insisted.

 

“Still, yungitchkes can also hurt you.”

 

Rav Aharon wasn’t pacified. [“Di mama vet zorgen oif zei]. Their mother will be worried about them.” And Rav Aharon kept at it.

 

They traveled another six miles past the bridge, and finally the driver asked Rav Aharon, “What does the Rosh Yeshivah want, that I should go back and pick them up?”

 

“Do you have a better idea?” he responded.

 

So, they turned back, and yes, the two non-Jewish boys were still there. And so, Rav Fiegelstock joined the Rosh Yeshivah in the back seat, the two kids squeezed into the front with the driver, and the gadol hador drove these two boys home; az di mama zol nisht zorgen oif zei — so a mother somewhere in New Jersey shouldn’t worry needlessly about her children.

 

Parshas Lech Lecha is full of some of the most foundational moments in the birth of our People.

Avraham & Sarah are commanded to leave their home and head for Eretz Canaan, and they do so without hesitation.
Hashem promises Avraham a child and that his ancestors will inherit the entirety of Eretz Canaan at the Bris Bein HaBesarim.
Avraham & Sarah have their names changed, as they are promised Yitzchak.

 

And then, in the middle of this entire story, we are introduced to the story of the war between the 4 kings and the 5 kings. They engage in a war between each other, as was want to happen in those days. 

 

And the question is: What is this story doing here? We are talking about the promises of the eternity of the Jewish People, the legacy of our forefather and foremother, Avraham & Sarah, and in the middle of all of it we are told about a war that involves nations which will last for a few more generations and be gone forever?! Why is this important? And why now?

 

One could argue that since one of the captives that was taken from Sedom by the 4 kings is Lot, and that Avraham is going to save Lot, there is relevance there.

 

But I saw a much more profound answer this week, offered by Professor Shoshana Schechter. 

 

[Professor Schechter will be here in our shul tomorrow morning for Kollel Yom Rishon taking place at 9:30am in our new Beit Midrash.]

 

And Professor Schechter argues that the answer to our question can be found in ONE PASUK in our story:

 

(יג) וַיָּבֹא הַפָּלִיט וַיַּגֵּד לְאַבְרָם הָעִבְרִי וְהוּא שֹׁכֵן בְּאֵלֹנֵי מַמְרֵא הָאֱמֹרִי אֲחִי אֶשְׁכֹּל וַאֲחִי עָנֵר וְהֵם בַּעֲלֵי בְרִית אַבְרָם:

 

There was a fugitive who had escaped the war, and he tells Avram Ha’Ivri – And Avram was living in Elonei Mamrei Ha’Emori, the brother of Eshkol and Aneir, and they had made a covenant with Avram.

 

This verse is strange for a number of reasons:

This is the first and only time that Avraham is referred to as Avraham Ha’Ivri. Rashi explains He came me’eiver hanahar, from the other side of the river.

But the medrash Rabba says something different:

"כל העולם כולו מעבר אחד והוא מעבר אחד" (בראשית רבה פרשה מב, ח).

 

The whole world was on one side and he was on the other.

 

But the question remains: Why is THIS moment the FIRST and ONLY time he is called Ha’Ivri? I would have thought to call him that when we first meet him – Vayomer HaShem El Avram Ha’Ivri Lech Lecha!?

 

This fugitive has run away, he has escaped, and he’s looking for someone to help them. And who does he go to? To Avraham. Why? Because he’s different from everyone else. 

 

And this brings us to the second anomaly in the pasuk:

 

Why does the Torah tell us HERE about the covenant, the peace treaty Avraham had signed with Enor, Eshkol, and Mamer?

 

Because it is emphasizing that Avraham doesn’t need war right now. He is living peacefully amongst his friends. He is doing his kiruv work. Why does he need to get involved in the war? 

 

And if you’ll say, but Avraham had to save Lot!? Avraham was an extraordinarily wealthy person at this point. We are told that just one perek earlier when he returns from Egypt. He could have negotiated Lot’s return for the right sum of money.  And either way, he didn’t have to join the entire war. Just save Lot and get out of there.

 

But, that, of course, is not what happens. Because Avraham is different. If he sees a tzara, he sees someone in need, he gets involved, he goes out to help, even if it has nothing to do with him.

 

And with this, we can answer our question: What does the story of the war of the 4 kings with the 5 kings have to do with Parshas Lech Lecha, the parsha that’s all about the legacy, the eternity of the Jewish People? 

 

The answer, of course, is that this story is in EXACTLY the right place because this is what the legacy of the Jewish People will be for eternity! 

 

To be a Jew means that if there is someone who is hurting, if there is a tzara, if there is someone in need, we will be there. Not because it helps us, but because it is simply who we are. Because we are different. We are Ivrim.

 

Every sefer of the Torah is given a nickname:

Vayikra is Toras Kohanim, as it details all of the laws of being a Kohein.