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Sefer Bereshis
Parashas Lech Lecha
Bereshis: Chapter 12, verse 10
"There was a famine in the land [of
Israel] and Avrom emigrated to Egypt to live there because
it was a heavy famine in the land."
The
Torah tells us that Avrom was forced to leave the
promised land because of famine. This must have been a big disappointment
to Avrom, expecially
since Hashem had blessed him as he left on his
journey:
"I
will make you a large nation and bless you and build up your name."
Instead
of finding his blessing, he found that he was unable to live there due to
the difficult conditions.
The
Ramban says on this verse that Avrom sinned by leaving the promised land. He should
have stayed there in spite of the famine.
When
I first saw these words of the Ramban, I thought
that they could not be correct. The proof I had against the Ramban's opinion is in Pirke Avos (ch. 5 mishneh 4): "Ten tests were given to our father Avraham and he passed all of them." One of these
tests was the famine in the land, (see the Bartenura's
commentary to Pirke Avos.)
So how could he sin and still pass the test?
The
answer is that staying or leaving because of the famine was not the test!
The test was whether Avraham's faith in Hashem would weaken after facing the grim facts that he
saw in the land promised to him. Hashem tested
his faith and not his particular decision. (See Rashi
on our verse.)
One
thing we learn from this is that it is possible to be in a difficult
situation, act in some incorrect way, and yet still "pass" the
test. Hashem judges our actions down to the
finest details. Sometimes we feel good after doing a mitzvah. We must
return and contemplate HOW we did the mitzvah. Did we bother others while
doing it?
We
should try to perform all of our good deeds with as much perfection as
humanly possible.
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