Paying up our dept
As Avram returned to the land of Israel from Egypt, the Torah notes that “He retracted his route” Rashi explains that he took the same route in order to pay back his debts.
A number of commentators wonder if Avram was indeed in such dire straits that he actually got into debt, and whom could he count on to give credit to a fugitive in his condition?
Some see in Rashi’s remarks a much deeper meaning. As the Midrash tells us, Avram, from a very young age, devoted his life to teach humanity of the existence of Hashem, and the moral responsibility every member of the human race has. Avram’s commitment to his faith was so great, that he in fact destroyed his family’s lucrative business, (Terach’s Idols Inc.) due to his moral belief. Wherever Avram would travel and meet people he would speak about Hashem, and would teach that all good bestowed upon man comes from the Creator of Heaven and earth. When the Torah tells us that Avram reached a specific location, built an altar and called out in the name of Hashem, he was essentially preaching monotheism and moral responsibility to man. Unfortunately, during the famine period, Avram was in a very difficult predicament. How can you preach that morality brings blessing to man, when here you have the most moral of all men leaving Israel -the land that the master of the universe has just commanded him to travel to- and searching for a way to survive? Avram could not answer this difficult question, and was in “debt” on his way down to Egypt, not physically but rather spiritually.
However ,after the events in Egypt- and the miraculous intervention of Hashem to save Sarai from harm’s way and the great wealth bestowed upon Avram, he was able to repay those depts by showing humanity that the Almighty protects and provides individuals that really believe in him.
Prayer, an essential component of a true Torah and spiritual life, is a very difficult concept to understand. People time and again ask, if all that is given to man is good, why should I implore Hashem to amend the situation? Doesn’t the Talmud teach that all things are for the good? Rabbi Chaim of Volozin in his work Nefesh Hachaim gives us a very deep insight into the true purpose of prayer. The Nefesh Hachaim explains that when a person prays to Hashem to alleviate his difficult situation, the prayer is not for the sake of the person, rather for the sake of Hashem. When a person is in pain the Shechina also feels pain. The Midrash tells us that the relationship between the Jew and Hashem is similar to that of twins, that when one gets injured the other one feels the pain.
Accordingly, the objective of prayer is to ease the pain that the Shechina is experiencing.
When the nation of Israel is suffering as a whole, in addition to the pain Hashem feels for each and every individual, there is also a great desecration of the name of Hashem. When the Jewish people-the nation that is recognizes by the world as chosen by the Almighty-suffer, humanity asks; “Where is their G-d”. How is it, they wonder, that the nation that brought monotheism to the world can experience a Holocaust? This Chilul Hashem, is one that we must focus are prayers on, that it should come to an end, because when we cannot answer the question we again enter in to a situation, like Avram leaving the land of Canaan, of “debt”.
Avram’s exodus from Egypt repaid those depts, and sanctified the name of Hashem with the abundance of material blessings he obtained in Egypt. The sanctification of Hashem by means of the exodus and his reentry into Israel, was the template for the future exodus and entree in the day s of Moshe and Yehoshua, and the great “payback of depts” that occurred throughout the supernatural journey in the wilderness.
We pray that the suffering of the Jewish people and consequently, the terrible Chilul Hashem come to and end with the coming of Moshiach, and we can finally get rid of our “dept” that we owe to humanity.
