Parshat Lech-Lecha

10 Cheshvan 5755
Saturday, October 15, 1994

Guest Rabbi:
Rabbi Yaakov Bienenfeld
Young Israel of Harrison, New York

Sponsored by
the Henry, Bertha and Edward Rothman Foundation
Rochester, NY * Cleveland, Ohio
Circleville, Ohio

Sponsored by UMB Bank and Trust Company -- America's only Shomer Shabbat Bank

In Parshat Lech Lecha we learn of Avraham Avinu's wealth. The terminology the Torah uses for wealth is quite strange: "V'Avraham kaved meod bamikneh kesef uvezahav (Bereishit 13:2)" - "And Avraham was burdened with flock, silver and gold." Why is the word "burden" used to denote wealth? A few p'sukim earlier, the very same word- kaved- is used to describe the hardship of famine: "Ki kaved haraav baaretz (Bereishit 12:10)". There, however, the use of the word burden seems appropriate since a scarcity of food is certainly a hardship and a burden. In describing Avraham's possessions of gold, silver and livestock, the word burden seems ill-chosen - shouldn't these material blessings make life easier and more enjoyable for Avraham instead of more burdensome?

To the great tzaddik Avraham, wealth was as much a burden as a blessing. Avraham knew the Talmudic dictum, "schar mitzvah behai alma lekah" -- in this world we do not receive reward for our observance of mitzvot. Yet, in the Kriyat Sh'ma that we recite daily we say: "Vehaya im shomoa tishmiu el mitzvotai...vinatati mitar artzichem bieto yoreh umalkosh viasafta deganecha vitiroshcha viyitzharecha." - "And it will come to pass that if you continually hearken to My commandments, etc. then I will provide rain for your land in its proper time, the early and the late rains that you may gather in your grain, your wine and your oil." The famous question then arises that if we do not receive reward in this world for our observance of mitzvot, why does the Torah explicitly state that if we observe the commandments we will be the beneficiaries of rain, crops and other material goods?

The answer is that these material goods are not the end reward- they are mere instruments that enable us to continue the observance of mitzvot. The grain, wine and oil are not intended to reward us but rather to give those who do mitzvot the strength and the means to continue. When a lawyer is hired by a firm and is given an office, desk and legal pads, or an accountant a calculator, or a teacher chalk and erasers, these are not considered their salary or reward but the tools and instruments necessary for them to carry out their respective jobs. So, too, HaShem offers us material goods as a means to continue our job of performing mitzvot as committed Jews. Our true reward remains intact for the world to come.

When Avraham saw that he was blessed with an excessive amount of material goods, he understood that this could not be attributable to a heavenly reward for good deeds. That, he knew, would not be forthcoming in this world. If so, why was he the recipient of this wealth? What was its purpose?

Avraham could only conclude that these riches were not given to him as a means for self-indulgence, but rather to facilitate an even greater level of mitzvah performance. He saw himself merely as a funnel through which HaShem's blessings must be disbursed and distributed to others - the needs, the infirm, the abandoned. He viewed his wealth as a burden because with it came the responsibility of equitable distribution and allocation. And, while Avraham did appreciate the blessings of material things and the good that could be achieved through wealth, he also understood the burden of the responsibility that accompanies it.

I believe that this concept of the burden of wealth explains the mishnah in Pirkei Avot that says, "Marbeh nesochim marbeh deagah" - "one who increases his possessions increases his worries." Do we really need the mishnah to explain to us that the more we acquire, the more we worry? Isn't it obvious that along with cars, houses, businesses and jewelry come car payments, insurance, mortgages, maintenance fees, alarms and a host of worries? Or is the mishnah suggesting that we would be better off limiting our holdings in order to avoid worry?

I think that the mishnah is instead trying to tell us that he who increases his possessions must
increase his worry in the manner of Avraham; by adopting the Avraham Avinu attitude toward wealth and property: namely, that we should worry about our possessions on a spiritual and religious level. Like Avraham, we need to worry about how we are allocating our blessings. Are we using them selfishly or to benefit those around us? One must ask oneself: Am I utilizing all that HaShem gave me in the performance of mitzvot? Am I using my home for hachnassat orchim, my car to offer lifts to those who need them? The more we are
blessed with, the more we should be worrying! But our worry should not be directed toward increasing or preserving our wealth but rather toward making sure that we are using it to perform good deeds that benefit others.

As we read this week about Avraham Avinu's "burden", we should take inventory of all that we've been blessed with - resources, talents, etc. - and worry about whether we are using these blessings properly.

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