The following is from Rav Yaakov on the Parshah, a new English adaptation of the Torah of Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky zt”l, drawn from his sefer Emes L’Yaakov. This week’s selection is on Parshas Lech Lecha. For questions, comments or to subscribe email [email protected].
The Mitzvos of Mentschlichkeit
Avraham insisted that Lot leave, yet risked his life to rescue him. What responsibility remained after they separated?
וַיִּשְׁמַע אַבְרָם כִּי נִשְׁבָּה אָחִיו וַיָּרֶק אֶת חֲנִיכָיו
Avram heard that his kinsman had been taken captive, and he mobilized his trained men. (Bereishis 14:14)
Had Avraham asked a she’eilah whether he was obligated to go after the kings and rescue Lot, the answer would have been no. A person is not required to put himself in danger to save someone else.¹
Yet Avraham gathered his men and went to war. If halachah did not require it, what did?
The Avos are called יְשָׁרִים, the upright (Avodah Zarah 25a). Their conduct was guided not by the laws of the Torah, which had not yet been given, but by the uprightness with which Hashem created man:
הָאֱלֹקִים עָשָׂה אֶת הָאָדָם יָשָׁר
G-d made man upright. (Koheles 7:29)
Yashrus is what we would call mentschlichkeit: an honest sense of what a decent person is responsible for. And Avraham felt responsible for Lot. Lot’s father, Haran, had died in the furnace of Ur Kasdim because he declared that he believed in the G-d of Avraham. From then on, Avraham saw himself as responsible for Haran’s son. When Lot was captured, yashrus left him no choice.
What makes this remarkable is what had happened between them shortly before.
When strife broke out between their shepherds, Avraham told Lot:
אַל נָא תְהִי מְרִיבָה בֵּינִי וּבֵינֶךָ… הִפָּרֶד נָא מֵעָלָי
Let there be no strife between me and you… Please separate from me. (Bereishis 13:8–9)
Avraham saw that the quarrel was harming the spiritual life of his household, and he would not allow it to continue. Living together had become impossible.
But separating did not mean abandoning. Avraham offered:
אִם הַשְּׂמֹאל וְאֵימִנָה וְאִם הַיָּמִין וְאַשְׂמְאִילָה
If you go left, I will go right; and if you go right, I will go left. (Bereishis 13:9)
Rashi explains that Avraham was promising to stay close by wherever Lot settled, so that he could protect him. North or south, Avraham would not be far.
Lot chose neither. He rejected both directions Avraham had offered and went to Sedom instead. He did not want just some distance from Avraham; he wanted distance from Avraham’s way of life. Avraham’s tent was open to every guest. Sedom welcomed only the rich, from whom it had nothing to lose, and put the poor to death in cruel ways. That was the city Lot chose.
And yet, when Lot was taken captive, Avraham did not hesitate for a moment. He set out after the kings.
This is what Chazal mean when they say:
דֶּרֶךְ אֶרֶץ קָדְמָה לַתּוֹרָה
Derech eretz preceded the Torah. (Vayikra Rabbah 9:3)
Before the Torah was given, the Avos already lived by derech eretz and yashrus.
This is also why Sefer Bereishis is called סֵפֶר הַיָּשָׁר, the Book of the Upright (Shmuel II 1:18; Avodah Zarah 25a). Hashem told Moshe that He would give him לֻחֹת הָאֶבֶן וְהַתּוֹרָה וְהַמִּצְוָה, “the tablets of stone, and the Torah, and the mitzvah” (Shemos 24:12). In this reading, “the mitzvah” refers to the commandments, while “the Torah,” from the word horaah, instruction, refers to the stories of the Avos. They teach a person how to live even where no commandment tells him what to do.
Avraham’s rescue of Lot is one of those lessons. He had good reason to send Lot away, and no obligation to risk his life for him. But Lot was still Haran’s son, and Avraham never stopped seeing himself as responsible for him.
¹ See Sma and Pischei Teshuvah, Choshen Mishpat 426:2.
Read Additional Inyanim on the Parsha Here
• Why We Conclude with Avraham
We name all three Avos in Shemoneh Esrei, but end with Avraham alone.
• One Journey, Two Judgments
Did Avraham pass a test when he went down to Egypt, or fall short? Rashi and the Ramban are both right.
• Layers of Reason
The Torah says Lot chose fertile land. Chazal say he sought immoral company. Which reason did Lot himself believe?
• Not Every Fortune Is a Berachah
Hashem had promised Avraham wealth. Why was he certain that the spoils of his miraculous victory were not the promised berachah?
• Why Protection Comes Last
We praise Hashem as the One Who helps, saves, and shields. Shouldn’t protection come first?
• Faithful Beyond Understanding
Avraham never questioned whether to fulfill Hashem’s command. What, then, did he need to discuss with Mamre?
• The Pause Between Father and Son
Avraham and Yishmael were circumcised on the same day. Why does the trop place an unusual pause between their names?
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