Page 254 - BERESHIT

Akeidah completely l’shem Shamayim, and so Hashem let everyone know
about it, inscribing his merit for eternity, recognizing his virtuousness with
Scriptural acclaim.

Lot on the other hand, practiced hospitality in order to gain attention. He
wanted all to know of his righteousness, and in the end he was lost from
the annals of history. The Torah chronicles Lot’s actions as a mere
backdrop for Avraham’s, contrasting Lot’s character with Avraham’s
greatness.

One who learns Torah makes the words of Torah ‘his own.’ Learning does
not come easily, but its acquisition is deeply satisfying, and all one’s own.
We learn out loud, not to attract attention to ourselves, but as an
expression of our thirst for Torah as well as our contentment. This, then,
is really learning Torah lishmah.

Avraham circumcised himself on Yom Kippur, “on that day” (Bereishit
17:23). There is an integral connection between Yom Kippur and brit
milah? The very holiness of Yom Kippur washes away our iniquities and
cleanses us from sin. It is a measure of Divine compassion, to return us
to our original, higher level. The day of a brit milah is also a day when a
pure soul descends and creates a bond between the circumcised person
and Olam Haba. This is what Avraham Avinu experienced by his brit
milah. And this is why the Torah stresses when Avraham did the mitzvah.
It was “on that day” that he went through his purifying experience, so
symbolic of its calendar day of Yom Kippur.

When Avraham Avinu did his brit milah, he defied the skepticism and
apprehension that he faced as he entered the Divine covenant and fulfilled
the first mitzvah of Judaism. When we do Hashem’s commands without
qualm or anxiety, placing our reliance on Hashem, our actions are worthy
replicas of Avraham’s brit milah.