The Gemarah Bava Bathra (16b-17a) says שלשה הטעימן הקב"ה בעולם הזה מעין העולם הבא אלו הן אברהם יצחק ויעקב אברהם דכתיב ביה בכל יצחק דכתיב ביה מכל יעקב דכתיב ביה כל. How does the word כל reflect the idea that the Avos received a taste of the next world in this world? In the order of the sefirot reflected in the possuk לך ה הגדולה the word kol appears כי כל בשמים וארץ to refer to yesod . As the possuk indicates, the word כל means the place of connection between heaven and earth. In other words, it refers to the capability of joining heavens and earth. שמים means the ruchni and ארץ is the gashmi. The Avos were able to bring the ruchni into the gashmi. That is what it means they had a taste of the next world in this world and that is the middah of כל.
ואברהם זקן בא בימים וה' ברך את אברהם בכל. This beracha of כל is after Avraham is old. The word זקן the Gemarah says means זה שקנה חכמה. The זקן has already acquired, he has reaped the benefits of life. A young person is full of untapped potential, they are open to endless possibilities. The older one gets the amount of possibilities becomes less but the possibilities in a life spent right have been accessed and utilized properly. In a larger form this is the idea of תוהו and תיקון. The beginning of the world was תוהו וחושך. As the Ramban says, the first creation was the undefined היולי which contains the basic matter, the potential for all form but it has not been actualized. The potential is accessed through creation. In other words, this is the same idea as the separation between שמים וארץ. The earth is the basic land mass on which things happen, it is the area of potential. The heavens is when that potential is accessed, the ruchni, that is created. That is why the idea of זקן, of using one's potential, is the combination of heaven and earth and hence Avraham is given כל, the ability to taste olam habah in this world.
This concept is hinted to in the מערת המכפלה in Chevron. The word Chevron is like the word חיבור for connection. The doubled cave in Chevron means the מערת המכפלה represents the meeting point of heaven and earth. That is why Avraham is determined to buy it. This is the only recorded purchase in the Chumash done with כסף, money. Money is something which in it of itself doesn't have value ,tis value is its purchasing power, in its ability to obtain something else. The actualization of the power of money is in a purchase. That is why the the place of connecting heaven of earth, of the actualization of potential must be purchased through money, through כסף.
The Rambam says (Melachim 9:1) עַל שִׁשָּׁה דְּבָרִים נִצְטַוָּה אָדָם הָרִאשׁוֹן ... נִמְצְאוּ שֶׁבַע מִצְוֹת. וְכֵן הָיָה הַדָּבָר בְּכָל הָעוֹלָם עַד אַבְרָהָם. בָּא אַבְרָהָם וְנִצְטַוָּה יֶתֶר עַל אֵלּוּ בְּמִילָה. וְהוּא הִתְפַּלֵּל שַׁחֲרִית. וַיִּצְחָק הִפְרִישׁ מַעֲשֵׂר וְהוֹסִיף תְּפִלָּה אַחֶרֶת לִפְנוֹת הַיּוֹם. וְיַעֲקֹב הוֹסִיף גִּיד הַנָּשֶׁה וְהִתְפַּלֵּל עַרְבִית. וּבְמִצְרַיִם נִצְטַוָּה עַמְרָם בְּמִצְוֹת יְתֵרוֹת. עַד שֶׁבָּא משֶׁה רַבֵּנוּ וְנִשְׁלְמָה תּוֹרָה עַל יָדוֹ. What does it mean וְנִשְׁלְמָה תּוֹרָה? The Avos demonstrated the great potential of a person. They were not bound the exact details of the mitzvot but were able to grow in a manner that they saw fit. Moshe Rabbenu added the finishing touches, the mitzvot which are given to us a the guide to lead to perfection. Rashi at the beginning of Chumash asks why does the Torah start from בראשית ברא and not החודש הזה? According to the Rambam we can answer that the base of the Torah is reflected in the parshios of the Avos. The mitzvot come to fortify and set lines and boundaries for the yesod of the Aovs which is that one is here to be fully access their potential but the basics are reflected by the Avos. That is what Chazal say חייב אדם לומר מתי יגיעו מעשי למעשי אבותי, they don't say one must do all the mitzvot but try to act like the Avos, meaning to bring to fruition one's capabilities.
יפה שיחתן של עבדי אבות יותר מתורתן של בנים. The gematria of Eliezer, the עבדי אבות is 318 = שיח. The שיח of Eliezer reflected the essence of Eliezer, of his inner essence (see Meor Vashemesh Lech Lecha.) שיח means the growth of the ground. Eliezer took his potential and grew (all of this is based upon a shiur by Rav Moshe Shapira.)
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