Parshas Lech-Lecha 5784
How can they possibly have so many rockets? You’d think this relatively small group of terrorists would surely have run out by now. But they just keep coming and coming in seemingly endless supply.
This was one of the first questions I fixated on in the initial days of the war. Of late, I’ve turned to another: How can they possibly have so many people?
Hundreds of thousands have taken to the streets of London, New York, and elsewhere to protest Israel’s right to defend itself, or, in other words, its right to exist. How can there possibly be so many people dedicated to such a warped and unjust cause? Where did they come from?
Avraham Avinu bursts onto the scene of history with feat after impressive feat, each a public spectacle that surely would have grabbed the headlines of the day, should any have existed.
Over the course of barely more than one parsha, Avraham is miraculously saved from being burned alive, is gifted with vast wealth by the king of Egypt, and wages war almost completely on his own against a mighty axis of four powerful kings.
By the end of this week’s parsha, Avraham is wealthy, famous, and a known miracle worker. One can only imagine the platform that coalesces around him from which he can preach his cause and spread monotheism to the masses.
Indeed, the Torah makes clear that Avraham was fully engaged in this sort of work. At the beginning of parsha in noting his relocation to Israel along with “all the souls he made in Charan.” Rashi quotes the well known interpretation that the souls he made were those individuals he and Sarah convinced to join the ranks of his burgeoning band of monotheists.
It is against the backdrop of all that goes on in this week’s parsha that makes a comment in next week’s parsha so striking. In Parshas Vayeira, Hashem decides to inform Avraham of His decision to destroy Sodom, and does so because “כי ידעתיו—for I have known him,” (18:19) which Rashi interprets as an expression of love. Hashem loves Avraham and feels compelled to share otherwise classified information with him. What is the reason for this special bond? The pasuk continues, “לְמַעַן אֲשֶׁר יְצַוֶּה אֶת־בָּנָיו וְאֶת־בֵּיתוֹ אַחֲרָיו וְשָׁמְרוּ דֶּרֶךְ ה׳ לַעֲשׂוֹת צְדָקָה וּמִשְׁפָּט—Because Avraham will instruct his children and his household after him, and they will abide by the path of G-d, to do what is righteous and just.”
For all of Avraham’s highly public exploits, for all his efforts in promoting the path of G-d to the masses and proclaiming monotheism from the rooftops, Hashem’s love for Avraham is born out of something else entirely. It is not the public preaching that makes Hashem so enamored with Avraham, but the private instruction he offers his own family. That Avraham will direct his own children toward the path of G-d is what creates an everlasting bond of love between Hashem and Avraham. For all the efforts made in the public sphere, it is those made within the home that are most significant.
It is interesting to note that of the billions of monotheists who have graced the earth between Avraham’s time and today, none trace their lineage back to the “converts” that Avraham brought with him to Israel from Charan. None claim as their ancestor a traveling merchant or vagabond who chanced upon the doorstep of Avraham and Sarah and was convinced by their arguments to adopt a lifestyle of ethical monotheism. The monotheists of today trace their descent back to Avraham directly. They claim Avraham, and his children, and their children, as their forebears. It was not Avraham’s public preaching, but the instruction he provided to his own children in his own home that ultimately changed the face of humanity.
Perhaps Hashem is so taken with Avraham’s dedication to instructing his own family in the ways of G-d because, over the course of many generations, it is far and away the most effective means of creating systemic change. Make a scene in public and make a splash. Teach your children and change the world.
How did we end up with 100,000 people on the streets of London calling for jihad in the face of Israel’s inhumanity? A birthrate that far outstrips the rest of the population and the indoctrination of those children with jihadist dogma. The minds of these 100,000 people were not shaped by public sentiment, but by instruction from their own parents and communities. It is the dark side Avraham’s accomplishments, of what made him beloved to Hashem.
In pursuit of our own cause, public demonstrations, marches, and petitions certainly have their place. But they are stopgap measures, intended to keep Israel from being completely steamrolled in the court of public opinion and giving them enough cover to fight the war that must be fought. These are not the sort of efforts that change the world fundamentally, the sort of efforts that give Hashem the sort of nachas provided by Avraham.
What can we do for the war effort in Israel? There are physical responses—chayalim risking their lives to defend the Jewish People, mass volunteer efforts, and donations of money and goods. There are spiritual efforts—increasing our Torah, tefilah, and faith in Hashem. These are efforts that will aid the Jewish People in the here and now, providing immediate safety and security through physical defense and spiritual merit.
But there’s a long-game we mustn’t forget. We have the ability to change the face of the Jewish People, even the world, through the instructing of future generations. When we inculcate values of serving Hashem and of keeping His Torah and mitzvos in our children, we are having an oversized impact on what the world will look like generations from now. We can only produce so much light on our own, but if our children become inspired to bear the same torch, in but one generation we’ll have increased the light by an order of magnitude.
If we’re taking our Torah more seriously, our tzedakah more seriously, let’s also take the chinuch of our children more seriously during this time of need and distress. Don’t just spend time with your children—or your grandchildren, nieces, and nephews—teach them, learn Torah with them. Talk to them about the importance of mitzvos, about the transience of material comforts, and the eternal value of spiritual pursuits. Have meaningful conversations about what life is truly about and what it is not. Teach them about emunah and bitachon, about developing a personal relationship with Hashem, and drawing more of His Presence into the world. We have a war to win not only now, but in future generations as well.