Saturday, October 24, 2009

Receiving Revelations - Avraham Avinu

Parshat Lech Lecha teaches us about two different ways that one can receive a revelation from Hashem.

  1. At the beginning of the parsha, Hashem tells Avraham to go to the Land of Canaan.  According to Ibn Ezra, this was while Avraham was still in Ur Kasdim.  If so, this revelation would be as a result of the mitzvah of Kiddush Hashem done when Nimrod threw Avraham in to the Kivshan.  Ramban rejects this and says that Avraham received the mitzvah in Charan.  Therefore it would seem that this revelation was a sort of Awakening from Above, that a certain Keitz had arrived.
  2. Avraham receives a revelation upon arriving in the Land, fulfillment of the mitzvah of Yishuv haAretz.
  3. After Avraham convinces Lot to move away from him, Hashem is revealed again.  Revelation following mitzvah.
  4. Brit Bein haBetarim came after Avraham refused to take payment from the King of Sdom, another Kiddush Hashem.
  5. Brit Milah came at least 13 years later, and would therefore seem to come when it did due to a Keitz.

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10 comments:

  1. AnonymousOctober 25, 2009 at 2:34 AM

    What exactly is keitz

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  2. גילויOctober 25, 2009 at 4:11 AM

    An appointed time for something to occur, to push events in history forward.

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  3. AnonymousOctober 25, 2009 at 7:51 AM

    Can revelation occur outside of eretz yisroel

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  4. גילויOctober 25, 2009 at 9:08 AM

    The revelations I'm mentioning from Chumash are nevuah. After the time of Avraham Avinu, there is no nevuah outside of the Land of Israel except if the prophet became a prophet in the Land of Israel (like Ezekiel).

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  5. AnonymousOctober 25, 2009 at 5:12 PM

    so when theres talk that nevuah will return before Moshiach's arrival- can it return to someone outside of eretz yisroel???

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  6. גילויOctober 25, 2009 at 9:40 PM

    Our tradition seems to say no.

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  7. AnonymousOctober 25, 2009 at 11:57 PM

    I guess HASHEM can do anything

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  8. גילויOctober 26, 2009 at 6:28 AM

    A statement like that makes light of our tradition. Of course Hashem is all-powerful. But what is Torah if it is not a valid blueprint for reality?

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  9. AnonymousOctober 26, 2009 at 10:09 PM

    Of course. I'm just saying who knows how HASHEM plans on bringing the GEULAH-

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  10. NeshamaOctober 27, 2009 at 2:49 AM

    On #3,Could it be that it wasn't due to a 'mitzva' but due to the fact that the 'tuma' from Sdom was removed from Avraham's presence and therefore he was able to receive a communique from Hashem.

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