Bar-Ilan University

Parashat Lech Lecha 5772/October 27, 2012

Parashat Hashavua Study Center

Lectures on the weekly Torah reading by the faculty of Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel. A project of the Faculty of Jewish Studies, Paul and Helene Shulman Basic Jewish Studies Center, and the Office of the Campus Rabbi. Published on the Internet under the sponsorship of Bar-Ilan University's International Center for Jewish Identity. Prepared for Internet Publication by the Computer Center Staff at Bar-Ilan University.

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Yehudah Zoldan*

"His kinsman had been taken captive": Rescuing Captives

After Lot parted from Abraham and settled in Sodom, four kings went to battle against five kings in the area and defeated them. Scriptures makes the point that in the course of this great battle Lot fell captive (Gen. 14:10-12):

And the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah, in their flight, threw themselves into them, while the rest escaped to the hill country. [The invaders] seized all the wealth of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their provisions, and went their way. They also took Lot, the son of Abram's brother, and his possessions and departed; for he had settled in Sodom.

Abraham set out to rescue his nephew and advanced as far as Hobah, north of Damascus, a great distance from Sodom (Gen. 14:13-16):

A fugitive brought the news to Abram the Hebrew, who was dwelling at the terebinths of Mamre the Amorite, kinsman of Eshkol and Aner, these being Abram's allies. When Abram heard that his kinsman (Heb. ah, lit. "brother") had been taken captive, he mustered his retainers, born into his household,

* Rabbi Zoldan is Central Supervisor of Talmud and Oral Law Instruction in the religious school system and teaches at the Midrasha for Women of Bar Ilan University. 1 numbering three hundred and eighteen, and went in pursuit as far as Dan. At night, he…deployed against them and defeated them; and he pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus. He brought back all the possessions; he also brought back his kinsman (Heb. ah) Lot and his possessions, and the women and the rest of the people.

What was the significance of Abraham and his retainers rallying to rescue Lot?

[He] defeated them and he pursued them

Rallying to this cause can be seen as a personal obligation to one's family: "not to ignore your own kin" (Isa. 58:7). Several verses of Scripture stress the family connection between Abraham and Lot. Indeed, Lot was the son of Abraham's brother (v. 12), but when Abraham learned of his having been taken captive, and after his having been rescued, Lot is referred to as Abraham's brother (=ah; verses 14 and 16). From this the midrash learns about Abraham's fine qualities (Tanhuma [Buber ed.], Parashat Lech Lecha, par. 16):

Abraham heard that his brother had been taken captive (Gen. 14:14); but was he Lot's brother? Rather, this is evidence of Abraham's modesty. After all the altercation he had had with him—for it is written, "And there was quarreling between the herdsmen of Abram's cattle and those of Lot's cattle" (Gen. 13:7)—Abraham did not call to mind that quarrel, but called him brother, for it is written, "for we are brothers" (Gen. 14:8).

The disagreement between Abraham and Lot had not been personal, but in consequence of it (as we read in Genesis Rabbah 41.7): "Lot journeyed eastward. Thus they parted from each other' (Gen. 13:11): he took himself to the eastern realms of the world. He said: I cannot manage, neither with Abraham, nor with his G-d, so the brothers parted company." Biologically, Lot was Abraham's nephew, but in terms of nationality he was a brother; so Abraham mobilized to rescue him.

Another way to view Abraham's mobilizing is to see the hostilities between the four kings and the five kings as an all-encompassing war (Genesis Rabbah, 42.4): "Rabbi Eliezer bar Avina said: When you see kingdoms fighting one another, anticipate the footsteps of the Messiah. The proof is that in the days of Abraham, because these kingdoms fought against each other, Redemption came to Abraham." This war was connected with the world progressing and developing: note the use of such expressions as "footsteps of the Messiah" and "Redemption coming to Abraham." The descendants of Lot would be Moab, whence Ruth was destined to come, and later, the Messiah scion of David. Thus it was absolutely

2 essential to save Lot, who was destined for this role, and therefore Abraham gathered his men and set out to rescue him. The four kings sought to forestall G-d's plans for the world; they fought against the Lord and His anointed one: "kings of the earth take their stand, and regents intrigue together against the Lord and against His anointed" (Ps. 2:2).1

Rabbi Hayyim ben Atar, author of Or Hayyim, explains why Abraham did not make a peaceful overture to the four kings before setting out to fight them (see his commentary on Gen. 14:12):

The reason being that…they knew who Lot was, and that he was Abraham's nephew, as is intimated by Scripture's saying, "Abraham heard that his brother had been taken captive." This indicates that they took him captive because they knew he was Abraham's relative and thereby they showed themselves to be Abraham's enemies. Therefore he pursued and defeated them.

Abraham's involvement in rescuing Lot radically changed the course of the war and brought great victory to the kings of the land, who understood as well that this was more than a matter of rescuing a private individual. Thus it was that Melchizedek king of Salem blessed Abraham upon conclusion of the war: "Blessed be Abram of G-d Most High, creator of heaven and earth" (Gen. 14:19).

"He mustered his retainers" – The Lot Rescue Team

When one enlists to perform an important objective of great value, be it an obligation on the personal, familial level, be it on the national level, one must act out of a sense of obligation concerning the objective itself, altruistically, and not out of some other narrow self-interest. Also this lesson can be learned from the patriarch Abraham, according to an interpretation appearing in Midrash Tanhuma ([Buber ed.] Parashat Lekh Lekha, par. 16):

What is meant by va-yarek et hanikhav? That he took silver and gold, and covered them [hanikhav, meaning of Hebrew uncertain] with it. Then he said to them: You know we are going out to war for the purpose of saving lives. Do not set your eyes on riches. Lest you think it is for silver and gold, consider the verse, "va-yarek et hanikhav"; va-yarek means none other than that he covered them with silver and gold, as it is said: "there are wings of a dove sheathed in silver, its pinions in fine gold [yerakrak]" (Ps. 68:14).

1 This approach is developed at length by Rabbi Moshe Bleicher, Le-Mahalakh ha-Parshiyot—Bereshit, Hebron 2000, p. 100-103. 3 Although Abraham indeed shared the spoils of the war with his men, and even gave of it to Aner, Eshkol and Mamre, who had remained on the home front, 2 spoils were not the point of his going to war. The war was for the sake of saving lives, and all their energy had to be focused solely on that. Abraham's force was very small in comparison with the scale of the war, so it seemed he had no chance. But strong and unshaken faith in the Lord and in the importance of the commandment to rescue captives brought them victory, as Rabbi Ephraim Luntshitz explains in his commentary on the Torah, Kli Yakar (Gen. 14:14):

It is hard to understand why Abraham took precisely three hundred and eighteen men with him; so what is Scripture telling us in this? It is but to indicate that the odds of battle were so heavily stacked against him that he had no chance of victory by the ways of nature. But nevertheless Abraham went to war, for he trusted his G-d would come to his aid. These words are the sign, for he took with him the number of people equal [to the value in gematria of] Eliezer, indicating that only Eli-ezer ["God is my help"] was there, for his victory was achieved by no human action, but only by the help of G-d.

Moreover, freeing Lot required special military forces, righteous men not contaminated by sin or transgression (Tanhuma [Buber ed.], loc. cit.):

Another interpretation: Va-yarek et hanikhav —va-yarek means none other than that he pared them down (horikan) by words, as we read in Scripture: "Is there anyone afraid and disheartened?" (Deut. 20:8). This is what Abraham did. He said to them: we are setting out to war; whoever is guilty of transgressions and fearful on account of his actions, let him not go out with us. Upon hearing this, all those who knew in their hearts that they had sinned became seized by fear and did not go out, but went back. The only one who remained with him was Eliezer. At that moment the Holy One, blessed be he, said to him: They have all left you on your own, and no one remains with you save for Eliezer; on your life, I shall give him the might of three hundred and eighteen men, as it is written: "He mustered his retainers (va-yarek et hanikhav), born into his household, numbering three hundred and eighteen," which equals the number of the numerical value of the letters in the name Eliezer.

2 On spoils being given also to the fighters who remained in the rear, see my article: "Ma`amadam shel Hayyalei ha-Oref," in Shevut Yehudah ve-Yisrael, Jerusalem 2007, p. 330-344. 4 Carrying out such a special and dangerous mission surely required militarily excellent men, but more important than their military prowess was their moral fiber. According to the amora Rav, Abraham prepared his men for battle spiritually: "Va-yarek et hanikhav—Rav said: he equipped them [by teaching them] Torah" (Nedarim 32a).3

Rabbi Naphtali Zvi Yehudah Berlin (Netziv) wrote in his commentary, Ha`amek Davar, that the text here (Gen. 14:14) bears a message of principle regarding how one ought to prepare for any war:

The harder the fighting, the more one should study Halakhah and train the sword. Thus Abraham did, teaching his retainers halakhah so deep they had difficulty understanding and looked blank.

Deeply studying the Torah to elevate the spirit, and clarifying the objectives and missions of Israel as a nation are a precondition to setting out to war or a rescue mission, so that the fighters can be at one with the mission and its objectives and carry it out impeccably. Even in a case of few against many or a high-risk mission, with great faith and G-d's help one can succeed and bring glory to G-d, as in the blessing of Melchizedek, king of Salem: "Blessed be G-d Most High, who has delivered your foes into your hand" (Gen. 14:20).

Translated by Rachel Rowen

3 Nedarim 32a also presents another view: "And Samuel said: he made them bright with gold [i.e., rewarded them for accompanying him]." Rabbenu Nissim (Ran) explained this: "Made them bright with gold…i.e., gave them a lot of gold so that they would go [to battle]." 5