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Thursday, October 22, 2026

Lech-Lecha 5

This class covers Bereshis 15:7–21, the Bris Bein HaBesarim (the covenant between the halves), and then 16:1–16, the story of Hagar and the birth of Yishmael. Hashem promises Avram the land, Avram asks how he can know it will stay with his children, and the covenant is sealed with the split animals and the torch of fire. Two ideas keep coming back. The first is that the promise is real but conditional: the four exiles are woven into the covenant itself, and exile is the gentler payment Avram chose for his descendants in place of Gehinnom. The second, in the Hagar story, is that the same words land differently depending on the person hearing them.

The pesukim

Bereshis 15:7

וַיֹּ֖אמֶר אֵלָ֑יו אֲנִ֣י יְהֹוָ֗ה אֲשֶׁ֤ר הוֹצֵאתִ֙יךָ֙ מֵא֣וּר כַּשְׂדִּ֔ים לָ֧תֶת לְךָ֛ אֶת־הָאָ֥רֶץ הַזֹּ֖את לְרִשְׁתָּֽהּ׃

[God] said to him, "I am God who took you out of Ur Casdim to give you this land as a possession.

Hashem tells Avram, "I am Hashem who took you out of Ur Kasdim to give you this land as a possession." This scene happens on Avram's first journey to Canaan, at age 70, five years before the Lech Lecha at the start of the parsha. Hashem is telling him why He took him out: only to give him the land. Had the land not been meant for him, Hashem would never have taken him out of Ur Kasdim.
Bereshis 15:8

וַיֹּאמַ֑ר אֲדֹנָ֣י יֱהֹוִ֔ה בַּמָּ֥ה אֵדַ֖ע כִּ֥י אִֽירָשֶֽׁנָּה׃

"0 Lord, God," replied [Abram], "How can I really know that it will be mine?"

Avram answers, "Hashem, Elokim, how can I really know that it will be mine?" The Gemara in Megillah 31b explains the question: what if my descendants sin? The generation of the Flood and the people of the Tower of Babel came from righteous ancestors and were still punished. Hashem answers that the merit of the karbanos (the offerings in the Temple) will keep the land for them. When Avram asks what will happen once there is no Beis HaMikdash, Hashem answers that if they read the passages of the offerings every day, He will forgive their sins and the promise will hold.
Bereshis 15:9–10

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֵלָ֗יו קְחָ֥ה לִי֙ עֶגְלָ֣ה מְשֻׁלֶּ֔שֶׁת וְעֵ֥ז מְשֻׁלֶּ֖שֶׁת וְאַ֣יִל מְשֻׁלָּ֑שׁ וְתֹ֖ר וְגוֹזָֽל׃

[God] said to him, "Bring for Me a prime heifer, a prime goat, a prime ram, a dove and a young pigeon."

וַיִּֽקַּֽח־ל֣וֹ אֶת־כׇּל־אֵ֗לֶּה וַיְבַתֵּ֤ר אֹתָם֙ בַּתָּ֔וֶךְ וַיִּתֵּ֥ן אִישׁ־בִּתְר֖וֹ לִקְרַ֣את רֵעֵ֑הוּ וְאֶת־הַצִּפֹּ֖ר לֹ֥א בָתָֽר׃

[Abram] brought all these for Him. He split them in half, and placed one half opposite the other. The birds, however, he did not split.

Hashem tells Avram to bring a prime heifer, a prime goat, a prime ram, a turtledove and a young pigeon. Avram splits the animals and lays each half opposite the other, but does not split the birds. This is the founding agreement of the Jewish people, the pact by which Hashem makes us His chosen nation. In ancient times, splitting an animal and passing between the halves was how two parties sealed a binding pact. Here that ancient form becomes the covenant between Hashem and Avram.
Bereshis 15:11–21

וַיֵּ֥רֶד הָעַ֖יִט עַל־הַפְּגָרִ֑ים וַיַּשֵּׁ֥ב אֹתָ֖ם אַבְרָֽם׃

Vultures descended on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

וַיְהִ֤י הַשֶּׁ֙מֶשׁ֙ לָב֔וֹא וְתַרְדֵּמָ֖ה נָפְלָ֣ה עַל־אַבְרָ֑ם וְהִנֵּ֥ה אֵימָ֛ה חֲשֵׁכָ֥ה גְדֹלָ֖ה נֹפֶ֥לֶת עָלָֽיו׃

When the sun was setting, Abram fell into a trance, and he was stricken by a deep dark dread.

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר לְאַבְרָ֗ם יָדֹ֨עַ תֵּדַ֜ע כִּי־גֵ֣ר ׀ יִהְיֶ֣ה זַרְעֲךָ֗ בְּאֶ֙רֶץ֙ לֹ֣א לָהֶ֔ם וַעֲבָד֖וּם וְעִנּ֣וּ אֹתָ֑ם אַרְבַּ֥ע מֵא֖וֹת שָׁנָֽה׃

[God] said to Abram, "Know for sure that your descendants will be foreigners in a land that is not theirs for 400 years. They will be enslaved and oppressed.

וְגַ֧ם אֶת־הַגּ֛וֹי אֲשֶׁ֥ר יַעֲבֹ֖דוּ דָּ֣ן אָנֹ֑כִי וְאַחֲרֵי־כֵ֥ן יֵצְא֖וּ בִּרְכֻ֥שׁ גָּדֽוֹל׃

But I will finally bring judgment against the nation who enslaves them, and they will then leave with great wealth.

וְאַתָּ֛ה תָּב֥וֹא אֶל־אֲבֹתֶ֖יךָ בְּשָׁל֑וֹם תִּקָּבֵ֖ר בְּשֵׂיבָ֥ה טוֹבָֽה׃

You shall join your fathers in peace, and you will be buried at a good old age.

וְד֥וֹר רְבִיעִ֖י יָשׁ֣וּבוּ הֵ֑נָּה כִּ֧י לֹא־שָׁלֵ֛ם עֲוֺ֥ן הָאֱמֹרִ֖י עַד־הֵֽנָּה׃

The fourth generation will return here, since the Amorite's sin will not have run its course until then."

וַיְהִ֤י הַשֶּׁ֙מֶשׁ֙ בָּ֔אָה וַעֲלָטָ֖ה הָיָ֑ה וְהִנֵּ֨ה תַנּ֤וּר עָשָׁן֙ וְלַפִּ֣יד אֵ֔שׁ אֲשֶׁ֣ר עָבַ֔ר בֵּ֖ין הַגְּזָרִ֥ים הָאֵֽלֶּה׃

The sun set, and it became very dark. A smoking furnace and a flaming torch passed between the halves of the animals.

בַּיּ֣וֹם הַה֗וּא כָּרַ֧ת יְהֹוָ֛ה אֶת־אַבְרָ֖ם בְּרִ֣ית לֵאמֹ֑ר לְזַרְעֲךָ֗ נָתַ֙תִּי֙ אֶת־הָאָ֣רֶץ הַזֹּ֔את מִנְּהַ֣ר מִצְרַ֔יִם עַד־הַנָּהָ֥ר הַגָּדֹ֖ל נְהַר־פְּרָֽת׃

On that day, God made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your descendants I have given this land, from the Egyptian River as far as the great river, the Euphrates;

אֶת־הַקֵּינִי֙ וְאֶת־הַקְּנִזִּ֔י וְאֵ֖ת הַקַּדְמֹנִֽי׃

[the lands of] the Kenites, the Kenizites, the Kadmonites,

וְאֶת־הַחִתִּ֥י וְאֶת־הַפְּרִזִּ֖י וְאֶת־הָרְפָאִֽים׃

the Hittites, the Perizites, the Rephaim,

וְאֶת־הָֽאֱמֹרִי֙ וְאֶת־הַֽכְּנַעֲנִ֔י וְאֶת־הַגִּרְגָּשִׁ֖י וְאֶת־הַיְבוּסִֽי׃

the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Yebusites.

Vultures swoop down on the carcasses and Avram drives them away. At sunset a deep, dark dread falls on him, and Hashem tells him his descendants will be strangers in a land not theirs for 400 years, enslaved and oppressed. After that Hashem will judge the nation that enslaved them and they will leave with great wealth. Avram himself will die in peace at a good old age, and the fourth generation will return once the Amorites' sin is complete. Then a smoking furnace and a flaming torch pass between the halves, and Hashem makes a covenant giving Avram's descendants the land from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates, the land of ten nations. The Ramban explains that the exiles are woven into this covenant to show it is conditional: the land is ours as long as we keep the Torah. That is exactly where we stand today. Hashem gave Avram the land, we lost it through our sins, and we are paying for those sins in exile so that we can get it back.
Bereshis 16:1–2

וְשָׂרַי֙ אֵ֣שֶׁת אַבְרָ֔ם לֹ֥א יָלְדָ֖ה ל֑וֹ וְלָ֛הּ שִׁפְחָ֥ה מִצְרִ֖ית וּשְׁמָ֥הּ הָגָֽר׃

Abram's wife Sarai had not borne him any children. She had an Egyptian slave-girl by the name of Hagar.

וַתֹּ֨אמֶר שָׂרַ֜י אֶל־אַבְרָ֗ם הִנֵּה־נָ֞א עֲצָרַ֤נִי יְהֹוָה֙ מִלֶּ֔דֶת בֹּא־נָא֙ אֶל־שִׁפְחָתִ֔י אוּלַ֥י אִבָּנֶ֖ה מִמֶּ֑נָּה וַיִּשְׁמַ֥ע אַבְרָ֖ם לְק֥וֹל שָׂרָֽי׃

Sarai said to Abram, "God has kept me from having children. Come to my slave, and hopefully I will have sons through her." Abram heeded Sarai.

Sarai has no children by Avram. She has an Egyptian maid named Hagar, and she tells Avram, "Hashem has kept me from having children; come to my maid, and perhaps I will be built up through her." Avram listens. Sarai believes she is childless because of some sin, so she frees her maid and lets her husband marry her. She hopes the anguish of watching her husband take her own maid as a second wife will move Hashem to forgive her and give her children.
Bereshis 16:3

וַתִּקַּ֞ח שָׂרַ֣י אֵֽשֶׁת־אַבְרָ֗ם אֶת־הָגָ֤ר הַמִּצְרִית֙ שִׁפְחָתָ֔הּ מִקֵּץ֙ עֶ֣שֶׂר שָׁנִ֔ים לְשֶׁ֥בֶת אַבְרָ֖ם בְּאֶ֣רֶץ כְּנָ֑עַן וַתִּתֵּ֥ן אֹתָ֛הּ לְאַבְרָ֥ם אִישָׁ֖הּ ל֥וֹ לְאִשָּֽׁה׃

After Abram had lived in Canaan for ten years, his wife Sarai took Hagar the Egyptian her slave, and gave her to her husband Abram as a wife.

After Avram has lived in Canaan for ten years, Sarai "takes" Hagar and gives her to Avram as a wife. Whenever the Torah says a person was "taken", it means they were taken with words, so there was a conversation here. Sarai comforts Hagar. A king's daughter becoming the second wife of an old man may not seem fitting, Sarai tells her, but being the wife of a man as great as Avram is a true honor, and she is fortunate. Avram sees that Sarai's advice is divinely inspired, and he marries Hagar.
Bereshis 16:4

וַיָּבֹ֥א אֶל־הָגָ֖ר וַתַּ֑הַר וַתֵּ֙רֶא֙ כִּ֣י הָרָ֔תָה וַתֵּקַ֥ל גְּבִרְתָּ֖הּ בְּעֵינֶֽיהָ׃

[Abram] came to her, and she conceived. When she realized that she was pregnant, she looked at her mistress with contempt.

Avram comes to Hagar and she conceives on the very first night. Once she sees she is pregnant, her mistress becomes "light in her eyes". Sarai was so famously beautiful that royalty came from all over the world just to see her face. Now Hagar wants the message to get out that her mistress is not as great as she seems: Sarai has been married to Avram for years without a child, and Hagar conceived after one night.
Bereshis 16:5

וַתֹּ֨אמֶר שָׂרַ֣י אֶל־אַבְרָם֮ חֲמָסִ֣י עָלֶ֒יךָ֒ אָנֹכִ֗י נָתַ֤תִּי שִׁפְחָתִי֙ בְּחֵיקֶ֔ךָ וַתֵּ֙רֶא֙ כִּ֣י הָרָ֔תָה וָאֵקַ֖ל בְּעֵינֶ֑יהָ יִשְׁפֹּ֥ט יְהֹוָ֖ה בֵּינִ֥י וּבֵינֶֽיׄךָ׃

Sarai said to Abram, "It's all your fault! I myself placed my slave in your arms! Now that she sees herself pregnant, she looks at me with disrespect. Let God judge between me and you!"

Sarai tells Avram, "This outrage against me is your fault. I put my maid in your arms, and now that she sees she is pregnant I am nothing in her eyes. Let Hashem judge between me and you." She is telling him that when he prayed for a child, he prayed only for himself. He said "You have not given *me* offspring" (15:3), and since Hagar conceived at once, his prayer was answered for him alone. Had he prayed for the two of them, Sarai would have had a child as well.
Bereshis 16:6

וַיֹּ֨אמֶר אַבְרָ֜ם אֶל־שָׂרַ֗י הִנֵּ֤ה שִׁפְחָתֵךְ֙ בְּיָדֵ֔ךְ עֲשִׂי־לָ֖הּ הַטּ֣וֹב בְּעֵינָ֑יִךְ וַתְּעַנֶּ֣הָ שָׂרַ֔י וַתִּבְרַ֖ח מִפָּנֶֽיהָ׃

Abram replied to Sarai, "Your slave is in your hands. Do with her as you see fit." Sarai abused her, and [Hagar] ran away from her.

Avram replies, "Your maid is in your hands; do with her as you see fit." Sarai deals harshly with her, and Hagar runs away. Avram means that Hagar is still Sarai's maid, so Sarai can simply put her back to work. Sarai answers that she cannot, because once a slave has been freed the law forbids making her work as a slave again. So, as Bereshis Rabbah says, Sarai keeps Hagar secluded from Avram and beats her. Notice that Sarai does nothing to Hagar until she has first asked her husband.
Bereshis 16:7

וַֽיִּמְצָאָ֞הּ מַלְאַ֧ךְ יְהֹוָ֛ה עַל־עֵ֥ין הַמַּ֖יִם בַּמִּדְבָּ֑ר עַל־הָעַ֖יִן בְּדֶ֥רֶךְ שֽׁוּר׃

An angel of God encountered her by a spring in the desert, in the oasis on the road to Shur.

An angel of Hashem finds Hagar by a spring in the desert, at the oasis on the road to Shur. Some say four angels came to her and some say three. Either way she is not frightened, because angels came and went all the time in Avram's house and she was used to seeing them.
Bereshis 16:8–14

וַיֹּאמַ֗ר הָגָ֞ר שִׁפְחַ֥ת שָׂרַ֛י אֵֽי־מִזֶּ֥ה בָ֖את וְאָ֣נָה תֵלֵ֑כִי וַתֹּ֕אמֶר מִפְּנֵי֙ שָׂרַ֣י גְּבִרְתִּ֔י אָנֹכִ֖י בֹּרַֽחַת׃

[The angel] said, "Hagar, maid of Sarai! From where are you coming, and where are you going?" "I am running away from my mistress, Sarai," she replied.

וַיֹּ֤אמֶר לָהּ֙ מַלְאַ֣ךְ יְהֹוָ֔ה שׁ֖וּבִי אֶל־גְּבִרְתֵּ֑ךְ וְהִתְעַנִּ֖י תַּ֥חַת יָדֶֽיהָ׃

The angel of God said to her, "Return to your mistress, and submit yourself to her."

וַיֹּ֤אמֶר לָהּ֙ מַלְאַ֣ךְ יְהֹוָ֔ה הַרְבָּ֥ה אַרְבֶּ֖ה אֶת־זַרְעֵ֑ךְ וְלֹ֥א יִסָּפֵ֖ר מֵרֹֽב׃

[Another] angel said in God's name, "I will grant you many descendants. They will be so many that they will be uncountable."

וַיֹּ֤אמֶר לָהּ֙ מַלְאַ֣ךְ יְהֹוָ֔ה הִנָּ֥ךְ הָרָ֖ה וְיֹלַ֣דְתְּ בֵּ֑ן וְקָרָ֤את שְׁמוֹ֙ יִשְׁמָעֵ֔אל כִּֽי־שָׁמַ֥ע יְהֹוָ֖ה אֶל־עׇנְיֵֽךְ׃

[Still another] angel of God said to her, "You are pregnant, and will give birth to a son. You must name him Ishmael, for God has heard your prayer.')

וְה֤וּא יִהְיֶה֙ פֶּ֣רֶא אָדָ֔ם יָד֣וֹ בַכֹּ֔ל וְיַ֥ד כֹּ֖ל בּ֑וֹ וְעַל־פְּנֵ֥י כׇל־אֶחָ֖יו יִשְׁכֹּֽן׃

He will be a rebel. His hand will be against everyone, and everyone's hand will be against him. Still, he will dwell undisturbed near all his brothers."

וַתִּקְרָ֤א שֵׁם־יְהֹוָה֙ הַדֹּבֵ֣ר אֵלֶ֔יהָ אַתָּ֖ה אֵ֣ל רֳאִ֑י כִּ֣י אָֽמְרָ֗ה הֲגַ֥ם הֲלֹ֛ם רָאִ֖יתִי אַחֲרֵ֥י רֹאִֽי׃

[Hagar] gave a name to God who had spoken to her, [saying], "You are a Vision God," for she said, "Didn't I [still] see here after my vision?"

עַל־כֵּן֙ קָרָ֣א לַבְּאֵ֔ר בְּאֵ֥ר לַחַ֖י רֹאִ֑י הִנֵּ֥ה בֵין־קָדֵ֖שׁ וּבֵ֥ין בָּֽרֶד׃

She therefore named the oasis, "Oasis to Life my Vision" (Be'er LaChai Ro'i). It is between Kadesh and Bered.

The angel calls her "Hagar, maid of Sarai" and asks where she is coming from and where she is going. She answers that she is running from her mistress. She is told to go back and submit to Sarai, that her descendants will be too many to count, and that she is pregnant with a son she must call Yishmael, "for Hashem has heard your prayer". He will be a wild man, his hand against everyone and everyone's hand against him. The word "angel" appears four times in these verses, so there were four angels, each with its own message. The first one's question is really a reminder: you are Pharaoh's daughter, and where would you go, back to Egypt? You are far better off as Sarai's maid in Avram's house. Hagar names the place Be'er Lachai Ro'i, "the well of the Living One who sees me". She is praising Hashem, who keeps His eye on the oppressed and was there for her even in her suffering.
Bereshis 16:15–16

וַתֵּ֧לֶד הָגָ֛ר לְאַבְרָ֖ם בֵּ֑ן וַיִּקְרָ֨א אַבְרָ֧ם שֶׁם־בְּנ֛וֹ אֲשֶׁר־יָלְדָ֥ה הָגָ֖ר יִשְׁמָעֵֽאל׃

Hagar bore Abram's son. Abram gave the name Ishmael to his son, who had been born to Hagar.

וְאַבְרָ֕ם בֶּן־שְׁמֹנִ֥ים שָׁנָ֖ה וְשֵׁ֣שׁ שָׁנִ֑ים בְּלֶֽדֶת־הָגָ֥ר אֶת־יִשְׁמָעֵ֖אל לְאַבְרָֽם׃

He was 86 years old when Hagar bore his son Ishmael.

Hagar bears Avram a son, and Avram names him Yishmael. Avram is 86 years old, and the year is 2034 in the Jewish calendar. Hagar never told Avram what the angel said the child's name would be. Hashem told Avram directly, and the two messages matched.

English from The Living Torah by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, used with the permission of the Kaplan family. Hebrew: Miqra according to the Masorah (CC BY-SA).

Takeaways

  • Even without a Beis HaMikdash, reading the passages of the karbanos every day carries the merit of bringing them.
  • Exile is the gentler payment Avram chose for us, so it is not something to complain about.
  • When someone suddenly takes your words badly, the change may be in how they see themselves, not in anything you did.
  • Before acting on a household conflict, consult first, as Sarai asked Avram before she did anything to Hagar.
  • When you pray, pray for the people beside you too, not only for yourself.
Going deeper— the stories, Kabbalah and the reasons behind the reasons

Why Avram called Hashem's promise "tzedakah"

  • After the war with the four kings, Hashem showed Avram the stars and promised him descendants as many as the stars. The verse says Avram believed, "and he considered it tzedakah".
  • One reading is that Avram saw the promise as charity: Hashem was giving it out of mercy, not strict judgment.
  • That is what calmed his fear. A promise given out of mercy will be kept even if a sin happens along the way.

What "mishuleshes" means: the 'prime' animals

  • The word the verse uses for "prime" is mishuleshes, which hints at the number three, and the commentaries read it in several ways.
  • Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan translates it as "prime": threefold or "third grade," meaning the best quality, following Tosafos in Gittin 56a. Rashi in the Gemara (Pesachim and Shabbos) reads it as third-born. Targum Yonasan and Ibn Ezra read it as three years old. The Ramban reads it as one of triplets. Onkelos, and Rashi on the pasuk, read it as three of each animal.

Why a pact is made by splitting an animal

  • One animal split in two is still one animal, so the two halves stand for the two parties: two bodies with one soul who cannot be divided.
  • Splitting an animal kills it. In the same way, the agreement can only be broken by the death of one of the parties.
  • Some say it is also a curse: whoever breaks the agreement should be torn apart like these animals. Either way, the halves declare that the pact cannot be undone for as long as both sides live.

The borders and the ten nations

  • The land runs from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates. In Bereshis 2 the Euphrates is listed last of the four rivers, yet here it is called "the Great River" because it borders the Holy Land.
  • Ten nations are listed, but when the Jewish people conquered the land they took only seven. Rashi says the last three, the Kenites, Kenizzites and Kadmonites, will be conquered only in the time of Mashiach.

What the animals and birds stood for: the empires and Israel

  • This fits best with the reading of three of each animal: the animals are a prophetic sign of the empires that would rule over Avram's descendants.
  • The three heifers stand for Babylon and its three kings: Nebuchadnezzar, Evil-Merodach and Belshazzar. The three goats stand for Greece, which ruled three sides of the Mediterranean (west, north and south). The three rams stand for Persia and its three important kings: Koresh, Daryavesh and Achashverosh.
  • The turtledove and the young pigeon stand for Aramaea. They were left whole because the Arameans were quiet and polite and did not persecute the Jews, though they did take Jewish property. That theft is what the vultures swooping on the carcasses picture.
  • Rashi adds that the nations are compared to animals and the Jewish people to the dove. The animals were cut in two, but the birds stayed whole, because the Jewish people stays whole and stays one.
  • In this vision Hashem showed Avram how long each empire would last and how it would behave. He also showed him every Sanhedrin (the high court of Israel) and the great sages of every generation.

The vultures, Avram's prayer, and what else he was shown

  • When Avram saw the vultures diving at the carcasses, he feared they meant nations attacking the Jewish people. He prayed for them, and Hashem promised that if Israel does teshuvah (returns to Him), Avram's merit will protect them from their enemies.
  • Avram was shown King David fighting the nations without finishing the battle against evil. That battle will only be finished by Mashiach.
  • He was also shown that his father Terach would do teshuvah before he died and would have a share in the World to Come.

How 400 years fits into 210 years in Egypt

  • This prophecy came to Avram while he was awake, yet he fell into a deep trance of darkness and terror, so that he would feel what his descendants would suffer in Egypt.
  • The Jewish people were in Egypt for only 210 years, so the 400 years count from the birth of Yitzchak.
  • From Yitzchak's birth to Yaakov's is 60 years, and Yaakov went down to Egypt at 130, which makes 190. Add 210 years in Egypt and you reach exactly 400.

Four words, four exiles

  • "Eimah chashecha gedolah nofeles alav", "a great, dark dread fell upon him", is made of four-letter words, and each one hints at one of the four exiles.
  • Eimah (dread) is Babylon, the mighty empire that destroyed the First Temple. Chashecha (darkness) is Persia, which made life dark for the Jews: Haman came from Persia, and Achashverosh would not let the Beis HaMikdash be rebuilt.
  • Gedolah (great) is Greece, which had many kings and harsh decrees. The Talmud Yerushalmi in Chagigah says they forced Jews to write on the horn of an ox, "We have no share in the God of Israel", and those horns were used as baby bottles so that it would be the first thing a Jewish baby took in.
  • Nofeles (falling upon him) is Rome, the exile that lasts until Mashiach comes.

Why the exiles are woven into the covenant

  • The Ramban says the exiles are built into the covenant to show that it is conditional. The land is given on condition that the descendants keep the Torah. If they do not, they will be put under these four empires.
  • The Yefeh To'ar adds that just as Israel left Egypt with great wealth and Pharaoh met his end, every later exile will end the same way, and Israel will come out of it in glory.
  • Normally an empire that loses one conquered land can go on to conquer others. Hashem promised that once Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome lost their hold on the Holy Land, they would never regain their old standing, and history bears this out.

Avram's choice: exile or Gehinnom

  • Hashem showed Avram four things: Gehinnom (where the soul is cleansed after death), persecution by the nations, the giving of the Torah, and the Beis HaMikdash. If his descendants hold on to the Torah and the Beis HaMikdash, they will need neither of the first two. If they neglect either one, they will face Gehinnom or the nations.
  • Bereshis Rabbah says Hashem let Avram choose which his descendants would get if they abandoned the Torah. Exile seems lighter because it touches only the body. But Hashem pointed out that an ordinary person spends only twelve months in Gehinnom, while exile must be endured for a whole lifetime.
  • Avram spent the whole day weighing it. In the end he reasoned that the angels in charge of Gehinnom are merciless and ignore every plea, while in exile you can at least bribe a king or do something that helps. So he chose exile.
  • Another opinion in Bereshis Rabbah says Avram actually chose Gehinnom, and Hashem showed him how severe it is, so exile remained the punishment.
  • Why give Avram the choice at all? To show Avram how much Hashem cares for his descendants: even when they sin, He wants to punish them in the gentlest way possible. And Avram, sitting a whole day over the decision, shows how much he cared for them too.

Why Avram pondered all day: exile has no end

  • Why didn't Avram simply ask Hashem to choose for His own children? Because in one way exile is worse than Gehinnom: it has no fixed end. If we knew when Mashiach would come we would suffer less; not knowing, every day feels like a year.
  • And Gehinnom is hidden. It may seem the lighter choice, but our holy books describe it as a terrible punishment beyond measure, and people don't take it seriously, thinking the books exaggerate.
  • That is the meaning of "In death there is no memory of You; in the grave, who will praise You?" (Tehillim 6:6). It speaks of the wicked: people don't even think about death, which they see every day, so how will they think about Gehinnom, which no one has seen?

"Leimor": tell your children not to complain in exile

  • Hashem made the covenant with Avram "leimor", "saying". Whenever the Torah says leimor, it means the message is to be passed on, not kept to oneself.
  • The message Avram was to pass on is that exile is far better than Gehinnom. A Jew in exile should not complain. Exile pays for not keeping the Torah, and it is much gentler than the alternative.

Judgment on the oppressors, and "you will join your fathers in peace"

  • "I will judge the nation they serve" means that Hashem will deal with the nations that exile the Jews, as He did with Pharaoh through the ten plagues. Hashem also showed Avram the splitting of the sea, so that he knew Israel would leave Egypt with great wealth, and He revealed to him the existence of the World to Come.
  • Then the verse suddenly turns to Avram himself. Avram was worried the exile might begin in his own lifetime, so Hashem promised he would die in peace at a good old age before it started.
  • "Joining your fathers in peace" also hints that Terach, an idol worshipper, would do teshuvah, since otherwise Avram could not join him in peace. It was a signal to go back to Charan, which is why Avram returned there and left again at 75, when Hashem told him Lech Lecha.

Why the land waited for the fourth generation

  • Avram was promised the land but did not receive it himself. The fourth generation from Yaakov would inherit it: Yaakov's son Yehudah, then Peretz, then Chetzron, then Calev, who is among those who take the land in the book of Yehoshua.
  • The reason is that "the Amorite's sin is not yet complete". Hashem does not drive a nation out of its land for no reason. The Canaanite nations would lose the land because of their evil, and the Amorites had not yet sunk far enough to deserve it.
  • By the fourth generation their measure would be full, and Hashem would remove them and bring the Jewish people in.

Why the righteous Avram's children needed exile: five small slips

  • Hashem judges the righteous down to a hairsbreadth. Things that would be nothing for an ordinary person count for someone like Avram, and the commentaries list five small slips of his that the exile came to repair.
  • The Gemara in Nedarim 32a lists three. He drafted Torah scholars into his army against the four kings, which was beneath their dignity. He asked "How shall I know?" when Hashem always keeps His word. And he returned the captives to the king of Sedom instead of keeping them and teaching them Hashem's ways, so they went straight back to idolatry.
  • The Ramban and the Zohar add that he went down to Egypt during the famine instead of trusting Hashem and staying in the land. The Ramban adds that he put Sarai in danger by hiding her in a box instead of trusting Hashem to protect her.
  • Avram's intentions were pure in every case. Even so, for the greatest people every small thing is counted.

Why Egypt was punished if the exile was decreed

  • The decree said Avram's descendants would be exiled. It did not say Pharaoh had to be the one to do it. He chose that role, just as a murderer is responsible for what he chose to do.
  • The decree was also for exile, not torture. The Raavad gives a parable: a king, angry with his son, has him thrown into prison, and the jailer tortures him. The king executes the jailer, because he ordered prison, not torture. Egypt went beyond the decree, so Egypt was punished.

Who Hagar was, and why Sarai felt she could do this

  • Hagar was Pharaoh's daughter. When Pharaoh sent Avram and Sarai away with great wealth, he gave her to them as a maid, telling her it was better to be a maid in Avram and Sarai's house than a princess in Egypt.
  • Targum Yonasan says she was Pharaoh's daughter and also a granddaughter of Nimrod, and so a descendant of Cham.
  • What gave Sarai the right to bring this woman into the marriage? Hagar, Nimrod's granddaughter, was a descendant of the accursed Cham. But Sarai saw prophetically that Hashem would permit Avram to marry her.

The two prisoners, and the dotted letter in "between me and you"

  • The parable behind Sarai's complaint: two prisoners share a cell, the king walks by, and one asks to be freed. The king frees him. The other one asks, "Why didn't you just say 'free us both'?" Avram prayed "You have not given me offspring" when he should have prayed for the two of them.
  • "Let Hashem judge between me and you" raises the question of who "you" is. As written, uveinecha is masculine, addressed to Avram. But in the Torah the second yud of the word has a dot over it, which turns the reading into the feminine uveinayich, addressed to a woman.
  • So, as Rashi brings, Sarai turned to Hagar, who was standing there, and said it to her. Rashi adds that Sarai's eye fell on Hagar and she miscarried at once.
  • That raises a difficulty. If Hagar miscarried, how was she pregnant with Yishmael when the angel came? (The answer is in the last section.)

Sarai did not change; Hagar did

  • It is easy to read the story as jealousy: Hagar gets pregnant and Sarai turns on her. Rabbi Aryeh Levin says it is impossible to think that the righteous Sarai suddenly started taking things out on her maid.
  • Sarai spoke to Hagar exactly as she always had. What changed was Hagar's inflated self-image, which made her hear every word as an insult.
  • Sarai's goal was never to put Hagar down. She took on this pain only so that it would atone for whatever sin was keeping her from having children.
  • The lesson is that we experience the world through our own thoughts and self-image, and the same words can land completely differently depending on who is listening.

A gentler reading: Sarai was giving advice, not venting

  • Targum Yonasan reads Sarai's words as advice, not a complaint: "I trusted you to find a remedy. I left my parents' house to follow you from one strange land to the next, I had no children, I gave you my maid, and now she disrespects me."
  • "Let Hashem judge between us" is not a threat. It means: let us pray that Hashem sees how hurt I am, has mercy on us, and fills the world with our children.
  • She was also saying they should not need children from Hagar, the daughter of Pharaoh and granddaughter of Nimrod, the man who threw Avram into the furnace. No good could come from that line, so they should pray for children through Sarai alone.
  • Read this way, alongside Rabbi Aryeh Levin's point, Sarai was not lashing out at Avram. She was talking to him straight.

The four angels and their messages

  • The first angel calls her "maid of Sarai". The Gemara in Bava Kamma learns from this that if someone calls you a maid, you do not argue. Accept it and submit.
  • The second angel tells her to go back to her mistress and submit. The third promises her countless descendants. The fourth tells her she is pregnant with a son who will be a hunter living in the desert and the forest, and that kings and great lords will come from him.
  • Another opinion holds these were not angels at all but a human messenger of Hashem: Shem, the son of Noach.
  • As Rashi brings, the name Be'er Lachai Ro'i also expresses Hagar's surprise. She was used to seeing angels in Avram's house, but not out in the desert.

How Hagar was pregnant if she had miscarried

  • Rashi on 16:11 answers it: if Hagar miscarried when Sarai looked at her, the angel's words "hinach harah," "you are pregnant," refer to the future: "when you return, you will conceive," like the same words said to the wife of Manoach in the book of Shoftim.
  • That is what happened. Hagar returned home, made peace with Sarai, and then became pregnant with Yishmael.
Review questions
  1. Avram asks "How shall I know?" What was he really worried about, and what merit keeps the land for us when there is no Beis HaMikdash?
  2. Why did people in ancient times make a pact by splitting an animal and walking between the halves?
  3. If the Jewish people were in Egypt for only 210 years, how does the count of 400 years work?
  4. Why did Avram choose exile over Gehinnom for his descendants, and what message was he to pass on to them?
  5. Why was Egypt punished if the exile had already been decreed? Give the Raavad's parable.
  6. How do we know Sarai's words "Hashem will judge between me and you" were addressed to Hagar?
Sources
  • Me'am Loez — the running commentary on the parsha
  • Tosafos, Berachos 7b — the covenant of 15:7 came earlier, at age 70
  • Megillah 31b — Avram's question "how shall I know" and the merit of reading the passages of the offerings
  • Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan's translation and Tosafos, Gittin 56a — "prime" for mishuleshes
  • Rashi — the readings of mishuleshes; Israel compared to the dove; the three nations left for Mashiach; the dotted yud and Hagar's miscarriage; "you will conceive" (16:11); Hagar's surprise at angels in the desert
  • Targum Yonasan, Ibn Ezra, Onkelos, Ramban — other readings of mishuleshes
  • Ramban — the covenant as conditional; going down to Egypt and putting Sarai in danger
  • Yerushalmi Chagigah — the Greek decree written on the horn of an ox
  • Yefeh To'ar — the later exiles will end like Pharaoh's
  • Bereshis Rabbah — Avram's choice between exile and Gehinnom; Sarai secluding and beating Hagar
  • Nedarim 32a — three of Avram's slips
  • Zohar — going down to Egypt as a slip
  • Raavad — the king, his son and the jailer
  • Targum Yonasan — Hagar's lineage; Sarai's words as advice
  • Rabbi Aryeh Levin — Sarai did not change; Hagar's self-image did
  • Bava Kamma 92b — if someone calls you a maid, do not argue