It’s in this Parsha that we’re introduced to the Father of our nation, Avraham Avinu.
The Torah tells us in the Parsha that הקב”ה told Avraham
הבט נא השמימה וספור הכוכבים אם תוכל לספור אותם….ויאמר לו כה יהיה זרעך
Just like the stars in the sky are too inumeurous to count, so too will be your offspring.
The תורה continues
והאמין בה’ ויחשבה לו צדקה
As רש”י explains:
שלא שאל לו על זה אות
Avraham Avinu did not ask for any kind of sign from the the רבש”ע that this promise would be fullfilled. Harav Ahron Lopiansky שליט”א asks: What benefit would a sign serve? After all, even that would be dependent on הקב”ה keeping his promise?
At the beginning of the Parsha, Hashem tells Avraham
לך לך מארצך וממולדך ומבית אביך אל הארץ אשר אראך
Rashi notes: ולא הגיד לו לאן, כדי לתת לו שכר על כל פסיעה
Avraham had no idea or sign where he was heading to. The concept of heading out on a journey into the unknown runs contrary to human logic. By nature, when setting out on a journey, a person is expected to know where he’s heading and the knowledge of how to get there. And yet, Avraham chose to leave the security of his own home and head out without knowing where to or how to get there. This concept of going against human logic and doing things only because it’s the will of Hashem is the core of אמונה, which we inherited from Avraham Avinu.
We can now understand why the תורה praises Avraham Avinu for not asking for any sign when promised children. At the time he was already old and had no descendents. The idea that he would one day have offspring as numerous as the stars in the sky seemed completely contrary to reality. Had he at least been given a sign from Hashem it would have been a reassurance that the promise of children would one day be fullfilled. But with his unwavering אמונה, Avraham trusted Hashem completely even when the promise seemed completely unlikely.
And it was for his great faith that the תורה praises Avraham by saying
ויחשבה לו צדקה
We know that
מעשה אבות סימן לבנים
Whatever great attributes the אבות developed, they inherited to us, their descendents. That includes learning to develop our own אמונה to be able to traverse life even in spite of challenges, by recognizing that this is the will of Hashem, and that He’s in control.
We’ll conclude with a famous story highlighting this point. Shalom Rubashkin was in prison for 8 years. During that period there were numerous appeals to overthrow his conviction. On the 7th day of Chanukah, 2017 Shalom Rubashkin received a message that his final legal appeal was rejected. He smiled and then said to himself: ” Up until now we relied on the השתדלות of humans. Now that Hashem has shown us that the ישועה will not be coming through our השתדלות, it’s time to put our trust only in Hashem. And He certainly can do anything.” The very next day he received his commute, setting him finally free. Have a Good Shabbos!
Weekly Parsha Shiur 