Page 3 - HaMizrachi #25 Chanuka 2020 USA

TORAT MIZRACHI
TORAT MIZRACHI

Rabbi Doron Perez

Avraham, Chanukah

and Rabbi Sacks

ON RELIGION, NATIONHOOD AND UNIVERSALISM

W hat did Avraham Avinu stand of Canaan, settling in different parts of Furthermore, when G-d informed him

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

| 3