Lech Lecha Parsha Lesson- A Torah person
For this year's Parsha Lesson, I will be focusing on one area of character
growth, to think about in the week ahead and the benefits that a person
would have from becoming better in that area.
Background
In this week’s parsha it says that when Avraham left on his journey for Eretz Canaan (Land of Canaan or Israel) he took with him the people he ‘made in Charan.’ Many commentators take note of the strange reference- how could Avraham have made people!? Rashi famously explains, quoting from the Midrash, that the people he ‘made in Charan’ refers to the people that he taught Torah to.
Question
It does not seem that Rashi is really answering the question! True, he is explaining who are these people, which we knew could not be literally ‘made’ by Avraham, but why would it be that people that Avraham taught Torah to, be referred to as ‘made’ by Avraham?
While it is true that teaching someone Torah is a very worthy endeavor, it is nonetheless very difficult to understand how doing so can be truly considered ‘making’ or creating, another person. And if Avraham did not create them, so then why would the Torah refer to them as being ‘made’ by Avraham?
Answer
The Maharsha (Sanhedrin 99b) explains that the reason why teaching someone Torah is considered to be an act of ‘creating a person’, is because without the ideas and knowledge and dictums of the Torah, people are really not very different from other creations compared to the greatness of a person who does live in accordance with the Torah!
While a human being is great and capable of amazing things, a person who learns Torah and lives in accordance with the Torah becomes a completely different person- to the point that they are like a ‘new creation.’ The Torah is so amazing and transformative, the Maharsha says, that merely being exposed to the ways of the Torah makes a person so significantly better than before that it is appropriate to refer to the people who Avraham affected as having been created by him.
Previously they were in one category of creation and after imbibing and distilling the ways of Torah into their being, they are now a completely different creature.
Lesson
It is so important to appreciate and focus in on the benefits and goodness that are imparted by the Torah and a Torah way of life. Following the Torah leads a person to a completely different appreciation of good and bad, right and wrong. Living in accordance with the Torah’s dictums means a person who is no longer able to be controlled by their animal spirit. Rather, the Torah demands the control and mastership of the soul- the elevated, rational part of a person.
The Torah as well teaches us the formula to living in peace and harmony with the physical world and our physical, more animalistic essence. Doing so leads to a person not only living a happy, contented life, but one of meaning and constant growth.
Benefits of this…
If a person were to more appreciate the importance and value of the Torah and a Torah way of life, they would be more energized and motivated to not only engage in it but to embrace it and work meaningfully towards it as well. The demands of the Torah and a Torah way of life are often not in line with our wants and what is easiest right now, which is why a person would be well-advised to focus in on the goal and where a Torah life leads one to.
Just like when someone is training or in school for a very prestigious and worthwhile endeavor, as difficult or demanding as the process might be, the appreciation of the prize at the end keeps them focused and driven. Similarly, an appreciation of a Torah way of life can prevent the challenges from knocking us off course.
Have a wonderful Shabbos!
Rabbi Eli Meir Kramer
