Rabbi Brandwein at Carlebach Shul - Avodah with simcha - No Trouble!
Baruch Hashem. Parshas Lech Licha 5766 – spoken at the Seudas Shlishis at the Carlebach Shul, New York.
By Rabbi Avraham Brandwein of Jerusalem (translated by Noah Shavrick)
“And Hashem said to Avram, Lech Licha (You should go out), …” (The preceding Parsha) Parshas Noach concludes with the verse, “And these were the days of Terach… and Terach died in Charan.” Immediately, (Parshas Lech Licha begins), “And Hashem said to Avram.” This was the first revelation of Hakadosh Baruch Hu to the father of the Nation, Avraham Avinu, peace be upon him.
We need to understand, what is the connection between the end of the preceding Parsha to the beginning of this Parsha? Seemingly, they are two different issues, from one extreme to the other, since Terach was an idol worshipper, and here it writes about the revelation of the Creator, who is One, Singular, and Unique. Furthermore, out of respect for Avraham, the Torah should have placed another issue in between these two subjects.
Also, in the course of the Parsha it is written that Hakadosh Baruch Hu promises the Land of Israel to Avraham Avinu, peace be upon him, as it is written, “And He said to him, I am Hashem, who took you out from Ur Kasdim, to give to you this land, to inherit it.” Avraham asked Hashem, “Through what will I know that I will inherit it?” Hakadosh Baruch Hu replies to him, “You will surely know that your descendants will be strangers in a land not of theirs, and they will enslave them and oppress them for four hundred years… and afterwards, they will go out with great possessions.”
We need to understand, what is the answer to the question of Avraham, about his desire to ascertain that he would inherit the Land of Israel?
In order to understand these two questions, let us explain the Mishnah in the Tractate of Pesachim (page 116a), “It begins with a denigration and ends with praise.” In the Haggadah of Pesach, one must begin with a denigration and end with praise. What is the denigration? Upon this there are two views in the Gemara, Rav and Shmuel. Shmuel says, “We were slaves to Pharoah,” this is the denigration. Rav says that the denigration is, “At first, idol worshippers were our fathers, Terach, the father of Avraham…”
Before we explain what is the reason for their dispute, we need to understand what is the reason that one must have a denigration precede the praise.
The answer is that there is a fixed law in creation that the negative always precedes the positive, as it is written in the Act of Creation, “And it was evening, and it was morning, one day.” This is as Chazal write in the beginning of Tractate Berachos, what is the reason the Tanna (author of the Mishna) opened with, “From when do we read the Shema in the evening,” and not (begin asking about the Shema) of the morning. It is learned from the creation of the world, for it says, “And it was evening, and it was morning.”
The reason for this fixed law is according to the principle which is written in Koheles, “Like the superiority of the light from the darkness,” (only from darkness is the excellence of light appreciated.) If we do not precede with a lack, we cannot value the filling in (of that lack), since the value of the filling is according to the size of the lack. Because of this reason, disintegration (of the seed) precedes the sprouting of the shoot, a question precedes an answer, subjugation precedes deliverance, suffering precedes comfort. Likewise, the Yetzer Hara (evil inclination) precedes the Yetzer Hatov (good inclination).
This is the cause, why one needs to begin the Haggadah of Pesach with a denigration, and to end with praise.
There are two aspects of subjugation (Sheebood): 1) the subjugation of the body, and 2) the subjugation of the Soul. This is the reason for the dispute between Rav and Shmuel. Rav holds that one needs to begin with the issue of the subjugation of the body, since the feeling of spiritual subjugation is only applicable to the choicest part of the Nation, those who are most developed in spiritual Avodah. However, subjugation of the body (to be physically oppressed) is understood and felt by all parts of the Nation. Therefore, we begin with (the denigration), “We were slaves to Pharoah…,” which is equally applicable to all. The praise is, “And Hashem took us out from Egypt… and gave us the Land of Israel.”
Rav holds that the denigration is the subjugation of the Soul. Therefore, one needs to begin with (the denigration), “At first, idol worshippers were our fathers, Terach, the father of Avraham…” The praise is, “And He brought us near to Har Sinai and gave us the Torah;” this is spiritual freedom.
Here is the place to elaborate upon what is the meaning of Avodah “Zara” (idolatry, literally: “foreign” worship)? It is written in the Holy Zohar that in a place where there is a Tircha (trouble and bother), there is found the Sitra Achora (the Other Side, i.e. evil). The explanation of the matter is that there is Avodah (service, worship, literally: working on oneself) with Simcha (joy), as the verse says, “Serve Hashem with Simcha.” And there is Avodah which has Tircha; (it is a bother), as the verse says, “Since you did not serve Hashem your Lord with Simcha.” The difference between them depends upon the measure of recognition the servant has for his master.
For example, when an important and honorable man requests for some service to be done for him, any person would have Simcha and pleasure over this opportunity which has befallen them, and immediately, with enthusiasm, they would fulfill the assignment in the most complete manner. This is not the case if the man was disgusting and lowly, and the community did not value him. If he would ask for someone to do for him some small service, even if someone were to respond to such a person, they would feel a burden and great bother in serving him.
The cause is that it is all dependent upon the recognition (awareness) and value that the servant (really “server”) places upon the one they are serving. Therefore, Avodah Zara (idolatry, literally: “foreign service”) means that the worshipper does not recognize and value the one they are serving, who is “Zarah” (“foreign”) to them. Therefore, their Avodah is with great bother.
This is what the Baal Shem Tov, may his memory be for a blessing, explains the verse, “There should not be amongst you a foreign god.” That even one who serves Hashem Yisborach, if they do not recognize the Creator Yisborach, that he is the Good One, and the One who does good, their Avodah is a bother and trouble for them. According to the recognition, correspondingly increases the value of the Avodah.
With the above elaboration, is explained to us, the two questions, which we asked at first. At the end of Parshas Noach, the Torah tells us about Terach, that he was an idol worshipper. It is known that there are five sources of the mouth (to pronounce the various letters). The letters DLTNT (Daled, Lamed, Tes, Nun, Tav) originate from the tongue, and the letter Tav can be transposed with the letter Tes. Therefore, the name Terach (“Tav” Resh Ches), can be spelled Terach (“Tes” Resh Ches) with a Tes, which means Tircha (difficulty and a bother) and that Terach (with a Tes) was a worshipper of Avodah “Zara”, a “foreign” service, which symbolizes Tircha. This is the spiritual subjugation, the subjugation of the soul, which is a preparation for spiritual freedom.
Parshas Noach ends with, “And Terach died in Charan,” since Avraham Avinu passed the stage of spiritual Tircha. Therefore, immediately Hakadosh Baruch Hu was revealed to him, “And Hashem said to Avram…”
According to the one who says that the Haggadah must begin with, “At first, idol worshippers were our fathers, Terach, the father of Avraham,” this was a spiritual subjugation, and this was a preparation to the spiritual freedom of the revelation of, “I am Hashem your Lord”, (at Har Sinai), as it is written in the fourth term of deliverance, “And I will take you for me as a Nation, and I will be for you the Lord.” As it is written, “When you take this nation out of Egypt, you will serve the Lord on this mountain.”
The answer to the second question is that in order to recognize the greatness of physical freedom, one needs the preparation of a physical subjugation. This is what Hakadosh Baruch Hu said to Avram, “You should surely know that your descendants will be strangers in a land not of theirs, and they will enslave them and oppress them…” Through the subjugation in the crucible of Egypt, they will acquire the lack (and need) and the vessels to know and to value the greatness of the freedom of receiving the Land of Israel.
In truth, both (subjugations and opinions of Rav and Shmuel) are interwoven together, since “There is no deliverance for the body without the deliverance for the soul,” and there is no Nationalism without the Torah. Hakadosh Baruch Hu and His Torah and Israel and His Land are all one piece. This is what is written, “And I will take you for me as a Nation, and I will be for you the Lord.” (Sources: Sefer Matan Torah, discourse V’Zos Lihudah and Sefer Peri Chacham, Letters, page 164 (authored by Rabbi Yehudah Leib Ashlag, ZT”L, the Baal HaSulam.)