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TORAT MIZRACHI
T ORA T MIZRA CHI

Rabbi Doron Perez

Avraham, Chanukah

and Rabbi Sacks

ON RELIGION, NATIONHOOD AND UNIVERSALISM

W hat did Avraham Avinu repeatedly promised that G-d will abhorrent, he loved all of humanity

bless him with a לֹודָּ ג יֹוּג, a great
stand for?
and impassioned G-d not to destroy
What were the core prin-
very Land. Nowhere is this national-
ciples he instituted that formed the people, with a particular task, in this His creatures.
authentic blueprint for Judaism and ist impulse clearer than in his desire The more Avraham searched for G-d,
the spiritual mission of the Jewish to save his errant nephew Lot. As the more he found his fellow man.
people? soon as he hears Lot has been taken So Avraham Avinu is a blend of all
captive, Avraham springs into action,
Let us examine this question from takes up arms and is prepared to fight three – the staunch advocate of faith,
three different vantage points: against regional powers to do what- the proud nationalist, and the ardent
ever it takes to rescue him. humanist devoted to all people cre-
1. Spiritual. Avraham is the consum- ated in the image of G-d.
mate ambassador of faith and man of Although not commanded by G-d,
G-d. We are first introduced to him as he is prepared to sacrifice everything In his own groundbreaking way, he
G-d commands him to leave his coun- – his life and the lives of his follow- was able to blend the religious, the
try, his land of birth and his father’s ers – to save one lost soul. All for one national and the universal into one
house, and we are privy to many more [member of the tribe] and one for all. complete whole. The founder of the
Divine commands and conversations Jewish faith laid the foundations that
throughout his life. 3. Universal. Avraham is also the make Judaism so wholesome, mean-
humanist par excellence. His ת ַ סָנ ְ כ ַ ה
We see a man deeply connected to םי ִ ח ְ רֹוא, his hospitality, is unmatched. ingful and life-enhancing.
G-d, commanded by G-d and abso- In great pain after his circumcision, Unsurprisingly, it is precisely these
lutely obedient to Him. Nowhere is he runs to welcome pagan guests – three elements at the core of Jewish
this obedience clearer than in the later to be revealed as angels – into being that Rav Kook writes about
perplexing command to sacrifice his his home and treats them like noble-
beloved son Yitzchak, an impossi- men. Although these people were the when describing the ideological bat-
ble task in itself, yet made even more ideological antithesis of everything tles raging in the early 1900s in pre-
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challenging by G-d’s earlier promise he stood for – he was teaching mono- State Palestine. He described the
that Yitzchak would be the forebear theism and belief in a purposeful and three ideological camps in the Jewish
of a great nation. Nevertheless, Avra- personal G-d and they were espousing world – the religious, the nationalist
ham does not deviate in his adher- paganism and idol worship and the and the universalist (perhaps religious
ence to what he perceives as the will belief in many impersonal gods – he parties, right-wing parties and left-
of Heaven. A man of incompara- had no hesitation in welcoming them wing parties in today’s parlance).
ble religious fervor, dedication and into his home.
commitment. Rav Kook explains how each one
He washed the dust of idolatry off represents part of the whole truth
2. National. Avraham is also the their feet and found a way to bridge of what Judaism is about and that a
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epitome of nationalism. His entire the boundaries and sit together. Fur- complete understanding of the Jewish
life revolves around journeying to thermore, when G-d informed him of mission must incorporate all three
the specific land G-d showed him, His plan to destroy Sodom, Avraham weaved into one seamless whole.
the Land of Canaan, settling in dif- did everything in his power to pre-
ferent parts of that Land and being vent it. Although their actions were Continued on page 4

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