20 | Sefer Bereshit | Lech Lecha Lech Lecha “Your Offspring Will Be Strangers” The Impact of the Root on the Branches In this parshah, the Torah describes the Brit Bein Habetarim (the Covenant Between the Parts) that was sealed between Hashem and Avraham,...
More
20 | Sefer Bereshit | Lech Lecha Lech Lecha “Your Offspring Will Be Strangers” The Impact of the Root on the Branches In this parshah, the Torah describes the Brit Bein Habetarim (the Covenant Between the Parts) that was sealed between Hashem and Avraham, and in which a painful element of the destiny of Avraham’s descendants was revealed to him: ֹאמר ְל ַא ְב ָרם יָ ד ַֹע ֵּת ַדע ִּכי גֵ ר יִ ְהיֶ ה זַ ְר ֲעָך ְּב ֶא ֶרץ ֹלא ָל ֶהם ַו ֲע ָבדּום ְו ִעּנּו א ָֹתם ֶ ַוּי :ַא ְר ַּבע ֵמאֹות ָׁשנָ ה He said to Avram, “You shall certainly know that your offspring will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and they will serve them and they will afflict them, for four hundred years.” Bereshit 15:13 This prophecy includes three distinct decrees: Avraham’s descendants would dwell in a foreign land, they would be enslaved, and they would be afflicted. According to the Sages, the exile of Bnei Yisrael in Egypt resulted from a sin committed by Avraham himself:
Less
