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THE WEEKLY SIDRA- LECH L’CHA
Rabbi Moshe Greebel
To be certain, the histories and cataclysmic events listed openly in the Torah, are well known to most everyone. Yet, there are also historical occurrences which are not openly enumerated in the Torah, and can only be attained from the words of our Rabbanim of blessed memory, which at times, can be very surprising. For instance, we will shortly speak of Avraham Avinu, who already lived in Eretz Yisroel (Canaan), and left it, prior to being commanded by HaShem in this week’s Sidra to leave his father’s land. But, more of this later.
In last week’s Sidra, starting at the beginning of the tenth chapter of Sefer B’raishis, we read of all the people of the earth who descended from Noach, and the geographic areas in which they lived. The last Passuk (verse) of this tenth chapter reads:
“These are the families of the sons of Noach, after their generations, in their nations; and by these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood.” (B’raishis 10:32)”
That is, these nations divided in the earth, each having their own territory, which was legally granted to them by their ancestor Noach. However, immediately at the beginning of the eleventh chapter, we see:
“And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they lived there.” (ibid. 11:1-2)
Most assuredly, due to the first king, the evil Nimrod, everyone on the earth suddenly acquiesced to the king’s one language and speech, which ordered all the inhabitants of the earth to leave their designated areas ownerless, and to migrate to Shinar in Chaldea, to help construct the Migdal Bavel (tower of Babel), from which to oppose HaShem.
Their opposition to HaShem however, was met with the following:
“And HaShem came down to see the city and the tower, which the sons of men built. And HaShem said, ‘Behold, the people are one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do; and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have schemed to do!’ So HaShem scattered them abroad from there upon the face of all the earth; and they left off the building of the city.” (B’raishis 11:5-8)
This period of mass migration to Shinar and the dispersion, or scattering from there, is the specific time period into which we will delve, and, in which we will discover an even greater attribute of Avraham Avinu, than was known before. We begin at the point where this week’s Sidra describes the entry of Avraham into Eretz Yisroel (Canaan):
“And Avram (as he was named then) passed through the land to the place of Sh’chem, to the trees of Moreh, and the Canaanites were then in the land.” (ibid. 12:6)
Concerning the last clause in this Passuk, Rashi learns:
“And the Canaanites were then in the land…..(These Canaanites) went and conquered Eretz Yisroel (Canaan) from the seed of Shem, which was the designated portion that fell to Shem, when Noach divided up the earth for his sons….. (HaShem said to Avram), ‘I am destined to return it (the land) to your children, who are of the seed of Shem!’”
Basically, after the Canaanites conquered Eretz Yisroel (Canaan) from the seed of Shem, HaShem promised Avraham that the land would be returned to his seed, who are of Shem. Yet, there are several very difficult issues here in this Rashi commentary, which we will take one at a time.
1. As per this Rashi, the Canaanites, who conquered the land of Shem, and took it over, seem to be considered thieves. Yet, the very first Passuk of the Torah states:
“In the beginning, G-d created the heaven and the earth.” (ibid. 1:1)
Rashi on this Passuk, stated:
"’He has declared to His people the power of His works, that he may give them the heritage of the nations.’ (T’hillim 111:6) For, if the nations of the world shall say to Yisroel, ‘You are thieves, in that you (illegally) conquered the land of the seven nations (Canaanites in the time of Y’hoshua)!’ (Yisroel) would say to them), ‘The entire world belongs to HaKadosh Baruch Hu, He created it, and gives it to whoever is fitting in His eyes…..!’”
Now, how can we reconcile the Rashi in this week’s Sidra, which implies that the Canaanites were thieves for conquering the land from the seed of Shem, and the beginning of the Torah, wherein Rashi has Yisroel accused as thieves for conquering the land from the Canaanites, who took it from Shem?
2. What exactly is meant by Rashi in this week’s Sidra, when he stated HaShem‘s promise to Avraham of ‘I am destined to return it (the land) to your children, who are of the seed of Shem’? Was then Avraham the only seed of Shem? In fact, Shem had several sons, who originally inherited Eretz Canaan:
“The children of Shem were Elam, and Ashur, and Arpach’shad, and Lud, and Aram.” (ibid. 10:22)
Should HaShem not have promised that He will return the land to the entire family of Shem, from whom it was stolen, and, not only to Avraham alone?
3. Concerning this matter in Rashi of ‘The entire world belongs to HaKadosh Baruch Hu, He created it, and gives it to whoever is fitting in His eyes,’ the following should be considered. If this is true, all existence becomes a Thomas Hobbes ‘state of nature,’ where only the strongest survive. One who is more powerful and forcefully takes from another, can always justify his actions by claiming that this is exactly what HaShem wanted! Does Rashi actually propose a society based on only the fittest surviving?
Prior to the Chassam Sofer (Rabbi Moshe Sofer [Schreiber] 1762-1839) of blessed memory, in his text Toras Moshe, supplying us with the answers to these three questions, we present the following chronology, the years being from the Creation:
1656:
Mabul (flood).
1948:
Birth of Avraham.
1996:
Death of Peleg at 239 years of age.
Dispersion from Shinar.
Avraham is 48 years of age.
2006:
Death of Noach at 950 years of age.
Avraham is 58 years of age.
2023:
Avraham is commanded to leave his father’s land at 75 years of age.
2047:
Destruction of S’dom and its suburbs, which takes place only 51-52 years after the dispersion from Shinar. Avraham is 99 years of age (based on Rashi in the Gemarah of Shabbos 10b).
What is important here, is that we will be given to understand by the Chassam Sofer, that sometime in his first 48 years of life (between 1948 and 1996), Avraham actually lived in Eretz Yisroel (Canaan), as his legitimate inheritance from the descendents of Shem, who inherited from Noach, something of which the Torah makes no mention.
Instead of being first introduced in the Torah during the years between 1948 and 1996, we encounter Avraham in the year 2023, when he was 75 years of age, being ordered by HaShem to leave his father’s land. Based on this Chassam Sofer, we may very well ask what caused Avraham to leave Eretz Yisroel (Canaan), and return to his father’s land, only to leave it again? The answer to this question is hinted to in this week’s Sidra:
“…..And the Canaanites were then in the land.” (B’raishis 12:6)
Having investigated this chronology of events listed and not listed in the Torah, we take each of our questions separately.
1. How are the two Rashi commentaries reconciled?
As we have seen, the Chassam Sofer taught that sometime in his first 48 years of life, Avraham lived in Eretz Yisroel (Canaan). It was at a specific point during this time, that the mass migration to Shinar would have taken place, everyone including Shem, leaving their lands ownerless. Yet, instructed the Chassam Sofer, Avraham would not listen to the one language of Nimrod to migrate to Shinar, and instead, stayed in his lands of Eretz Yisroel (Canaan).
And, here, according to the Chassam Sofer, we have a little known, but, very impressive picture of Avraham Avinu, who would not bend to Nimrod at this point, as he would not bend at a later time to the idolatry of Nimrod.
Now then, after the dispersion from Shinar took place, the nations legally overtook ownerless lands. The nation of Canaan lawfully took Eretz Yisroel (Canaan), which was forsaken by the seed of Shem. But, in their overtaking of Eretz Yisroel (Canaan), these Canaanites also illegally overtook the lands of Avraham, who had never left his inheritance ownerless. The victimized Avraham was then compelled to return to the land of his father.
Therefore, explained the Chassam Sofer, when Rashi stated in this week’s Sidra, “(These Canaanites) went and conquered Eretz Yisroel (Canaan) from the seed of Shem, which was the designated portion that fell to Shem, when Noach divided up the earth for his sons,” he was inferring that the Canaanites were thieves because in the overtaking of Eretz Yisroel (Canaan), they also unlawfully overtook the inheritance of Avraham from Noach, who had never forsaken his land.
However, when Rashi states in the beginning of the Torah, “For, if the nations of the world shall say to Yisroel, ‘You are thieves, in that you (illegally) conquered the land of the seven nations (Canaanites in the time of Y’hoshua),’” he was referring to the taking of Eretz Yisroel (Canaan) from Canaan (in the time of Y’hoshua), who legally owned it (with the exception of the inheritance of Avraham), since they first overtook it when it was ownerless. Both Rashi commentaries then, are reconciled.
Regrettably, whether the omission of sources by the Chassam Sofer for Avraham having already lived in Eretz Yisroel (Canaan), his refusal to migrate at the one language of Nimrod, and, the illegal occupation of his lands by Canaan after the dispersion from Shinar, are due to the publisher/printer of the Toras Moshe or not, is difficult to determine. Suffice it to say nonetheless, the fact that these events are related by the Chassam Sofer, lends them adequate authenticity.
2. Was Avraham the only descendent of Shem?
Avraham was the only descendent of Shem, who would not leave his lands in Eretz Yisroel (Canaan) ownerless, to migrate with the rest of civilization to Shinar. That is why only he, of all the seed of Shem, was promised, “I am destined to return it (the land) to your children, who are of the seed of Shem!”
3. Does Rashi actually propose a society based on only the fittest surviving?
The expression “The entire world belongs to HaKadosh Baruch Hu, He created it, and gives it to whoever is fitting in His eyes,” explained the Chassam Sofer, is not a matter of physical strength one nation over the other. Rather, HaKadosh Baruch Hu returns the land of Eretz Yisroel (Canaan) to the seed of Avraham, only because Avraham, who is ‘fitting in His eyes,’ legally inherited it through Shem and through Noach. It is that legality, which outweighs any other factor.
And so, we have not only resolved three very astute questions, we have also delved into a little known period in our history, from the birth of Avraham Avinu to the dispersion, in which we are given yet a further example of his resolve and fortitude to have always done the right and proper thing.
May we soon see the G’ulah Sh’laimah in its complete resplendency- speedily, and in our times. Good Shabbos.
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