Avraham and the Sea: Building Faith in the Conquest of Israel

Dedicated in memory of Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein

לע"נ הגאון רבי אהרן ליכטנשטיין ז"ל 

ראש ישיבת הר עציון

The holidays were established to correspond to the forefathers. Pesach corresponds to Avraham, as [Avraham told Sara] in the verse, “Knead and make [matzah] cakes!” – and this occurred on Pesach. Shavuos corresponds to Yitzchok, for the shofar blast by the giving of the Torah was from the horn of the ram of [Akiedas] Yitzchok. Sukkos corresponds to Yaakov, as the verse states, “and for his cattle he built Sukkos” (Bereishis 33:17).

Tur, O.C. 417

This teaching borders on the mystical and is obviously in need of commentary, but this much is clear: the Avraham/Egypt connection goes well beyond the baking of Matzos. Avraham was personally forced by famine to leave Israel and go down to Egypt – an event that foreshadows our national exile (cf. Ramban to Bereishis 12:10). Moreover, Avraham was told that his descendants would suffer exile and enslavement, followed by an exodus. As we shall see, the unfortunate details of that prophecy predetermined what was to come.

Things started off on a positive note. Hashem promised Avraham that his descendants would be as numerous and uncountable as the stars in the heavens (15:5). The Torah reports that when Avraham heard this piece of good news, “he believed in Hashem” (15:6). However, Hashem then made a second, even greater promise: Avraham’s descendants would inherit the Land of Israel (15:7). Here Avraham asks, “במה אדע” – “How will I know?” (15:8). Avraham wanted an אות, a sign, a guarantee (Rashi to 15:6).

Hashem was upset by this request; He viewed it as a lack of faith on the part of Avraham. “Your first father sinned” (Yeshaya 43:27) when he said, "How will I know” (Rashi ad loc.).

In response, Hashem decreed exile, suffering and slavery for Avraham's children.

“You should know that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs and they will enslave them and afflict them for four hundred years…” (Bereishis 15:13; cf. Nedarim 32a).

Avraham may have sinned, nonetheless, it seems cruel and unusual to punish a nation for the sin of an ancestor (cf. Kli Yakar ad loc.). An excellent explanation for this anomaly is offered by the Alter of Slabodka.

Avraham’s request for a sign was a failure of his otherwise unquestioning, pure faith in God - and this is why Hashem decreed that his descendants must be slaves. There is basic law of spiritual genetics: a weakness in an ancestor will be magnified in his descendants. If Avraham's faith is weak, then his progeny are in danger. Hashem’s plan was to reinforce the faith of the Jewish People through an experience of exile followed by a miraculous redemption, and this is exactly what happened. When the Exodus culminated with the drowning of the Egyptian army in the Red Sea, “The Children of Israel saw what Hashem’s great hand did with Egypt, and they believed in Hashem.” At long last, Avraham’s weakness was fixed. (אור הצפון ח"א, מעמקי האמונה)

The only question is this: Why did it take so long? Were the ten plagues insufficient to prove the power of God? Why did the Jews need the splitting of the Red Sea to restore their faith?  

A more precise understanding of Avraham’s problem will provide an answer.

When Avraham was told that his children will be like the stars of the sky, he believed it. Similarly, Avraham's descendants, the Jewish people, believed Moshe when he told them that Hashem was coming to redeem them (Shemos 4:31). The Jews were on the brink of total assimilation. If Hashem wouldn’t intervene soon, Jewish identity would simply vanish from the earth. Like their father Avraham before them, the Jews appreciated their uniqueness as a nation and they were confident that Hashem would save them from oblivion. (We should note that Hashem took Moshe to task for doubting the faith of the Jews on this point, cf. Shemos 4:1).

However, when Avraham was told about the conquest of Israel, he balked and asked for a sign. Similarly, when Moshe told the Jews that after the Exodus they would march on Israel, they did not listen (Shemos 6:8-9). (The earlier divine message about going to Israel was only for the elders, cf. Shemos 3:16-17.)

The Jews were willing to accept that Hashem would preserve them, but that He would destroy the Canaanite armies and give them the Land of Canaan – that was another story. The plagues indicated nothing on that front. However, when they witnessed the splitting of the Red Sea – which served solely to drown the Egyptian Army – the Jews saw that Hashem was not only in the business of punishing their oppressors but was also willing to destroy the army of their enemy. As they sang afterwards in the song by the Sea, “Hashem is a Man of War!” (Shemos 15:3). This realization educated the Jews about the true nature of their relationship with the Creator. He isn't just the God of the forefathers. He is the King and Commander-in-Chief of the Jewish Nation!

It wasn’t only the Jews who appreciated the implications of the split sea. “Nations will hear and tremble; terror seized the inhabitants of Philistia. Then the chiefs of Edom panicked, trembling took hold of the heroes of Moav, all the inhabitants of Canaan melted…” (Shemos 15:14-15). As the Jews sang these stanzas, their fear of the Canaanites melted and their faith in Hashem hardened.

This explains why Hashem drowned the Egyptian Army, but it raises a new problem. If the splitting of the sea was designed to rectify weakness in faith, how then could the Jews fall? How could a nation that witnessed God’s infinite prowess and love ever put their faith in a man-made idol? The answer is that a Jew named Micha took an idol with him across the sea (Sanhedrin 103b). This treasonous act undermined the very faith that the sea was meant to fix. The idolatry of Micha found its way to Dan in Northern Israel and, unsurprisingly, it was the worship of his idol that ultimately led to the exile of the Jews from their land (cf. Shoftim 18:30; see this post).

Paganism is a resilient virus and its tragic consequences haunt our people throughout all of our long history. Its modern-day forms may take on a more sophisticated guise, but fundamentally, it’s all the same. To be blunt, humans have to believe in something. If that something isn’t Hashem, you’re pagan.

II

Apparently, the land grant of Israel is in some way more incredible than the miracle of Jewish survival. Avraham asked for a sign, the Jews of Egypt wouldn’t listen, and even as they were preparing to invade Canaan, the princes of Israel still didn’t believe it (cf. Bamidbar 13:31-33). (Sadly, to this day, our rights to our homeland continue to be questioned by many of our own people.)

Why is it so hard to believe that the Land of Israel is the Land for Israel?

Rashi, in his very first comment on the Torah, addresses a most basic question: Why did Hashem include the creation story in the Torah? It should suffice for us to know our obligations, the mitzvos. Why spend so many verses describing a creation that we can’t fathom anyway? Rashi explains that if the nations of the world would ever accuse the Jews of stealing the land from the Canaanites, if the UN or the EU dare describe it as the "occupation of Palestine," Parshas Bereishis will come to our defense. Hashem created the universe, ergo the earth is the Lord’s. He can grant the land of Israel to whomever He wishes, and He can take it away from them and give it to the Jews. (It goes without saying that the King of kings is perfectly just. Hashem told Avraham explicitly that the Jews will not be able to defeat the Canaanites until the Canaanites themselves deserve to defeated due to their own sins, cf. Bereishis 15:16.)

The potential accusation of theft against his descendants undoubtedly concerned Avraham. Avraham’s life mission was educating society about the infinite compassion of the Creator and his greatest fear was that the people would misunderstand the true nature of God. (This is why Avraham consulted with Mamre before performing circumcision, cf. Rashi Bereishis 18:1; Bereishis Rabba 46:3, and this was also undoubtedly part of the challenge of the Akeida.) The truth is, Hashem is also deeply concerned about what the gentiles think of Him. When there is a mistaken impression that God is malicious or weak, or that His Chosen People are corrupt, it is a “Chillul Hashem,” a desecration of Hashem’s reputation. This reverses the spiritual progress of humanity and nothing upsets Hashem more than that. Twice Moshe saved the nation by leveraging Hashem’s distain for it (Shemos 32:11-12; Bamidbar 14:13-16) and no other sin is less forgivable (Yoma 86a). The evil of Chillul Hashem can never be overestimated.

So when Hashem told Avraham that He would give the land of the Canaanites to the Jews, Avraham immediately feared the inevitable Chillul Hashem. Unaware that the Torah would include the creation story as a response, Avraham asked for a sign. A clear divine sign would prove to all the world that God designated the Land of Israel for His Chosen People, and no one could ever accuse the Jews of being thieves.

III

There is another way to interpret Avraham's fateful request; one rooted in its historical context.

The story begins with a war (cf. Bereishis 14:1-16). Four kings battled against five in central Israel, and when the dust cleared, Avraham’s nephew Lot was held captive. Avraham mustered his men and handily, or better said, miraculously, routed the enemy and conquered almost the entire country. I say almost because his advance stopped at Dan in the north. Avraham was weakened at Dan because he foresaw that his descendants would worship an idol there (Rashi to 14:14).

It was after his conquest of Israel that Avraham received the prophecy about Egypt and this is what makes Avraham’s request for a sign so difficult to comprehend.

Was Avraham unaware of the basic principle of מעשה אבות סימן לבנים, the actions of the forefathers are a sign for their children? Was it just a coincidence that Hashem waited until after Avraham’s victory before promising that his children would inherit the land? Is it not obvious that Hashem orchestrated Avraham’s conquest of Israel in order to forge the path for the future? (Hashem’s initial promise to give the land to his children also only came after Avraham’s arrival in Israel, cf. 12:1,7.) In short, Avraham is himself the very sign he is asking for!

The answer is that Avraham was acutely aware that his own life story foreshadowed the future history of the Jewish people – and this is exactly what made him nervous. Avraham was worried about what happened in Northern Israel, at Dan. If his own conquest of Israel was incomplete, what does that portend for his descendants? 

(There is a cause and effect problem here. Was Avraham's failure to capture Dan a sign of future exile, or was the idolatry of the Jews the cause of Avraham's failure to capture Dan? The answer, of course, is both.)

Avraham's question was this: if the Jews will worship idols, how will they remain secure in their land? The Land of Israel has no tolerance for paganism. The Torah states in no uncertain terms that if and when the Jews turn to paganism, they can expect famine and exile (Devarim 11:16). Avraham’s glorious precedent of conquest includes the seeds of its own undoing!

This thought was followed by an even more disturbing realization. If my descendants will worship idols, wondered Avraham, doesn’t that imply that there is a flaw in me? מעשה אבות סימן לבנים. If my children turn away from God, I must be lacking in my faith! Give me a sign, Avraham begged Hashem, give me a sign that will strengthen my faith so that my descendants won’t turn pagan! This is the meaning of Avraham’s request.

Hashem’s response was this: Signs and miracles are not the way for you, Avraham. If you want to strengthen your faith then we will have to take a different approach. “Know that your children will be enslaved…”

Hashem presented Avraham’s faith with the ultimate challenge: the predetermined suffering of unborn children. As Avraham surrendered before the unknowable mystery of God’s ways, his faith hardened. And as Avraham’s faith hardened, it became an ever stronger foundation and an ever deeper fount of inspiration for his progeny, the Jewish Nation of the future.

There is an elegant symmetry here. The foreknowledge of the Egyptian exile and exodus functioned to strengthen the faith of our father Avraham and the experience of it functioned to rebuild the faith of his descendants, the Jewish People. 

The power of the Exodus has not faded. To this day, more than any other mitzvah, Jews turn to Pesach as both the expression of and the source for their faith in Hashem.

IV

There is yet another way to interpret the conversation between Hashem and Avraham, one rooted in the chronology of events at the ברית בין הבתרים, the “Covenant Between the Halves.” Our discussion thus far has focused on the verbal dialogue and we have ignored the central element of the ברית, the element from which it takes its name. The cutting of animals in half.

Hashem said [to Avraham], “Take for Me three calves, three goats, three rams, a turtledove and a young dove.” He took all these [animals] for Him, split them down the middle and placed each piece facing its counterpart...

And behold! A smoking furnace and a torch of fire passed between the parts. On that day Hashem established a ברית, a covenant, with Avram, saying, “I have given this land to your descendants…” (15:9,17,18)

Rashi (15:10) explains:

The verse does not depart from its straightforward meaning. [The reason for this strange ritual] is because Hashem was establishing a covenant with Avraham to keep His promise to grant the land of Israel to his descendants, as the verse states, “On that day Hashem established a ברית with Avram, saying…”

It was the custom of those entering into a ברית to split an animal and walk between its halves, as we find later in Yermiyah (34:19)… Here too, the smoking oven and flaming fire which passed between the parts was the agent of the Shechina, which is fire.  

Timing is significant. Hashem told Avraham to split the animals immediately after Avraham asked, “How will I know,” and immediately before Hashem tells him about the future enslavement of the Jews. It is for this reason that Rashi (15:6) offers an alternate reading of the dialogue between Hashem and Avraham.

When Avraham asked, “How will I know that I will inherit Israel,” he wasn’t asking for a sign. He was asking what merit will enable the Jewish People to maintain their hold on their land. Hashem responds by telling Avraham to collect all the animals that are used for offerings. The meaning is clear. Hashem is saying that the Jews will survive in Israel in the merit of animal sacrifice.

Why animal sacrifice? How does animal sacrifice secure our homeland? The answer can be found in a Rambam.

The Rambam proposes an interesting theory to explain the meaning and purpose of animal offerings. In ancient societies, pagans deified the cow, the goat and the ram. To this day, pagans still consider it a severe sin to slaughter their sacred animals. The Torah therefore commands us to slaughter these very animals as offerings to the One God. By violating the animals pagans deem sacred, we reject idolatry and internalize the truth: Hashem is the only power on earth. (cf. Moreh Nevuchim 3:46).

In light of this teaching, we can understand Hashem’s answer to Avraham’s question. Avraham wanted to know what merit the Jews could rely on to secure their home in Israel. Avraham had good reason to be concerned. As we have learned, Avraham foresaw the idolatry of his descendants and he knew that idolatry means exile. Hashem’s answer was animal sacrifice. As the Rambam wrote, animal sacrifice is the antidote to paganism. If the Jews offer these “sacred” animals to God, it will heal their minds and restore their hearts to monotheism. 

Hashem always provides the cure before the disease.

V

There is a mysterious and manifest parallel between the ברית בין הבתרים and קריאת ים סוף. 

At the ברית בין הבתרים Avraham split the animals in half and Avraham and the Shechina walked between the halves, the Shechina represented by smoke and fire. At קריאת ים סוף, Hashem split the Red Sea in half and the Jewish People and the Shechina walked between the halves, the Shechina represented by a pillar of cloud and a pillar of fire (Shemos 13:22). The similarities are undeniable. It is no coincidence that the same word גזרים, “torn parts,” is used to describe both the animals (Bereishis 15:17) and the sea (Tehillim 136:14).

Clearly, Hashem wished to evoke His covenant with Avraham at the Red Sea. In light of all we have learned, this makes perfect sense. The Alter of Slabodka taught us that the splitting of the sea fixed Avraham’s failure of faith, and we explained how: at the sea the Jewish People saw firsthand that Hashem was prepared to annihilate armies for them. So here at the sea, with the Jews filled with perfect faith, Hashem revisits and reaffirms the ברית, His age-old promise to deliver them to their homeland.

On a deeper level, the splitting of the sea can be seen as Hashem’s long-delayed answer to Avraham. At the ברית בין הבתרים, when Hashem promised to grant the Land of Israel to his descendants, Avraham asked “How will I know?” Avraham wanted a miraculous sign, a divine guarantee that the Jews would conquer and live securely in their land. Centuries later, Hashem reenacts the ברית and splits the sea. That act revealed God to be a “Man of War,” prepared to defeat the armies of the Canaanites, and it also fortified the faith of the Jews, a necessary prerequisite for their security in Israel. “The Children of Israel saw... and they believed in Hashem.” קריאת ים סוף is the sign Avraham was asking for and it affirmed the ברית בין הבתרים for all the world to see.

The Tur taught us that Pesach corresponds to Avraham. Said differently, the Exodus was Hashem’s way of picking up on an ancient conversation – and the delay was an essential part of the message. 

When speaking to God you have to deal with the divine clock, but that shouldn't be a problem. If you have faith, you have patience.