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By Rabbi Naftoly Bier
The Torah, chapter 27:15-20, relates the happenings concerning wells which Avrohom Avinu dug that were subsequently filled with earth by the Philistines and then redug by Yitzchok Avinu. “As a simple story,” the Ramban states, “it has no meaningful lesson and honor to Yitzchok and therefore must contain profound, hidden meaning.”
Rabbeinu Bachya 27:15 quotes an opinion that the wells are a metaphor for the myriads of people that had accepted a monotheistic G-d due to the influence of Avrohom Avinu – just as a well easily becomes a receptacle for water, so too people due to Avrohom readily accepted the recognition of Hashem. The Philistines, after his death, belittled him and convinced all his “converts” to return to their original beliefs, “filling their minds with dirt.” Yitzchok Avinu had to exert exceptional efforts to persuade them to passionately accept his father’s teachings.
In the שמונה עשרה, Amidah, we articulate three traits of הקב“ה , הגדול, הגבור, והנורא which many translate as three traits of Hashem, חסד, kindness, גבורה, judgement דין and רחמים, mercy. These three correspond to our patriarchs – Avrohom – kindness; Yitzchok – exact judgement and Yaakov – mercy, each one the embodiment of their respective traits.
The גמרא יומא סט:י says that דניאל , Daniel proposed that we shouldn’t give the title גבור (strong) to Hashem since the Holy Temple had been destroyed by His enemies; a reflection of His passivity at that juncture. The אנשי כנסת הגדולה reinstituted it, for on the contrary, this is His strength, that He wills that we suffer in order to awaken us to our true mission in life. Specifically, due to thousands of years of persecution we have managed to retain our identity, thereby increasing our merit, for despite adversity we cling to Hashem and His Torah.
At times Hashem personifies the idea of איזהו גיבור הכובש את יצרו, “True strength is when one can overcome natural desires and logical reactions.” Hashem supersedes the normative reaction of retribution for a negative action by allowing His trait of חסד, kindness, empathy, sensitivity, and tolerance to dominate.
This applies to יצחק אבינו who was completely willing to sacrifice his life on the Akeidah, that being Hashem’s will. The Tractate Shabbos 89: teaches that on the “future day of reckoning,” the patriarchs will be asked by Hashem as to what should be the fate of Klal Yisroel. Both Avrohom Avinu and Yaakov will say, “They deserve consequences commensurate to their actions to ensure the sanctification of Your name.” Yitzchok will argue that Hashem arouse His mercy; just as he superseded natural behavior allowing himself to be sacrificed, so too Hashem with strength should only see their positive accomplishments and forgive them. !גבורה
Tractate Taanis, begins with the question: When do we start to express in the second blessing of the Amidah, ,גבורות that Hashem provides rain? The word גבורות, strength is used to teach that despite that Hashem has created a system of nature, relevant to rain, He is directly involved at all times. The second blessing describes Hashem’s constant intervention to elevate one’s life experience.
The Ritva delineates the twofold idea of גבורה; one, that Hashem personally controls the rain due to its grave importance and thereby communicates His pleasure or displeasure to us; two, that all the benevolence mentioned in the blessing, necessitates a circumvention, neutralization of the מערכת הכוכבים, the natural laws of the universe. Though Hashem created the system, He “allows” Himself to subordinate His natural order!
From all these we realize that all actions of Hashem that are defined by גבורה are a manifestation of his desire to benefit all. If so, why is it that the trait of גבורה, strength, is the manifestation of דין, of absolute, impartial judgement? We are taught, initially, Hashem desired to create the world with the attribute of דין, pure judgement – culpability for every action – but Hashem decided that this type of interaction with humanity would only be possible for the greatest צדיקים.
As was mentioned, the ריטב“א explains that despite the fact that Hashem placed in motion a system of nature, he transcends it… this being גבורה , strength. Despite the obvious, that Hashem is immutable, inalterable, and eternal, we still ascribe the idea of intervention in what He created, though change is only the perception of we human beings, enabling us to try to fathom His greatness.
One can argue that the motivation of Hashem to create the world was due to His essence – to give and give, with “no strings attached”. But if so, the recipients – we – would feel robotic, having no sense of creativity.
Hashem therefore created a dynamic of culpability; He empowered us with choice; to follow His dictates or not, thereby gifting us with a sense of creativity. דין, judgement is truly a manifestation of Hashem’s benevolence, for by limiting His relentless desire to only give; He ennobled us by giving us a task of edifying oneself.
ואהבת את ה’… בכל לבבך- רש”י מפרש בשני יצרך
We express our love, due to our appreciation that He gifted us with creativity, just as He is defined as the Creator, due to the inherent inner tension endemic to every person.
גבורה – a manifestation of His boundless kindness, even when it seems to be illogical, since one doesn’t necessarily deserve it, a manifestation of His desire to let one validate oneself by positive actions, thereby curtailing His relentless benevolence. יצחק אבינו represented the idea of total self-negation by the Akeidah and selfless, supreme dedication to overcome the prevailing dominant philosophy of idolatry, true inner strength, גבורה!
