The Critical Ingredient for Success
Parshas Vayera ends with the test of the akeida, in which Avraham Avinu was commanded to offer his beloved son, Yitzchak, as a korban to Hashem. After Avraham passed this most difficult test, Hashem declared: “I now know that you fear G-d” (Bereishis 22:12).
Hashem’s declaration raises a question: Is that all the akeida proved, that Avraham feared Hashem? Didn’t the akeida also prove Avraham’s unparalleled love and devotion to Hashem? Orchos Tzaddikim (Shaar Hazerizus) states that the akeida showed how Avraham’s love for Hashem was even greater than his love for his own son, for whom he had prayed for close to a century. Orchos Tzaddikim demonstrates this from the fact that Avraham rose early in the morning to do the akeida.
Moreover, we know that acts motivated by fear of Hashem’s punishment are considered of lesser importance than acts motivated by love of Hashem (Rambam, Hilchos Teshuva 10:1). Why did Hashem stress Avraham’s fear of Him and not his love? Indeed, the Sages do stress this, referring to Avraham’s ten nisyonos as examples of “how beloved Hashem was to him” (Avos 5:3), and the Navi refers to Avraham as “the one who loves Hashem” (Yishaya 41:8).
The Slonimer Rebbe says that until this point, Avraham had been able to pass all of his tests through love of Hashem alone. The akeida was such a great test that love of Hashem was not enough. Avraham had to combine this with fear of Hashem; therefore, the verse singles out Avraham’s fear of Hashem for praise.
As for why love of Hashem had to be combined with fear of Him, Rav Aharon Kotler offers two explanations:
1-Despite the tremendous value of love of Hashem, when a person is confronted by a powerful urge of the yetzer hara, love of Hashem is not strong enough to push the yetzer hara away on its own. For this, fear of disobeying Hashem’s word is needed. Even Avraham Avinu, when faced with such a major nisayon, needed fear of Hashem.
This is a lesson for all of us. However much we may excel in Torah, prayer, chessed or other areas in life, there is no substitute for fear of Hashem. If an urge to sin suddenly overtakes us, the only way to stop ourselves is through fear of Hashem’s punishment. The way to acquire this is by reading the works of mussar and their descriptions of the punishments that await the sinner. If you begin feeling some sense of fear, that means you are on the right track. This fear of punishment is critical even for someone as devoted to Hashem as Avraham Avinu, and we surely need it to pass our nisyonos.
2-The akeida placed Avraham in a dilemma. Serious questions arose. Hashem had promised that Yitzchak would be the continuer of his lineage, and here he was commanded to slaughter him.
For decades, Avraham had spoken against the pagan practice of human sacrifices, and he was now being commanded to do that which he knew and had preached was wrong.
Avraham’s strongest character trait was chessed, but he was now required to perform the ultimate act of cruelty.
The Satan even confronted Avraham on the way to the akeida, warning: “Later on, Hashem will put you on trial and convict you as a murderer if you carry out this command” (Bereishis Rabba 56:4). All these questions could have made Avraham wonder: “Is this really what Hashem wants, that I should kill my own son? Maybe I misunderstood Him?”
Avraham’s fear of Hashem meant that these questions had no place in his mind. Once he had heard directly from Hashem what he had to do, the only thing that mattered was to do it. Perhaps he did not understand why Hashem gave him such a command, but that was irrelevant. The only way to have risen above such questions was through fear of Hashem.
Such a lesson has great relevance to us. When faced with situations where we find it hard to comply with what we know that halacha requires, do we permit ourselves to take liberties or shortcuts? Do we say: “Maybe this halacha doesn’t apply anymore, or at least not to me?” Do we rationalize improper behavior with excuses such as “I come from a different culture,” “I’m a baal teshuva,” or “I’ve just have a very rough day” -?-
We should know that Hashem expects us to serve Him without excuses. Even if we received a heter allowing us certain leniencies in halacha — have we made sure that this heter still applies? Are we applying it in ways that the Rav who granted it would disapprove of?
When there is a mitzvah to do, we must put aside any considerations other than Hashem’s will, as did Avraham. This requires fear of Hashem.
The Sages relate (Sukka 44b) that once, during a Shmitta year, a landowner came to R’ Elazar ben Tzadok with a question. People of the villages were coming to his fields to work the land in permissible ways and then take the produce that he had declared hefker as a form of payment. “Is this proper or improper?” he asked.
“It is improper,” replied R’ Elazar ben Tzadok, and with that, the landowner left right away.
“Over the past 40 years, I have never seen a man go in the path of righteousness as much as this man”
R’ Elazar ben Tzadok commented to Aivu, a fellow sage who was with him.
Sometime later the landowner returned and asked R’ Elazar ben Tzadok: “If so, what should I do?”
R’ Elazar ben Tzadok replied that he should pay these people for their services, and abandon his produce to the poor.
Rav Yisrael Salanter asks: What did R’ Elazar ben Tzadok see that was so great in this man? All he did was ask a question about Shmitta?
This landowner’s greatness lied in his immediate handling of the problem. Why did he leave and only later come back to ask what he should do with his field? Why not ask that question first and save himself the trip back? Rather, this man knew that something improper was taking place on his field, and he had to stop that immediately. There was no time to delay, not even to hear from the Rav what he would do next. Leaving all personal or practical considerations aside, this man flew into action to carry out the Rav’s psak. This, explains Rav Salanter, was his greatness.
May we serve Hashem without excuses!