THE PUZZLE AND THE PICTURE
This week’s Parsha, Lech Lecha, introduces us to our father Avraham. We find throughout the Torah and throughout the liturgy of our siddur how beloved Avraham Avinu was to Hakadosh baruch Hu. He was the one person that HaShem waited for, from whom His world would achieve its mission. What was Avraham’s specialness that made him so beloved? Avraham was not the first man to recognize HaKadosh baruch Hu, Noach and Shem and others had already done so.
Avraham’s uniqueness was that he discovered HaKadosh baruch Hu on his own. He was raised in a home which denied the Unity of Hashem. The environment in which Avraham’s childhood developed believed the world was the playground or perhaps the battleground of multiple gods each one vying for power. There was the power of the Sun who was challenged by the Clouds. The Clouds were challenged by the Wind who was challenged by the Mountains. It was an environment where every person and every group had their power to whom they turned.
With nobody to guide him, little Avraham began his quest for truth at the age of three. By the end of his quest he rejected his entire world. He knew nobody that agreed with him, but he followed his discovery that there is but One Creator Who created all the other powers. And though the other powers are truly powerful, they are nonetheless nothing but action figures in the Hand of HaShem.
How did he discern this truth? Perhaps these heavenly bodies are truly independent powers. How can Man who is dwarfed by these powers discredit their awesome power as being mere toys in the hands of a yet greater Being?
If Avraham was able to break the code to this secret perhaps we can use the same method to achieve our own discovery of HaKadosh baruch Hu in our personal lives.
When you see a wrestling match between two professionals how can you tell if their match is a genuine match between powerful men each acting on their own with the intent to prevail against their opponent or perhaps they are following a script that was written by one director? It would impossible to discern the reality if you only watched one round. However, if you observed each and every round and paid close attention to the fine nuances you would detect the reality in no time.
Avraham struggled with this dilemma. On one side, the entire world followed the notion of multiple gods vying against each other for power. And on the other side there seemed to be a greater Being Who called everything into existence. He therefore paid close attention and noticed the predictability of the cycles of the world. While he noticed the struggle of the Sun who was blocked by the Clouds who were in turn pushed away by the Wind and so on, he also noticed how each of these powerful players formed a cycle in which every player contributed to make the agricultural cycle productive. The sun was needed by the plants and the shade was needed by the plants. The rain was needed by the plants and wind was needed by the plants. He realized that these powerful sources of energy served others rather than themselves. He saw how the insects provided the plants their needs and how the plants provided the insects with their needs. The entire creation was one perfect orchestra where every player, big and small, were all directed by the One Conductor. It was then that there was no question; there is just One Who orchestrates all and there are no alternate or auxiliary powers.
Avraham merited to be chosen by HaKadosh baruch Hu because he was able to see beyond his small limited scope of vision. He saw the bigger picture. If you try doing a 1000 piece puzzle you will need the picture that appears on the cover of the box. Without that big picture the pieces will make no sense. The genius of Avraham was that he discovered the big picture on his own and resolved the puzzle.
How fortunate we are to have been given that big picture by our beloved father Avraham! We are now able to look at all of our person‐al pieces of our puzzle, to discover HaKadosh baruch Hu within our own life.
Have a wonderful Shabbos.
Paysach Diskind