​Parashat Lech Lecha 5785, 2024: "The Covenantal Community"

Rabbi David Etengoff


ה' יעזור וירחם על אחינו כל בני ישראל, בארץ ישראל ובכל חלקי הארץ
 
Our parasha contains the sole instances of the phrase, “l’brit olam—as an everlasting covenant,” in Chamisha Chumshei Torah:

And I will establish My covenant between Me and between you and between your seed after you throughout their generations as an everlasting covenant, to be to you for a G-d and to your seed after you. (17:7)
 
Those born in the house and those purchased for money shall be circumcised, and My covenant shall be in your flesh as an everlasting covenant. (17:13)
 
And G-d said, “Indeed, your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you shall name him Yitzchak, and I will establish My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his seed after him.” (17:19, this and all Tanach translations, The Judaica Press Complete Tanach)
 
A direct reading of these pasukim reveals three interwoven covenants: The unalterable agreement between Hashem, Avraham and all Jews forevermore affirming the Master of the Universe will always be our G-d, the physical covenant of brit milah, and the promise that the covenant of Avraham will continue through his yet-to-be born son, Yitzchak, and his future offspring.
 
My rebbe and mentor, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik zatzal (1903-1993), known as “the Rav” by his students and followers, depicted the relationship between these pasukim in this way:

With circumcision, another mission was assigned to Avraham: the formation and education of a covenantal community that would be close to God and would follow a new way of life, an enigmatic modus existentiae [existential mode of life], a special relationship to God.” (Abraham’s Journey: Reflections on the Life of the Founding Patriarch, page 158, brackets my own)
 
What are the constitutive elements of this “covenantal community that would be close to G-d and would follow a new way of life” that Avraham was charged with creating? In his 1944 work, “U’vikashtem Misham” (“And From There You Shall Seek”), the Rav suggests two complementary aspects, Knesset Yisrael and Adat Yisrael:

Knesset Yisrael (the Community of Israel)—its definition: the inextricable connection between the first and last generations of prophet and listener, of Torah scholar and student, of the Revelation of God’s Divine Presence in the earliest lights of dawn, and the eschatological vision on that day to come. The Community of Israel is also Adat Yisrael (the Congregation of Israel). It incorporates in its innermost being the ancient and true testimony of the myriad visions that have never been obliterated in the depths of the past, the continuity of history, and the unceasing transmission of the Revelation from generation to generation. (Page 66, translation, underlining and parentheses my own)
 
In sum, according to the Rav, the covenantal community that Avraham founded is transhistorical in nature and links all Jews together for all time. As such, the prophets and their adherents, as well as Torah scholars and their students, are eternally connected by both “the unceasing transmission of the Revelation” of Har Sinai and Judaism’s messianic vision.
 
The Rav has given us a far-reaching understanding of the nature of the covenantal community. Yet, exactly how did Avraham establish it and ensure its unceasing continuation? I believe the Torah teaches us the secret of his success: “For I [G-d] have known him because he commands his sons and his household after him, that they should keep the way of Hashem to perform righteousness and justice (la’asot tzedakah u’mishpat), in order that Hashem bring upon Avraham that which He spoke concerning him.” (Sefer Bereishit 18:19) The extent to which tzedakah u’mishpat have shaped the collective persona of our people is underscored in Talmud Bavli, Yevamot 79a:

This nation [Yisrael] is distinguished by three characteristics: They are merciful (harachmanim), meek (habaishanim) and practitioners of loving-kindness (gomlai chasadim). “Merciful,” as it is written, “and grant you compassion, and be compassionate with you, and multiply you,” (Sefer Devarim 13:18) “Meek,” for it is written, “and in order that His awe shall be upon your faces,” (Sefer Shemot 18:17) “Practitioners of Loving-Kindness,” as it is written, “because he [Avraham] commands his sons and his household after him, that they should keep the way of Hashem to perform righteousness and justice…” (Sefer Bereishit 18:19, passage translation, The Soncino Talmud with my emendations)
 
At first glance it seems that the context of this passage is extra-legal in nature. The Rambam (1135-1204), however, teaches us otherwise by codifying it as normative halacha: “… the distinguishing signs of the holy nation of Yisrael is that they are meek, merciful, and kind.” (Mishneh Torah, Sefer Kedushah, Hilchot Issurei Biah 19:17, translation, Rabbi Eliyahu Touger)  As such, Avraham’s legacy of gemilut chasadim, as an expression of righteousness and justice, emerges as a defining characteristic of our nation, and one of the foundations upon which the covenantal community is based.
 
As the prophet Michah declared so long ago: “He has told you, O man, what is good, and what Hashem demands of you; but to do justice, to love loving-kindness, and to walk humbly with your G-d.” (6:8) With Hashem’s help, may we, as a nation and as individuals, fulfill these stirring words. V’chane yihi ratzon.
 
Shabbat Shalom
 
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*** My audio shiurim on the topics of Tefilah and Tanach may be found at: Tefilah and Tanach
 
*** I have posted 164 of Rabbi Soloveitchik’s English language audio shiurim (MP3 format) spanning the years 1958-1984. Please click on the highlighted link.

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