Shabbos Parashas Lech Lecha - 5776

Shabbos Parashas Lech Lecha - 5776

Rabbi Hal Miller

This is My covenant which you shall keep between Me and you and your

descendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised. [Bereishis 17:10]

This is the third instance in two weeks where the Torah has told us of "My covenant", each

being an entirely separate situation. If they are in fact separate, why did Hashem call each

of them "My covenant" as if to say, this is the one and only G-dly covenant?

The first instance was last week, in Bereishis chapter 9, verses 9 through 12, and applied

to the rainbow. G-d made a promise to Noach not to ever again destroy all life in this

world through such an event. The second instance is this week, [15:18], where "Hashem

made a covenant with Avram", referring to the covenant between the pieces, and having

to do with His promise that Avraham's descendants would leave captivity and be His

chosen people. The third, our verse, is bris milah, where He promises that Avraham's

descendants would inherit the holy land of Israel, and that He would be a G-d to them.

There are certainly differences in these cases. With Noach, G-d promised him that He

would never again do what He had just done, referring to the past event. With the case

of between the pieces, G-d notified Avram of the future exile of Israel, including that they

would eventually be redeemed and rescued, a prophecy of future activity. With the third

case, G-d informed Avraham, having just changed his name, that his descendants

would be the chosen people and inherit the land, which is not an activity, but a status change.

We can further differentiate, in that the first one involved G-d's action, the second involved

Avram's action in an external sense, sacrificing animals, and the third involved Avraham's

action in a personal sense, removing a piece of his own body.

We could stop there. We have numerous individual reasons for separate covenants. But,

we don't have an answer to our question regarding the phrase "My covenant".

In parashas Metzora, the Torah tells us of a progression. Someone who has done a

specific type of wrong, lashon hara, is punished by having leprosy appear on his

vessels. If he does not straighten himself out, things progress, and his house is next

afflicted. If he still fails to catch on, it afflicts his body. In the Pesach Haggadah, we read

the Torah's description of the plagues that G-d brought upon Pharaoh, progressing from

relatively light things that Pharaoh's magicians could replicate, all the way to the death

of the firstborn. These are cases where someone has done wrong, and is being punished.

We see a similar type of progression here, although in the opposite direction. First, Noach

has done right, and is rewarded. Then Avram does right and is rewarded. The third

applies to all generations of Avraham's descendants, and promises that they too will

be rewarded for doing right.

There are not three unrelated covenants here. G-d's covenant is a reward and punishment

situation. Our part is to do what He has commanded, and His part is to provide the

benefits He promises. Whether our part involves thanking Him for what He has already done,

thanking Him for what He is going to do, or placing ourselves in His care with intensified

faith, G-d's covenant is that He will reward us through each phase of our growth.