Our Parasha relates the events culminating in the Covenant Between the Halves that Hashem entered into with Avraham.
We read:(25;7-20):’He’ - Hashem - ‘said to Him’ ,to Abraham -‘I am Hashem who brought you out of Ur-kssdim to give you this land to Inherit it.
‘’Avraham said: My Lord Hashem, whereby shall i know that I am to inherit it?’.
‘And He said to him: ’Take for Me three heifers, three goats, three rams, a turtledove and a young dove.’ He took all those to Him; he cut them in the middle, and placed each piece opposite its counterpart. The bird however he did not cut up.
‘Birds of prey descended upon the carcasses, and Avraham chased them away.
‘And it happened, as the sun was about to set, a deep sleep fell upon Avraham, snd behold - a great dread great darkness fell upon him.
‘And He said to Avraham: ’Know with certsiny that your offspring shall be aliens in a land not their own - and they will serve them, and they will oppress them - four hundred years. But also those that they will serve, I shall judge, and afterwards they shall leave with great wealth.
‘As for you : you shall come to your ancestors in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. And the fourth generation shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite shall not yet be full until then.’
‘So it happened: the sun set, and it was very dark. Behold - there was a smoky furnace and a torch of fire which passed between these pieces.
‘On that day Hashem made a covenant with Avraham, saying: ’To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates River; the Kennite, the Kenizite and the Kadmonite; the Hittite, the Petzzile and the Rephaim; the Amonite, the Canaanite, the Girgashite and the Jebusite.’
Abarbanel favors us with his exposition as to events leading to the prophetic vision that befell Avraham.
He posits: ’The most correct in my eyes’ as to the command to Avraham to take the animals, and to cut them up - as is described in the parsha - ‘is that they are allusions to the three Avot, who are likened to the three types of pure animals, who proliferate in progeny - the Avot are likened to them, as they, too, proliferated in issue, and in nations that emanated from them.
‘It was proper that Avraham was likened to the heifer, as we read (Parashat Vayera 18:6)’And to the cattle ran Avraham, and he took a heifer.’
‘Yitzchak appropriately is represented by the ram, as it was offered up in his stead in the akeida, as we read there (27:9):’and he took the ram and offered it as an offering in place of his son’.
‘The goat properly alluded to Yaakov, as he disguised his hands as being hairy, by covering them with the skin of goats, when he took the brachot of Yitzchak, at the urging of his mother, who commanded him(27:17) ’Take for me from there two goats’.
‘Hashem further ordered Avraham to take a turtledove and a dove - they allude to two other leaders that will lead Israel later, the one after the other: Moshe and Joshua.
‘Regarding them He said: ’The birds do not cut up’ - they were to remain alive, as Moshe would start the conquest of the land, by conquering the lands of Sichon and Og, and Joshua after him conquered and divided up the land to Bnei Israel.
‘He completed the parable by the reference to the ‘bird of prey descended upon the carcasses’ - an allusion to death, that would befall Moshe and Joshua in the fullness of time.
‘As to the prophetic vision, the opinion of all the commentators is that Hashem here informed Avraham of the decree on his descendants - to be exiled in Egypt.
‘The commentators raise a query on this: if it was so decreed, those who subjugated them did not deserve to be punished.
‘Rambam answers : it was not decreed that any individual Egyptian was to subjugate them, but only on הכלל: the congregation, and therefore Hashem punished the individuals who subjugated and afflicted them - more so, because the Egyptians afflicted them more than had been decreed.
‘After having concluded that the exile in Egypt was by Divine Providence and Hashem’s decree, it must have been as a result of some transgression that had been committed OR for some other reason that the Divine Wisdom saw as necessary.
‘If we decide that the exile was due to some prior transgression, it is not worthy that it - heaven forfend - be ascribed to Avraham himself.
‘It is more apt to ascribe to the tribes, the sons of Yaakov, who were guilty of a grievous sin, in their hatred of Yosef, their brother - who conspired to be rid of him, and cast him into a well, before selling him to to be taken to Egypt.
‘And as they transgressed in this way, it was just that their punishment should be measure-for-measure, exile and subjugation in Egypt.
‘As to Avraham’s prophetic vision, the Torah relates that: ’as the sun was about to descend, a deep sleep fell upon Avraham, and behold - a dread! great darkness fell upon him’
‘This comes to teach, that Avrahan was greatly discomfited by Hashem’s command to take the animals, and to cut them in half, and to take the turtledove and the dove.
‘Therefore, after he awoke from his prophecy, he spent the whole day unsuccessfully trying to understand the matter, till the sun was about to set.
‘Then great darkness fell, as if foretelling that bad tidings were in the wind - and as he was so engaged, the word of Hashem came to him: ’Know with certainty that your offspring shall be aliens in a land not their own’ - as saying: the darkness and dread that you felt, were portents of the harsh subjugation that your seed will endure in a land not theirs, and this for four hundred years.
‘As this decree was due to the judgment on the tribes for their transgression, so too, will I judge their oppressors, for their cruelty and malevolence.
‘If we say that the exile in Egypt was for some other reason, that the Divine Wisdom deemed necessary, : that it was to purify them of their impurity, in the furnace of subjugation in Egypt, so that - like gold is extracted by purifed in fire - those who came out purified, merited to receive the Torah, and to cleave to Hashem, without the need for an intermediate.
‘As the Egyptians worshipped the heavenly horde, and each one of them engaged in sorcery - if the sons of Yaakov should remain in their faith, in this environment, and not be drawn to the idolatry of the Egyptians, then they would merit all the goodness that had been prepared for them.
‘But if they should be drawn to the ways of the Egyptians, and abandon the faith of their forefathers, they would remain in their exile there for eternity.
‘However, the Divine One - as most of the world was denying His being and saying that there was no god except the stars - the Divine Wisdom decided to bring Bnei Israel into exile in Egypt - the most venal and godless place of all - and to take them out of there - after they had been purified by their subjugation - by His mighty Hand, so that all would know who was the Only One who ruled the world.
‘This was the second objective of the exile of Bnei Israel to Egypt: that His G-dliness would be made known the means of Israel - and that they should remain His chosen people, and merit to receive the Torah and to inherit the promised Land.
‘Viewed in this manner, the exile as well as the redemption from it, were due to Divine chesed, as in its merit, they were chosen to be His nation.’
The Kli Yakar opens his commentary, by stating that:’Our sages say (Nedarim 32.) that because Avraham asked: ’By what will I know that I will inherit the land’’ - asking for a sign - ‘he was punished by being told: (15:13): ’Know with certainty’.
‘The mind refuses to accept this drasha - that his sons should suffer great punishment because he asked for a sign, whilst Avraham himself was not punished.
‘Therefore my heart tells me, that there were other reasons for the exile in Egypt, as to which the commentators differ - as Abarbanel brings.
‘Be the reason for the exile as it be, why did Hashem tell Avraham the sad tidings, to cause him anguish for no reason?
‘Therefore, the ba’al midrash answered that because he asked for a sign, something which he had no need to know, therefore he was punished by being told something that caused him anguish - measure-for-measure.
‘Regarding the sign for which Avraham asked, many wondered - why did he ask for a sign for the inheritance of the land, but not for the promise of numerous progeny?
‘And I ask another question: why didn’t he ask for a sign when Hashem first said to him (12:7): ’To your seed I will give this land’?
‘As to this, too, there are many answers proffered, and I say that the sign that Avraham sought, was not because he doubted the fulfillment of Hashem’s promise, except that he wanted that Hashem enter into a covenant with Him, to prevent any other claimants.
‘When Hashem said earlier:’to your seed i will give’, it sounded like a מתנה באלמא: a ‘bare’ gift, and for this Avraham did not ask a sign from Hashem, as the earth and all in it were His to give to whomever He chooses.
‘However, now, when Hashem told him: ’To give to you this land לרשתה: as an inheritance’, sounding as though the gift was by way of inheritance, recalling that Noach, when he divided the land between his sons, gave the land of Canaan to Shem and his seed, and now you come to claim it by way of inheritance.
‘So Avraham thought: Perhaps the descendants of Shem will object, as the descendants of Shem: ’The sons of Shem Eilam and Arpacshad Ashur Lod and Aram’ - and Avraham himself descended from Arpacshad’ - might not the other descendants of Shem make their claim.
‘Therefore he asked for a sign: ’By what will I know that I’ alone ‘will inherit it?’.
‘Came the answer: ’Take to Me three heifers..’- Hashem therleby entered into a covenant with Avraham, thereby removing any other claimants, the way of entering a covenant being to pass between the pieces.
‘As to the prophetic vision, many expositions have been offered - I will proffer mine, and will say: as we find in the promise of the land, that some times it mentions the Avot and some times their seed, and where do we find that the Avot have a share in the land? were they not all aliens in the land?.
‘We find it said: ’to you I will give it’, and it says: (Shemot 6;4) ’to give it to Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov’ - therefore our Sages learn, that from here a reference to תחיית המתים: the ressurection of the dead, as it says:’to give to them’, and not ‘to you’.
‘Clearly the Avot will not inherit in this world, but in the world-to-come, whilst their seed received their share in this world.
‘The Avot, on the other hand, after their death, will ‘inherit’ in the manner we shall expound - which is why He showed Avraham, in his vision, the heifer against him, as it says:to the cattle ran Avraham’, and kid against Yaakov who dressed its skin to deceive his father, and the ram against Yitzchak who offered it in his place.
‘The turtledove and the dove’ we find allude to Israel, an the first three animals he slaughtered in halves, alluding to the three Avot - who, after their death - will get their share in the Land, as the dead in the Land are resurrected first - but not in their lifetime.
‘’And the bird he did not halve’, because Israel which are likened to the bird, would come to the Land alive.’
The Gemara (Nedarim 32.) brings the teaching of Rav: ’Avraham ירק:’emptied his disciples from their Torah studies to go to battle to save Lot - said Rav Abahu said Rav Elazar: why was Avraham punished and his descendants subjugated in Egypt for two hundred and ten years? Because he sent his talmidei chachamim to battle, as it says ’and he ‘emptied’ his disciples’.
TheMaharal asks:’Why, in that case, was Avraham himself not exiled to Egypt, rather than his descendants?
Answers the sage: ’In fact, after his transgression it was indeed decreed that he go into exile, but for the reasons we shall bring, this was not executed.
‘The first reason was that Avraham engaged without stop in making Hashem’s Name and Being known in the world, and he influenced many to be converted - and Sarah likewise, brought many woman to convert.
‘Therefore, he was not exiled, so as not to prevent him from his holy work.
‘A second reason: the exile in Egypt could not commence until those who descended there numbered at least seventy souls - all the while that Bnei Israel were less than this number, the decree could not be effected.
‘In Avraham’s day, the number of Bnei Israel was less than this number - it was only reached in the days of Yaakov.
‘The Torah makes clear that though this number was reached in Yaakov’s day, his righteous sons were not deserving of exile in Egypt and were exempted from the decree of subjugation.
‘If you should now ask: though Avraham could not himself be punished for his transgression, why should his descendants, who did not transgress, be punished?
‘The answer is that Avraham was the root of the tree that was Israel, its branches being his descendants.
‘Any fault in the root - be it very small - is magnified in the branches, and must therefore be rectified - in our case, decreed the Divine Power, that this by the exile in Egypt.’
Rav Zalman Sorotzkin adds: ’Do not wonder why Hashem caused Avraham, His beloved, distress by telling him what awaited his seed.
‘Since Avraham asked:’By what will I know’, and asked Hashem to enter a covenant with him ( so that even if his seed transgress, they would inherit the land, because of the covenant with Avraham ), for the inheritance of the land, it was necessary to tell him the conditions of the covenant: that He would not give the land to his seed, until they had been purified by their subjugation and affliction.’
Rav Yitzchak Karo asks: ’What transgression did the descendants of Avraham commit, so as to deserve to be exiled to a land not theirs? They weren’t even in the world at this time.
‘If you should say that they were caught by the sin of Avraham asking for a sign, this cannot be - we find that Hashem gives signs to his favorites, as it says:(Yishayahu 7:12)’Ask for a sign from Hashem your G-d’, and so we find with Gideon.
‘If so, what was Avraham’s sin that there should be such a decree against him? The Ramban adduces that Abraham inadvertently committed a grave sin, when he brought his virtuous wife to Egypt and placed her at risk of transgression, out of fear for his life - he should have trusted in Hashem, that He would protect both himself and his wife.
‘Further , says Ramban, he sinned in leaving the promised land when there was a famine there, as he should have trusted that Hashem would save them from starvation - and because of this, he concludes, the decreed exile of his descendants to Egypt and the rule of Pharoah.
‘But I wonder - if the decree of exile was because of this, why, when he went to Grar, did he repeat this deed, saying: ’Sarah is my sister’, and Avimelech took her to his quarters - why did he add to his transgression after he had been punished for his earlier misdeeds?
‘If you should say that Hashem did not reveal his sin to him, why not- was not Avraham His beloved, and did Hashem not enter into a covenant with him, and we would expect that Hashem would inform him of his sin, so that he should not repeat it.
‘Further, why did Yitzchak also act in this way, and repeat the very transgression of his father.
‘If for this transgression the four hundred years exile was decreed, there should have been decreed a further four hundred years exile, for the reptition of the transgression, and so too, for Yitzchak transgressing in the very same sin!
‘As Avraham asked as to the inheritance of the land, Hashem told him to take to Him the three sets of animals, and entered into a covenant with him - snd behold: a flame of fire passed between the carcasses of the animals which had been slaughtered., this in place of Hashem - as if He passed between the pieces.
‘And He said:’to your seed I gave this land’.
‘Should you ask: why did Hashem take the land from its inhabitants and give it to another people - this can be understood if the inhabitants are wicked and the other people righteous.
‘Since at that time, the Canaanites were not wicked to the extent that they deserved to be taken from the land - it was clearly necessary that Bnei Israel would reside in a land not their own, despite the covenant with Hashem, until the wickedness of the Canaanites reached its full measure, to merit them being dispossessed.
‘The right of Israel also depend upon them being righteous, to merit being given the land.
‘This is why Hashem said to Avraham: ידוע תדע: ‘know you shall know’ - meaning: two things: one, your seed will be aliens in a land not theirs; and two: they will be subjugated and oppressed there for four hundred years.
‘Meaning: there is no other way than this; they being in an alien land, as they have no land of their own; but the Egyptians will not act in the manner that I want, that being that they will torment and oppress them for four hundred years - and Hashem returned to this second matter - for the torment, I will punish them: and as to the subjugation, they will leave with great possessions.
‘Hashem then returned to the first and said ‘the fourth generation would return here’ - because the wickedness of the Amorites had not yet reached its full level, and therefore it was not right to dispossess them of their land.
‘This explains why, out of necessity, Bnei Israel would sit in a land not theirs, as it was not right that the present inhabitants be dispossessed.
‘As to Bnei Israel, even if they be not righteous, He will give them the land, in the merit of the Avot - as it says:(Devarim 9;5) ’Not because of your righteousness and the straightness of your heart, do you come to inherit the land, but because of the wickedness of these goyim’, and as to the righteousness of Bnei Israel: ’And to establish that which I promised to the Avot.’
‘We see, therefore, that what Hashem said; ’And your seed will be aliens in a land not theirs’, was not because of a transgression of theirs, but because it was not possible to give them the land at that time.
‘By this elucidation we have provided an answer that has troubled all the commentators: what transgression did Bnei Israel commit, to merit the decree that they be exiles in an alien land: this was by necessity, because it was not yet time for the present inhabitants to be dispossessed, and for Bnei Israel to enter THEIR land- and also, that Hashem knew that they would be subjugated and tormented in a manner against the Will of Hashem.’
A parting gem from Rav Sorotzkin:’Sleep fell on Avraham’: Midrash haGadol: ‘so that he not pray that the decree against his seed not be pronounced’.
‘Why did Hashem not tell Avraham not to pray - as he told Moshe?
‘It appears to me, that just as Hashem put Adam haRishon to sleep, to spare him the pain of ‘the operation’ he underwent, when Chava was created - so too, ‘sleep fell on Avraham’ at the time that Hashem said:’and they will subjugate and afflict them four hundred yesrs’, to alleviate to some extent his pain, on hearing this decree on his seed.
‘This, whilst the local inhabitants sat in peace and tranquility, whilst Avraham, who had been promised, that ‘great would be his reward’, had to hear the awesome decree that was pronounced on his seed.
‘It is well known, that the greatest distress comes when something is first heard, as later we get ‘used’ to the bad news we heard.
‘There is also a similarity between the outcome of the two ‘sleeps’: the first brought into the world ‘the mother of all life’, and the second; ‘the nation of Hashem’, which is ‘the soul of all life’.’
לרפואת נועם עליזה בת זהבה רבקה ונחום אלימלך רפאל בן זהבה רבקה, ולרפואת נריה דוב בן חנה, בתוך שאר חולי עמנו.