Parshat Lekh Lekha
by Rabbi Avi Billet
One of the early tales of the story of our forefather Avraham is that after his arrival in Canaan, when faced with famine, he decided to descend to Egypt to find food.
That this set the stage for another descent that would take place 210-215 years later (they went to Egypt 215 years after Avraham was 75) when his grandson Yaakov would bring his entire family to Egypt on account of a famine in Canaan, beginning what would be become a 210 year period of exile, should be clear, based on the principle of “maaseh avot siman labanim” (“what happened to the fathers is a sign for the children”) of what will happen to them.
Avraham’s descent to Egypt is marred by a few questions:
1. Should he have gone? Where is his faith that the famine will not cause his death?
2. If he should not have gone, was he punished by God for going?
3. Should he have brought Sarai? Perhaps bringing his wife to this situation is a poor choice!
4. What did he mean when he said “now [that] I know [because/since] you are a beautiful woman” – and what gave him the right to lie to the Egyptians?
5. Where is his nephew Lot while he and his wife are contending with Pharaoh’s court?
Ramban is of the opinion that Avraham’s going to Egypt is what led to the “punishment” of his children being “strangers in a strange land” in Egypt, because he demonstrated a lack of faith that Canaan would sustain him.
Of course, Abravanel and others are of the view that the descent to Egypt in Yaakov’s time was for other reasons. Haktav V’hakabbalah thoroughly rejects the idea that Avraham did anything wrong in this story. He was supposed to go to Egypt, for a number of reasons. But even moreso, his treatment of Sarai, and his declaration to her about her beauty was more “because you are beautiful, when we get to Egypt they’re going to take you” than “how can I hide you and protect myself?” He knew that as her “brother” he could work to get her out of Pharaoh’s clutches, while as her “husband” he’d be dead on arrival.
Haktav V’hakabbalah suggests that Avraham and Sarai, as descendants of Noach, opted to behave as Noachides in their descent to Egypt, making their marriage ipso facto over should it come to pass that an Egyptian would take her. Therefore there was no lying.
As to why he brought her in the first place – we could question Avraham’s motivation. Our Sages teach us that Avraham’s descent to Egypt was one of his ten tests from the Almighty, during which his wife was in peril. Rabbi Yaakov Medan (Rosh Yeshiva at Yeshivat Har Etzion) argues that had she stayed in Canaan she’d have been no better off, as we see from the Avimelekh story later on. It doesn’t mean Avraham’s actions here were perfect, but it’s hard to know what the right thing to do is. Avraham’s strategy certainly put Sarai in danger, but her beauty was her strike against herself anyway!
Which brings us to nephew Lot. According to Haktav V’hakabbalah, Lot was present the entire time, he knew Avraham and Sarai’s plot to deceive the Egyptians in order to spare Avraham’s life, and yet he said nothing - essentially protecting their secrets. This helped Lot merit to get wealth – indeed, upon their return to Canaan, both Lot and Avraham were quite wealthy.
Rav Medan argues that the descent to Egypt had a few purposes. One purpose was to bring Hagar into the picture – she was an Egyptian maid who was presumably picked up when they were there. Hagar’s role in the story of Avraham and Sarai is not to be ignored. At the very least, she was destined to birth Avraham's son Yishmael, who was to become a great nation.
More than that, Rav Medan suggests that Lot came down to Egypt to learn what a fertile land looks like. As a matter of fact, when it became clear that he and Avraham needed to part ways, he turned to Sodom because Sodom was “like Egypt.” (13:10)
Which suggests that the famine leading Avraham to Egypt actually served a different purpose. Not as much to test Avraham’s mettle and his belief in God, but to set the stage for a parting-of-ways with Lot. Avraham had a filial responsibility to his nephew, which was only broken either when the famine did not allow him to sustain his nephew, or their expanded wealth necessitated a natural parting of ways.
Lot may have been Avraham’s nephew, and Avraham may have loved him. But the fact is that while Lot was present, Avraham did not have the kind of prophesy he only experienced after Lot had moved on (see 13:14 and Rashi there). Lot was holding Avraham back from achieving his potential.
It’s hard to envy Avraham’s ordeals, the trials, the tests. But a relook at what we’ve studied for years or decades can always bring new ideas, and give us a better understanding of the human side of the forefathers, even as we notice their spiritual struggle.
The main takeaway lessons I have from this story is that life’s journeys may take us to all kinds of places. If we don’t see God’s providence in having brought us there, we’re simply missing the most important connections to the divine that we might experience in our lives.
More importantly, however, we must be cognizant of the company we keep. We can’t choose our neighbors. But we can choose which people we want to hang around. Those who are an inspiration to us, because they are honest, mentschlich, they pray with sincerity, they study Torah, they model the life of a committed Jew (while humbly knowing they are far from perfect) are the people we should want to be around.
Those who don’t carry themselves this way are the Lots we must deal with. And the best way to deal with Lot is communicate – “It’s up to you. You can stay here and I’ll go away, or you go and I’ll stay here. Because our occupying the same space is only bringing me down. And my purpose in life is to climb and reach ever higher. Every single day.”
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