[Tal
Chermon]
One
of Avraham's tests was the command to circumcise himself and all his household,
including eight-day old babies. After
the circumcisions, Hashem appeared to Avraham in the field of Mamre in order to
visit the sick. Of Avraham's three
friends, Aner, Eshkol and Mamre, Hashem chose Mamre's field in which to appear to
Avraham. Our Sages relate that Avraham
consulted with these friends on whether to perform the circumcisions or not. Only Mamre advised him to go ahead and
circumcise, which he indeed did (Bereshit Rabbah 42:8). As a reward Hashem appeared to Avraham
specifically in the field of Mamre. The
whole situation is rather puzzling. Did
Avraham really waver about fulfilling G-d's command to circumcise? Was it the advice of some guy that finally
convinced him? The Vilna Gaon answers
these questions with deep insight. He
explains that Avraham's raison d'etre was to redeem the world of its spiritual
misery. He spread monotheism, teaching
mankind to desist from their barbaric and idolatrous ways and instead to serve
G-d with refined morality and virtuous qualities. And, suddenly, Hashem commands him to perform
circumcisions! This was very
disconcerting. How could he take a
knife, cut into himself, and then take all of the babies of his household and
mercilessly cut their flesh amid the screeching of hapless infants? Avraham was convinced that this would appear
to be the height of barbarity. If he
acted this way he would lose all of his influence over people. They would say that he had become as insane
as the barbaric idolaters and would therefore refuse to accept any further
spiritual guidance from him. True,
Hashem had commanded him to circumcise himself in order to achieve personal
perfection, but Avraham was willing to concede all this in order to be able to
continue uplifting mankind out of its moral turpitude. He was willing to sacrifice his own soul for
the sake of the universal ideal. So
Avraham went to ask his gentile friends if in fact he would lose their respect
if he went ahead with the circumcisions.
Eshkol and Aner advised him not to perform the circumcisions. Mamre, however, a true idealist, convinced
Avraham not to violate the Divine command.
So Avraham passed this test too and circumcised himself and all of his
household.
According
to this explanation of the Vilna Gaon, the Akeidah constitutes a far harsher
and more demanding trial. Avraham
throughout his lifetime had tirelessly toiled to wean mankind away from its
barbaric idolatry. In the name of
Hashem, he had travelled around calling upon them to cease the madness of
burning their children in their idolatrous "Molech" worship. And now suddenly, G-d commands him to
slaughter his own son. Perhaps people
would be able to swallow circumcision, since no serious damage had been
done. But now he had been ordered to
kill his son in the name of G-d. If he
performed this act, it was absolutely certain that this "hypocritical
preacher" would be utterly rejected and would no longer have even the
slightest spiritual influence on any of the non-Jews. These were the thoughts that flashed through
his mind on his way to Mt. Moriah. But
Avraham Avinu even triumphed in this trial and proceeded to perform Hashem's
will out of implicit faith in Him.
A
trial is a struggle against opposing forces.
The adversary is not always selfish, base and vulgar tendencies. Sometimes, as in our case, one has to
overcome aspiration that are idealistic, spiritual and lofty, but nonetheless
misguided. Avraham Avinu had shown that
he was willing to sacrifice the ideals he believed in by performing the
circumcisions. This reached a peek when
he agreed to the virtual annihilation of the Jewish Nation who were to come from
his sacrificed son, Yitzchak, and to the resultant loss to the world of all the
ideals that it was to bear. His love of
Hashem and implicit obedience to His commands overcame his personal aspirations
– both material and spiritual.
