YESHIVAT HAR ETZION
ISRAEL KOSCHITZKY VIRTUAL BEIT MIDRASH (VBM)
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Reading Midrash
By Rav Ezra Bick

Shiur #5 - Souls

	We have actually been dealing so far with the "Introduction to the Life of Avraham." All the midrashim we have seen have dealt with Avraham's character in general.  We are now ready to start on the "Life of Avraham" chapter of our saga.

	Avraham has received a command from God to set out on a journey.  It is clear that he has a mission and that the physical relocation is but the scene for his activities.  How does Avraham understand his mission?

Avram took his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot and all the property they acquired and the souls they "made" in Charan, and they departed to go to the Land of Canaan and they came to the Land of Canaan.  (Bereishit 12,5)

"The souls they made in Charan" - R. Eliezer b. Zimra said: If all the inhabitants of the earth should gather to create even a single flea, they will not succeed to instill in it a soul; yet here is written "the souls they made in Charan"? It refers to the proselytes whom they converted.  
But if they converted them, why does it say "made"? To teach you that one who befriends an idolater and converts him is considered as though he created him.
It should have written "he made." Why does it say "they made"? Rav Huna said: Avraham would convert the men and Sara would convert the women.  (39,14).

	"Conversion" in this sentence is a deliberate anachronism, and presumably should not be taken to mean conversion to halakhic Judaism, but rather to Avraham's way of life - belief in one God, in Divine Justice and providence.  Even in this sense, the sentence is striking in light of the Sages well-known indifference to conversion of the non-Jewish world.  Since, as we have already seen, Chazal see Avraham's life as the prototype of what Jewish life means, an emphasis on "the mission to the gentiles" appears at odds with what we know about how Chazal conceived of a typical Jewish life.  This is especially true if we search in the words of God for hints of what should be the contents of Avraham's mission.  The explicit command to Avraham is limited only to going to "the land that I shall show you." But in the promise section, God tells Avraham that He will "make you a great nation." To our ears - and as we saw two shiurim ago - this is a reference to Avraham's role as the founder of the Jewish nation, a distinct and separate element of humanity.  The midrash emphasizes the uniqueness of the "great" nation and its distinct spiritual destiny.  Yet Avraham invests his energies not in his own family but in outreach, to the surrounding peoples of the areas through which he is passing.

	Perhaps you will argue that this is a "side interest" of Avraham.  On his way to his ultimate destiny as the father of the Jews, he fulfills his personality as "ish ha-chesed" by also helping others find the way to God.  This is, I believe, contradicted by the context of the verse on which  our midrash is commenting.  Avraham does not only convert these people, he takes them with him on his journey to the promised land.  It appears that Avraham believes that they are part of that journey and are meant to JOIN him on his historic endeavor.

	In fact, the Sages repeatedly emphasize this aspect of Avraham's career.  When Avraham finally arrives in the Land of Canaan, before we are told of any specific incidents, the Torah tells us that he comes to Beit-El and builds an altar, and "he called on the name of God" (12,8).  What does this enigmatic phrase mean? The midrash answers:

This teaches us that he taught all creatures to call on the name of God.  
Another explanation: "He called" - he began to convert proselytes and bring them under the wings of the Divine Presence.  (39,16).

	As soon as Avraham reaches the promised land (and receives a renewed promise from God that He will give this land to Avraham's seed (12,7), he builds an altar - surely a symbol of his commencement on his spiritual mission, and he begins once again to convert the inhabitants of the land to his way and brings them under the wings of the Shechina.

	In this case - the inhabitants of the Land of Canaan - we are speaking of a people whom we know are destined to be supplanted by the children of Avraham.  The promise of the land to the seed of Avraham is, in effect, the decree of their demise.  This is, in fact, made clear in this parasha as well.  In the "Brit Bein Ha-Betarim," God tells Avraham that his children will inherit the land only after four generations, because the "sin of the Emori is not complete as of yet" (15,16).  The Emori and the Jews are rivals for the land, and the rise of one is dependent on the demise of the other.  Yet Avraham spends his time trying to convert the Emori!

	A third example of this understanding of Chazal is found in an even more unexpected location.  When Avraham returns from the war where he rescued all the people and property of Sdom, the king of Sdom suggests that he keep the property and merely return the people.  Avraham, we know, refuses to keep even a shoelace.  The midrash comments:

R. Yudan said: The men and women he returned, but not the children.  They got up and converted, and corrected the shame of their fathers.  (43,4)

	The midrash is obviously reacting to a comparison of the king's request and Avraham's answer.  The king's request has TWO parts - give me the souls and you keep the property.  Avraham answers that he will not keep the property.  What about the first part of the king's statement? The midrash draws the conclusion that this too is refused, Avraham will keep the "souls" and raise them to enter under the wings of the Divine Presence.

	Since, unlike Avraham, we have already read parashat Va-yeira at some time in our life, we are familiar with the character of the inhabitants of Sdom.  Sdom is practically a synonym for moral decadence.  Yet Chazal go out of their way to declare that Avraham has plans to create a community out of the children of Sdom!

	It is clear that the Sages wish to present us with a picture of Avraham conceiving of his mission in universalist terms.  The tension between a universalist interpretation of religious truth and the particularist - Jewish - interpretation we are familiar with is a basic theme in any history of religion.  Most modern religions conceive of themselves as "world" religions.  Their message is directed to the entire world.  This makes sense - if your message is truth, there is no reason to restrict it to one family or nation.  Truth by definition is universal.  If something is good and right, it is right for all people.  But we all know that Judaism does not conceive of itself in that way.  The Torah is given to the Jewish people and is not intended for non-Jews.  Conversion is possible, but is not conceived as part of the mission of the Jews, and is surely not seen as a requirement for non-Jews.  Halakha has a framework - the seven Noachide mitzvot - which obligates non-Jews and is considered to be the appropriate vehicle for their spiritual development.  Historically, the spiritual efforts of the Jewish people have been directed inward, concentrating on developing the internal character of the Jewish people.  In most periods, the Sages actively discouraged conversion.  In any event, conversion involves a change of peoplehood - it is impossible to be Jewish without being a member of the Jewish people.  This insular particularism is essential to Judaism as we know it and as the Sages construed it.  The connection between Jewish religion and Jewish people is  fundamental in understanding Jewish identity (as well as one cause of Jewish-gentile tension in various societies in the Dispersion).  

	Chazal, in the series of midrashim we have examined, set Avraham on the obvious course.  Having discovered God, he naturally conceives of his mission to spread the word to everyone.  As we saw in the first shiur, the motivating factor of Avraham's quest was his astonishment at the state of the world.  He naturally wants to redeem the world, to repair it, to bring it closer to God.  Since, as we have seen in the previous shiurim, God does not tell Avraham explicitly what to do, but leaves it for him to discover on his own, Avraham follows his own conscience and sense of benevolence and justice ("tzedaka u-mishpat" - see Bereishit 18,19).  By repeatedly stressing this course of action by Avraham, the Sages wish to suggest that Avraham was behaving properly, according to those traits that indeed made him beloved of God.  The basic trait, love of mankind and a desire to redeem the entire world, lies at the root of Avraham's personality - and hence at the root of the uniqueness of Israel.  There is only one small problem - in this case, Avraham has chosen the path that will not succeed.

	Eventually, as we know, the path of Israel will turn inward.  Avraham has three good friends from his surroundings - Aner, Mamre, and Eshkol (14,13).  Yitzchak and Yaacov have none that we know of.  Even in the life of Avraham, we find no mention of his conversion activities in the midrash after the story of the war of the four kings.  The stories of Avraham from this point on turn exclusively on the question of his heir.  What is the turning point in this story? When does God's plan of a separate destiny for the people of God replace the universalist dream that drives Avraham at the outset of his career? The midrash tells the following story, immediately after the war of the four kings:

[The king of Sdom came out to greet him, when he returned from smiting Kedarlaomer and the kings that were with him, to Emek Shaveh, the valley of the king (14,17).]

Emek Shaveh (literally, the uniform valley) - R. Berechya and R. Chanina in the name of R. Shmuel b. Nachman said: For there all the idolaters reached agreement ("hishvu"), and they cut down cedars and built a great platform, and sat Avraham down on it above; and they were praising him, saying: "Here us, our lord, a prince of God are you in our midst…" (Bereishit 26,6).  They said to him: You are a king over us, you are a prince over us, you are a god over us.  He said to them, the world lacks not its king and it lacks not its God.  (43,5)

	The verse that serves as the basis for the words that the Sages place in the mouths of the assembled inhabitants is in fact taken from much later, from the beginning of Chayei Sara.  Nonetheless, the Sages "import" it to "Emek Shaveh" to explain the pivotal turn in Avraham's spiritual direction.  Avraham's dramatic victory over the invading kings has propelled him to an astonishing pinnacle of popularity in Canaan.  All the inhabitants gather to honor him and to accept him as their leader.  It seems that true success is in his reach.  They gather, build a platform, and place him on it and say:

1.	"Adoni" - our lord, you are a king for us.  Sounds good, Avraham will be able to lead them and guide them with just laws;
2.	"Nasi" - a prince, you are a prince over us.  I think that this word (nasi), as used here in the midrash, means a spiritual leader, a guide in the ways of God.  The root means "exalted, elevated." Avraham can practically taste his success now; they are ready to follow him on his path to God, to form a great community of believers;
3.	Elohim" - a god, you are a god over us.  Imagine Avraham's despair and disappointment! So close, and yet so horribly far! These people cannot follow Avraham, because the only way they can honor him is by turning him into a god.  The ways of idolatry and idolization are too strongly imbedded in them.  Avraham's very success is his failure.  The greater he will be, the more shining an example of the man of God, the greater will be the mistake they will make.  

Avraham walks off the stage, shaking his head in frustration and horror.  The world has a king, the world has a God.  Never again will he turn to the people about him, converting and making souls.  There is no alternative but to start over, to create an entirely new kind of person, a new creation of Man, as we saw in the midrashim in the previous two shiurim.  Avraham's efforts to convert the world were admirable; they were quintessentially Avraham.  In fact, that desire to spread the message far and wide is what made the Jewish people, the closing of the message within one people, one community, possible.  Avraham failed in his original plan, though it was a good and right plan.  This failure of course is not in vain.  Like everything else in Avraham's life, it is part of the foundations of his ultimate destiny, to father Yitzchak and build the separate unit of Israel.

The spiritual history of Israel and the spiritual history of mankind now diverge on separate paths.  You might expect that such a momentous crossroad of history would be marked by some sort of ceremony.  Perhaps Avraham should bid humanity farewell, since this is the last time he will have a direct and intentional spiritual contact with it? I think that the midrash answers these expectations in the affirmative, based on the very next verses in the narrative.  But that shall be the subject of the next shiur - the meeting with Malkitzedek.

Next shiur: 43,6-8