Of Forefathers and Final Laps
On the day of the New York City Marathon two years ago, my wife and I happened to have found ourselves a couple of blocks away from the finish line, so we decided to stop off for a few moments and watch the athletes completing the race.

What we observed turned out to be a very inspiring scene: Runners, whose every limb was throbbing from overexertion and excessive impact, and whose pained faces mourned the loss of stamina long spent, would suddenly spot the finish line in the distance, and a new vigor would come over them. They would raise their heads, increase their pace, and proudly sprint forward until they crossed the finish line triumphantly.

The face of a worn runner who finally sees the end is a face of rejuvenation. It is a face of hope. And it is, I believe, the face of our generation in Golus.
In this week’s Parsha, Avraham Avinu is told by HaShem “I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your name great.” The Gemora (Pesachim117b, quoted by Rashi) says that these three expressions form the basis for the references which we make in Shemone Esrei to the three Patriarchs: “I will make you a great nation,” is why we say Elokei Avraham; “I will bless you,” is why we say Elokei Yitzchok, and “I will make your name great,” is why we say Elokei Yaakov.

But then the Gemora says something puzzling: “One might have thought that the brocho should be concluded with all three Patriarchs, as well; therefore the pasuk concludes ‘And you will be a blessing’ - with you they will conclude and not with the others.”

The Gemora refers to the fact that the brocho ends “Magen Avraham” and the other Avos are not mentioned. But what does the Gemora mean to convey with this halacha that the brocho concludes with only Avraham and not the others?
Rav Shimon Shkop, the great Rosh Yeshiva of Shaar HaTorah of Grodno, once explained that this statement of Chazal refers to the era of the end of Golus.
Avraham Avinu was the originator of spreading G-d’s teaching in the world. He discovered HaShem, and he started the movement of belief in Him. But after him the challenge became that of passing on the teachings from one generation to the next. This was the task of Yitzchok. This was the task of Yaakov. And this has been the task of every generation since the time of the Avos.

But, explained Rav Shimon, there can come a time when the forces of Golus and the opposing influences become so strong, that the tradition is lost largely, and the fathers are unable to convey the Mesorah to their children.

When this happens, we once again need to be like Avraham Avinu - to rediscover the lost G-d of the World - to reinvent what we have not been taught.
And this is what has happened in our time.

My friend Rabbi Allen Schwartz, Rav of Cong. Ohab Zedek in Manhattan, related the following anecdote: Many years ago there was a Rebbi in Yeshiva University who used to tell his students that for every negative prophecy found in Tanach, he could show there is a positive interpretation. The students began to challenge him with different prophecies, and for each he showed the brighter side. Then one student said “Rebbi, what about the prophecy in Bechukosai (26:29) where it says ‘And you will eat the meat of your sons and daughters’? How could you possibly see anything positive in such a horrible prediction?”
The Rebbi thought for a second, then he smiled and he said “We live in a time when many parents have sadly watched their children leave the fold, and turn away from Yiddishkeit. When the parents visit their childrens’ homes, the food isn’t kosher, and they are unable to eat. The Prophet is telling us of a joyous time in the future when the children will return to the Torah and the parents will once again be able to eat the meat served in their childrens’ homes!”

There is a famous teshuva of Rav Moshe Feinstein (Iggros Moshe, Yoreh Deah I, 54) in which Rav Moshe suggests that although it is generally not permissible to eat food that was cooked by a non-observant Jew, there may be grounds for leniency in certain instances where the consumer knows for certain that the one who cooked the food would never allow him to violate his religion.

What is very striking about this teshuva (I believe I once heard this observation made by Rabbi Yisroel Reisman), is the difference between the circumstance which Rav Moshe was addressing when he wrote the teshuva, and the circumstance in which most Rabbis today invoke his ruling. Rav Moshe was writing in Russia, perhaps eighty years ago, when many parents were supported by their children, but the children had abandoned the Torah, so the parents had to ask if they could still eat in their childrens’ homes. But today, most often this ruling of Rav Moshe is invoked when a baal teshuva has to visit a non-Observant parent! The children have come back. We’ve come full circle.
We live in the time of Becha Chosmin - of ending the Golus with the trait of Avraham Avinu. It is a generation of rediscovery, of rejuvenation. Upon the ashes of Auschwitz we have rebuilt Torah in a way that no one could ever have imagined. Let us be inspired by the miraculous rebirth that we have witnessed, and may we be reinvigorated to run with great alacrity to the finish line of this long Golus Marathon.

Adapted from the Parsha Musings Collection by Rabbi Avraham Steinberg.