Ramban on the Torah | 5785 | 02 | Lekh Lekha, by Rav Eli Weber
KMTT - the Torah Podcast
Ramban on the Torah | 5785 | 02 | Lekh Lekha
(upbeat music) - Welcome everyone to another week of Rambhanala Parashah. This week is Parashat Lech Lech Lech Lech. And Parashat Lech Lech Lech is, with that exaggeration, one of the most important parishes in the Torah, at least in terms of the history of Kla Yisrael and the history of Amisrael, right? We think of Avramovino as being the first Jew, because he was, he was the first monotheist. What exactly it means to be a Jew in the time of Avraham before Mathan Torah is the question we're not going to deal with. But that sort of turn in history and the idea of a chosen people and a chosen person is something new in the Rambhan says things here that are significant, not just for Parashat Lech Lech but for all of safer, bracious and beyond. And so I want to touch on some of those. We want to have time to read all of it inside, but I want to touch on some of the ideas. And the first idea is, you know, the question that Kla Yisrael raised, and it's an important question is, who was Avramovino? Right? Noach, we have the backstory. Noach ist adik tami muy abidorat. Okay, so that's why God saved noach from the marble. But the parashat begins, by Yomar Shammel Avram, (speaking in foreign language) Okay, so who's Avram? And more than that, if you look at the end of last week's parashat, and oftentimes we miss this, just because it's the end of the parashat, there's a lot going on, the Torah says, (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) So if the greatness of Avram is that he picked up at the command of (speaking in foreign language) and moved to Arash Yisrael, but wait, but it sounds like it wasn't even his idea. It sounds like it was his father's idea. And okay, they plan to go from (speaking in foreign language) to Arash Yisrael, and okay, like a lot of other people, they didn't make it all the way. They stopped in Ha'ran, but doesn't that take away from Avram's greatness? So without looking, without reading inside, 'cause it's a long run by the end of last week's parashat, really, and it continues to this week, and it's very difficult, it's very technical, but we should know the following. Rashi sees it as a problem. Rashi thinks that Avram was born in Ur-Kastim, and traveled to Ha'ran, and lived there, and then he traveled to Arash Yisrael. The Raman thinks that's not true. The Raman thinks that Avram was born in Ha'ran, and he has proof from Chazal, and proof from Sukhim, and you could look at the end of last week's parashat. He thinks that Avram was born in Ha'ran, and God appeared to Avram in Ha'ran and said (speaking in foreign language) and he picked up from the place of his birthplace, and from the place where he grew up, and he moved to Arash Yisrael. Okay, that's one point that we're not gonna do inside. But then we come to this week's parashat, and we come to the express what God says to Avram, who we don't know who he is. (speaking in foreign language) That's an interesting phrase, (speaking in foreign language) and on it, Duramban first quotes Rashi, I believe, who says (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) Right, people are gonna bless their children, that much like we think (speaking in foreign language) so the same thing with Avram, (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) You'll be a blessing to all of humanity, not just the place where you live, meaning the ideas that you promulgate, and the greatness that you achieve in life will be told over, not by your neighbors, not just by your neighbors, and not just by your community, but by everybody. (speaking in foreign language) Or they'll be blessed by you, mean through you, mean, if you're the neighbor of Avram or Avinu, you'll be blessed because you live next door to Avram or Avinu. Now, Duramban gets to the main point, (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) Is there something missing from this parashat, from this section? Why? (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) Who's Avram for God to appear to him and say, I'm gonna do for you something and make you great in ways that no other person has ever been in the world. (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) Then we'd understand why God is choosing him. And this is, it's such a such an interesting issue. Many, many before shim down to the morale and beyond have theories about why the Torah leaves us out, but the Ramban also has a theory. And we're doing Ramban, so that's what we're gonna do. (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) Right, there's something about (speaking in foreign language) that's gonna make you close to God. (speaking in foreign language) The normal way the Torah tells you is God commanded somebody and said, if you do this, I'll be good to you. I'll be great to you. You'll get the following reward. (speaking in foreign language) I'll give you all the brochos if you follow the Torah. (speaking in foreign language) Et cetera, (speaking in foreign language) Yitzhak is gonna be blessed because of Abraham. (speaking in foreign language) But he doesn't give any reason for what the great thing is that Abraham's doing for which he'll be rewarded. And now the Ramban explains. It's really a fascinating idea, (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) He said, (speaking in foreign language) He said, because the, (speaking in foreign language) was a difficult one, right? (speaking in foreign language) lived in a place of (speaking in foreign language) And the people were mean to him. And the people were cruel to him. He stood up against (speaking in foreign language) And they were, they were cruel to him. (speaking in foreign language) He ran away from them and landed up in (speaking in foreign language) Oh, (speaking in foreign language) So God appeared to him in Quran and said, no, leave these people also. (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) And do what you thought originally, which was to go to Ereti Sural, who create (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) Right? The Ramban thinks that people knew that Ereti Sural was the Ereti Sural. And the Ramban, and says the Ramban, Abraham needed to go there. (speaking in foreign language) And there, and only there, you'll become great, but you'll become great because you live in Ereti Sural. It's not really, it's not just a reward. It's the result, right? God doesn't have to say if you got to Ereti Sural, all these great things will happen to you. God says, when you got to Ereti Sural, the result will be that all these great things will happen to you. (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) Not like in Ereti Sural when you were tortured by the Gentiles. (speaking in foreign language) Whatever the medrus is, whatever the Sukhim seemed to say, you were thrown in a fiery pit, you were thrown in a pit. (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) He can bless people, and he can curse people. (speaking in foreign language) Right, so says the Ramban. The reason why the Torah doesn't just sort of set it up, like here's why you should go to Ereti Sural, is because it's part of the narrative. You're supposed to understand that Ereti Sural is not just a reward, it's the method through which, it's not just the end, it's the means through which Avramavino will become Avramavino. Now, if that's Shadd, and it's very compelling, at least I think, so why does the Torah say so? Why doesn't the Torah tell us the story of Ur custom? Why doesn't the Torah tell us that Avramavino was destroying idols, and therefore he was thrown in a kibshan ha'aish, and he came out and was a great miracle, the Ramban believes all that. So why is it not in this story? Why does the Torah not say it? So now the Ramban finishes and says his follows. (speaking in foreign language) The Torah doesn't wanna talk about Avada Zara, and tell you about why people worship Avada Zara. (speaking in foreign language) And to explain that Avramavino had a big debate, there was a big fight about liberalism or conservatism, you know, I don't mean that literally. There's a big fight between, I believe in one God, I believe in many gods. (speaking in foreign language) Right, the Torah basically avoids this. It's an interesting thing, is the Torah afraid that if it tells us about Avada Zara, people would God forbid, leave how, it's hard to understand. But the Ramban thinks, as a postulate, the Torah avoids, and it's true, the Torah never really tells us why people worship Avada Zara. If you're interested in this, not God forbid in Avada Zara, but you're interested in how this happens, the first parak of the Raman Hilchas Avada Zara is like a brief history of the world in which he deals with, wait, other Maharishi on meta-kodesh barakul, and no Aknu Akhosh barakul. How does it happen that people become over there Avada Zara when they live with people who didn't believe, but they knew that Akhosh barakul exists? And there the Raman explains, you know, that the moon does have power and the sun does have power. They work for Akhosh barakul. They're not independent sources of power, but you can see the moon and you can see the sun and you can see the stars, and people need something tangible, and that's the draw of Avada Zara, right? Originally, of course, is a God, I worship the God, but I also worship the moon and the sun who represent that God, and eventually you forget the God who you can't see, and you'll end up worshiping sources of power that are only secondary who get their power from God. Okay, that's the background and the intro to Avamavino, and I think the Ramban has a very sophisticated and very, very compelling understanding of the story. Now, we did this last year, but it's so fundamental to the Ramban. We'll try to do it again relatively quickly. Says the possuk, impossuk vavino in the first opening, vayyavar avrambhah arats admakom shikam adelon mohreva haknani asbar arats. This introduces a pretty boring part of the Torah, and the Ramban recognizes it, and it's kind of interesting. Ramban says, you know, who cares that Avram walked here? Who cares that Avram lived here? This isn't significant to the story, and the Ramban says, no it is. Possuk vav, omar lecha klal tavino tobukhala pashiyot habao binyan avram yitzuk viyakov. I'm gonna tell you a rule says the Ramban, and you have to understand it in every single part of safe abracious, which covers the lives of Avram yitzuk and Yaakov. Vu yinyan Godol, he's kiruhu rabotayab dar kitzarah. It's a really, really big deal. In fact, the Ramban thinks it's the yisad. It's the fundamental understanding and explanation for all of safe abracious. He says, Khazal mentioned it, you know, in, in, in the side. Vamruh, kolmash sha'i rahla avot siman lebanim, right? That's what we understand is masa avo siman lebanim. But we normally think about it in terms of, I don't know, it's like it's a foreshadowing. It happened to Avram yinu, so it might happen, so it's likely to happen. But that's not how the Ramban sees the world. The Ramban sees masa avo siman lebanim as there's a world of multiple truths or multiple realities, right? It's a metaphysical concept, but the Ramban thinks, you know, there's Pshat, there's Drash, there's So, there's Kabbalah. There are multiple worlds and says the Ramban, it's almost like there's a small gear that moves a bigger gear, that moves a bigger gear. And when it happens to the Avot, it's going to happen to the Banim. The Ramban has a phrase in his introduction to say for Shmoat, that it's not masa avo siman lebanim, it's masa avo yitzirah lebanim. Literally, they are creating historical paths that the children have to follow. Now, why is this so significant? So says the Ramban. (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) So the Torah goes out of its way to tell stories about where Avram walked and where he dug a well and where the Avos did certain things. (speaking in foreign language) It's interesting to read the Ramban, say this. You'll think it's boring. 'Cause it is boring. It doesn't sound like it's significant. (speaking in foreign language) It's not just that it's likely to happen to their descendants, and it applies only to the Avot. I don't know why. It's a special day in Avamitzo, Kinyakov. It's going to happen, vida. Now, second point, but this also explains the stories and it makes it significant in the Ramban's worldview, vida. (speaking in foreign language) Any zerah from on high, right? Any promise of God. (speaking in foreign language) When it leaves the realm of being potential and it's actualized in some way, right? (speaking in foreign language) An actual act. (speaking in foreign language) Fascinating, it says the Ramban. It's not just (speaking in foreign language) but when Avraham walks in Arat's Israel, he is actually taking ownership of it for us. When you take a promise, and all the promises in the Torah says the Ramban in many places are contingent, right? God promised us Arat's Israel. Obviously, it's contingent on us keeping the Torah. And (speaking in foreign language) is something we should worry about, right? Maybe we didn't act properly. Maybe that's why the promise isn't coming true. But says the Ramban, and this is kind of a subtle point. Says the Ramban. When the Avoh do something to concretize the promise, (speaking in foreign language) He is actually by doing that, making a Kenyan in Arat's Israel that makes God's promise that we're gonna get Arat's Israel either a certainty, I don't wanna say a certainty because I still think if we sin, yeah, God can change his promise. But it makes it much more likely. That act makes it more likely, and I'm not reading the whole Ramban to you, but the Ramban gives examples where if you did something more, your symbolic act was more than symbolic, then the promise of God becomes much more likely, right? So when God says to Yermiyo, I'm gonna destroy Arat's Israel, right? And then Yermiyo, but then eventually, I'm gonna bring the people back, and Yermiyo tells his scribe to take a book and tie a rock to it and throw it into the river, he's making that promise concretized. When Alisha, I think it's Alisha, the Ishailo Kim tells the king to shoot symbolic arrows, and he shoots three symbolic arrows, and he says, if he had shot more, it would have been more of a certainty. We could have been sure of this, but it doesn't matter. The Ramban sees these symbolic acts as concretizing promises from Akartosh Baruchu, and he thinks all of safe vibrate shit, I mean, there are things that are not related to this point, but the point the Ramban makes is that he's not gonna keep telling you many times over, (speaking in foreign language) You need to understand, and when you read safe vibrate shit, you need to say to yourself, "Oh, this is setting something up for the future." It's significant in the story, but it's gonna be more significant going forward. Okay, that's a basic idea, and then the Ramban in postugyud tells us how this works. Postugyud, to be still in the beginning of the parashan, Perik Yud Bet, tells us as follows. (speaking in foreign language) Okay, there's a famine. So Al-Movin, who's going down to me, (speaking in foreign language) says the Ramban, and this is now gonna touch on the second of the Ramban's significant points and safer, bracious, or generally in his parashan. (speaking in foreign language) Okay, Avra went down to me to try 'em 'cause there was a famine, and he wanted to have his family survive. (speaking in foreign language) And the myths were more mean to him, (speaking in foreign language) For no reason, (speaking in foreign language) They stole his wife, they took Sarah. (speaking in foreign language) And God took revenge on them. (speaking in foreign language) And not just that Avram left Mitzrayim, but he left with great wealth. (speaking in foreign language) And he didn't just sneak out on his own. Paro sent messengers to accompany him. Now, you could see this already. Says the Ramban, (speaking in foreign language) It's a hint. It's (speaking in foreign language) At the end of safer, bracious, the children of Yaakov, together with their father Yaakov, is going, are gonna go down to Mitzrayim 'cause of a famine. (speaking in foreign language) And the Egyptians will be mean to them and will steal their wives. (speaking in foreign language) Just as a side point. The Ramban thinks that when the Colabian Ha'ilor Ha'ilor (speaking in foreign language) Wasn't just to kill all the males, all the male Jews. It was to allow the Egyptians to take control of the women. So he thinks the idea that Paro stole Sarah is then recreated in Mitzrayim, you know, hundreds of years later, when they were gonna take all of our women. (speaking in foreign language) Right afterwards, (speaking in foreign language) happened, (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) And didn't just send them, he sent them with messages. They forced them to leave. (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) Nothing happened to Avraham that didn't later happen to us. Okay, says the Ramban. This is (speaking in foreign language) But you might ask yourself, okay, but you know, being in Mitzrayim was bad. It was no picnic. Why did that happen to us? Just because it happened to Avraham. That seems unfair. And then the Ramban says the next fundamental point in his Paroshano generally. He says, and I wanna keep this in perspective. (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) First thing he says, (speaking in foreign language) in which when he came to eat to Mitzrayim and he said that Paro is that, I'm sorry, that Sarah is his sister, he put her in grave danger. Right? (speaking in foreign language) In addition, (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) He says, (speaking in foreign language) committed two sins. They would be shagga. He committed two sins. One, he put Sarah in danger and he should have believed in Akarish Barghu that Akarish Barghu would save her. Two, the whole idea of leaving Eretz Israel and going to Mitzrayim, he says, was a sin. Because (speaking in foreign language) because if God wants to save him from a family, he can. (speaking in foreign language) So it's not just, (speaking in foreign language) Avram went down to Egypt and he had a hard time and then God saved him so it happened to his children. It's a punishment 'cause Avramavino should not have gone to Mitzrayim according to the Ramban. Now, two points here. First of all, many people pointed this Ramban as a general understanding of the Ramban seeing biblical figures, their greatness and their flaws. I don't believe for a second that Avramavino didn't think that I'm sorry that the Ramban didn't love Avramavino more than me and you. He did, but the Ramban thinks if it's in the Torah, we have to learn a lesson from it. And if the Torah doesn't bother to hide a flaw or maybe even a (speaking in foreign language) so we shouldn't either, right? It's like, you know, I once read, you know, if arts girl published their own safe abrasions, so they would be, you know, Yakov had 12 sons and they had a fight in learning and there was a whole misunderstanding and then they landed up in Mitzrayim. No, somebody did something wrong. And Rav Meidan likes to say, you know, why should you try to find fault in the avos in David Amalach, in Shlomo Amalach? Hazal did it. It's not for us to find flaws. But the Ramban is saying that Avramavino may have been greater than any of us. Avramavino was greater than any of us, but he was still a human being and he was still subject to mistakes. And you see it at the end of the parashal also, right? The end of the parashal is the story with Hagar and Sarah seems like she's being mean to her. So it's Parak Tezayin, Pasog Tezayin, Tezayin, which comes before Yud Zayin, says as follows. (speaking in foreign language) Raman says the same thing there. (speaking in foreign language) It was wrong for Sarah to torture Hagar. (speaking in foreign language) And Avram allowed this to happen. That was a mistake. (speaking in foreign language) The punishment was Ishmael, who was a para-adam, who was mean to Jews, why we have to put up with that? Because Avram and Sarah made a mistake. The Ramban is clear, it's a mistake. God forbid he doesn't mean it in a way that they were bad people. They weren't, they were the others, they were the greatest people ever. But there are people nonetheless. And that's a fundamental premise of the Ramban's parashal note, not just in safe abrasion, but in Kala Tarkula. These people are greater than will ever be, but they're people. And the stories in the Torah need to be learned and lessons need to be drawn. And therefore the Ramban's gonna do it, even if from time to time, somebody would say, who's the Ramban to question Avram, to question Sarah, to question Yitzchak, to question Yaakov. The Ramban feels that's what the Torah requires of us. Okay, so there's two major premises in the Ramban's parashal note. One is (speaking in foreign language) which he doesn't return to. Here's, he where he tells it to you. And you need to apply it to all of safe abrasion. And the second part is that the avote and other biblical figures are great and they're deserving of our incredible respect, but they're human beings. And they can make a mistake and certainly be show-gig. And we need to learn from them. And sometimes, God forbid, we suffer from them. Okay, let's go to the next story in the parashal. And that's the story of stone and the breakup of Avraham and Lot. And here you find something interesting. The Torah says, (speaking in foreign language) Listen, it's not working. This (speaking in foreign language) The land can't support us all together. We're too rich. Okay, so he tells Lot. (speaking in foreign language) If you go to the right, I'll go to the left. We need to split up. If you go to the left, I'll go to the right. (speaking in foreign language) He sees the beautiful fertile crescent, (speaking in foreign language) before God destroyed it. (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) Okay, Avraham said here, right? And then the puzzle just says (speaking in foreign language) unrelated to anything. And here Rashi says it first, but the Ramban really emphasizes it. (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) The Torah's telling us, (speaking in foreign language) to let you know that Lot knew this already. It's not that Lot moved to stone and then they became bad people. And then they became a place that's not (speaking in foreign language) But then no, he knew that when he chose that place and he chose, you know, bad neighbors over real values 'cause maybe 'cause he wanted to live with rich people 'cause he wanted to live in a place that was fertile. He wanted to live in a place where it rained all the time, right? Sometimes, you know, if you go to the Dead Sea, if you look to the other side, the Jordan, it's all green, right? There it rains all the time. Here it doesn't. Or at least not since God destroyed stone bamara. So he says that's the point. (speaking in foreign language) And in addition, it's telling you something great about Avraham who the Ramban refers to not withstanding the sins as Sadik. (speaking in foreign language) His portion didn't land up because Lot chose to go to stone. So Avraham's portion didn't include these evil people. (speaking in foreign language) Right, (speaking in foreign language) says, because the bad people don't intrude on the nakhal of the good people. (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) That whole valley, the whole valley of Stomenon, Moron, and the five towns, they were bad people and therefore they were all destroyed. Now, what's bothering the Ramban and what should bother us is, I mean, weren't the Anshaykinaan and the entire land bad people? So he says, (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) Yes, it's true. Wherever you went in Kanan, there were bad people, but particularly the area of Stomenon, Moron, were really, really evil people, as we'll see in next week's parasha. And so therefore, it says (speaking in foreign language) or it says the Ramban, therefore Lot chose it. And now we're willing to did not. Now, there are many more Ramban's I prepared. Let's do one more really quickly. And (speaking in foreign language) I'm sorry, (speaking in foreign language) That's the story of the war, the four kings against the five and Lot is taken captive and Avrovina wins the war. And there you have (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) And it's only, it's interesting to us and it matters to us because for all that we say that Israel, for all that we say, that Israel isn't mentioned at all in the Quran, but it's mentioned all the time in Tanakh, it's not mentioned in the Torah. But Yous Shalaim is mentioned in the Torah. And this is the point, and the Ramban emphasizes it. Says the Ramban, (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) The land of Shalaim is Yous Shalaim. (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) Because even back then, says the Ramban, people knew, first of all, you get the sense from the beginning of the part that people knew that (speaking in foreign language) special and, and here says the Ramban, people knew that Yous Shalaim was particularly special. 'Cause it is geographically the center of Israel and Israel for the Ramban, who only knew the Northern Hemisphere, is geographically the center of the world. And so whether or not people knew about Yous Shalaim, (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) I think people did not know that 'cause the sense you get in the Torah and in Yoshua and in Shofthim is that people didn't know about Yous Shalaim, right? There's no base (speaking in foreign language) There's no desire to create a base (speaking in foreign language) 'til David Amal comes along. The sense you get is (speaking in foreign language) wasn't known to the people. But says the Ramban, the basic idea that Yous Shalaim was chosen and Yous Shalaim was the center point of (speaking in foreign language) That was known even in the time of Avraham. And I know that 'cause the king of it was always, his last name was always (speaking in foreign language) and (speaking in foreign language) was the (speaking in foreign language) of Yous Shalaim. Okay, so we talked a little bit about the Ramban's, about Avraham Veenu's background and how the Torah doesn't really expand on it. But it's part of the story that when he says (speaking in foreign language) Avraham Veenu was being told, you'll be successful in (speaking in foreign language) in a way that you were not successful in (speaking in foreign language) you need to leave Quran and go to (speaking in foreign language) we saw my (speaking in foreign language) or more particularly my (speaking in foreign language) Yitzi (speaking in foreign language) and how seriously the Ramban takes it. We also saw the fact that the Ramban thinks that figures in the Torah are not perfect. They're not angels. They're great human beings, but they're great human beings who can be fallible from time to time. I don't think we should take this too far, but I think it is a contrast to Rashi. Rashi sees really, really good people, like Yaakovina was really, really good. And Asa was really, really bad. I think Rashi had to do that, but the Ramban has a more sophisticated and a more nuanced view of it. And he shows that in (speaking in foreign language) where they went down, even though he thinks, the Ramban thinks that Avramina didn't have to go down. It was a sin, and therefore we had to go to Mitsrayim and Sarah sinned, and therefore Yishmail was born and he tortured us, we saw the Ramban saying that loat chose to live amongst Rishayim. (speaking in foreign language) It wasn't just a coincidence. And finally that (speaking in foreign language) was the (speaking in foreign language) and people knew that Yishmail was a unique place even back then. Okay, Yashkok, to everybody, went a little bit over time today. Have a great, great shabbos, and God willing, see you next week. (upbeat music) [MUSIC PLAYING]