The Chatam Sofer reconciles the seemingly irreconciliable views of Rashi and of Ramban, and lauds Abraham's ability to instill faith in his descendants.
The Yafe Toar, in his commentary on the Midrash Rabba, says:’’Hakadosh-Baruch-Hu created this world, so that His creations would recognize and know that He is the cause of all in this world.’
The Midrash Rabba - on Shirat Hayam, elucidates on the passuk in’ Shir Hashirim:תשורי מראש אמנה: Stride from the head of Emunah- Rashi: ‘that you followed Me, into the desert, out of Egypt’ : Bnei Israel sre destined to say Shira in the future, as it is written in Ps’ 91:1: ’Sing to Hashem, a new song, because He has performed wonders’ - in what merit will Bnei Israel say this shira? In the merit of Avraham Avinu, אשר האמין בהקב'ה:” who believed in Hashem, as it is written:(Lech Lecha 15:6) ’והאמין בה’ And he believed in Hashem’ - this was the Emunah that Israel inherited, and which is alluded to in the words of the prophet (Habakuk 2:4): ’The righteous lives by אמונתו: his faith’.
Concludes the Midrash: ’This is:’From the head of Emunah’.
This Midrash, as we will see, follows the ingenious resolution of the Chatam Sofer, to the seemingly irresoluble disagreement between some of our greatest early commentators, on the passuk we have brought from Parashat Lech Lecha.
It is the concluding passuk of the passage which follows the Covenant Between the Halves, as we read:(15:1-6) "After these events, the word of Hashem came to Avraham..’your reward is very great’.
"Avraham said: ’..what can You give me when I go childless..You have given no offspring..my steward inherits me’...’
"The word of Hashem came to him, saying: 'This one will not inherit you..(the one) that shall come forth from within you shall inherit you.'
"And He took him outside and said: ’Gaze, now, towards the Heavens, and count the stars if you are able to count them! ..So shall your offspring be.. והאמין בה': And he believed in Hashem’ "
And the following phrase, which comes next, is the contentious part of the sentence:- ‘ויחשבה לו לצדקה': And He reckoned it to him as צדקה: as righteousness.
Rashi comments: ’And He reckoned it to him as righteousness’: Hashem accorded it to Avraham as a merit and as righteousness for the faith he believed in Him.
Sforno adds: Avraham believed in Hashem: was certain that He would do that which He said, even though it was impossible by the laws of nature - as Sarah was no longer, by then, able to bear children, as the Torah states:18:11 -‘and deemed it to Avraham as righteousness’, that is, Hashem attributed this belief in Him, to merit and righteousness.’
The Chatam Sofer adds: We need to recall that, at this time - unlike Moshe, who saw Hashem ‘change’ the natural order of things in the burning bush that was not consumed, and the staff which turned to a snake - Avraham only saw Hashem as אל שדי, in the natural order of things, and, his belief - written in our passuk - in that which was contrary to the laws of nature, was the merit and righteousness, that was deemed as a credit to him by Hashem.
Ramban totally rejects this commentary of Rashi, saying: I do not understand what was this merit of Avraham to which Rashi alludes - why should Avraham not believe the true G-d, Avraham being himself a prophet.
He’ (that is G-d) is not deceitful, like man; and further, one who believed the command to offer up his beloved only son on the altar, how would he not believe the good tidings of issue?
What was said: ’And he believed in Hashem and he reckoned it to Him as righteousness’: That on these words, similarly comments: his merit that Hashem was giving him issue, but it was a tzedaka to him, by Hashem.’
If we are to extract the two questions which Ramban raises, they would be: First: since Avraham was a prophet, and heard the promise from the mouth of Hashem, what merit was there in his believing them? And second: as he totally believed the difficult tidings - to offer up his beloved only son, how would he not believe the good tidings, that he would have issue?
Here - as we foreshadowed at the outset of our offering - the Chatam Sofer reconciles the seemingly irreconcilable views of Rashi and of Ramban.
Expounds the sage: ’והאמין’ is not to be translated as ‘believed’ - Avraham himself - but as ‘causative’ meaning: Avraham instilled - ‘caused’ his descendants to be believers, to the wondrous extent that even when they were mired in the depths of impurity in their servitude in Egypt, their belief remained in them - and in its merit, they were redeemed.
‘As we read in the gemara (Shabbat 97.):’They are believers, the sons of believers’ - and, as we brought from the baalei Midrash, this inherited Emunah enabled them to say the Shira, at the Splitting of the Sea.
Rav Aryeh Leib Eiger - the Lubliner Admor - also expounds in the way of the Chatam Sofer, saying: ’That he - Avraham - believed, is an obvious matter, which did not need to be said - he clearly strengthened himself in full faith with that which Hashem said to him.
As to the seed of Avraham - regarding which came the words of Hashem: ’so will be your seed’ - meaning: the complete Emunah you had, the minute you heard the words of Hashem said- the very same Emunah will be in your seed, as you - Avraham - will instill in all who descend from you.’
It is this - the instilling of Emunah, by Avraham, in all his seed - that the ensuing words: ’And it was reckoned to him as righteousness’, speak - Hashem reckoned this as a merit to Avraham, as if, as it were, that he set up all the generations of Bnei Israel as ‘believers the sons of believers’, for whom Hashem so yearned - and which yearning of Hashem, Avraham fulfilled - the word צדקה meaning fulfilling something which someone else yearns - this is reckoned as a צדקה, that Hashem reckoned to Avraham, as done, as it were, for Him.
We find the usage of להאמין as causative, in the Kli Yakar exposition of the transgression of Moshe Rabbeinu at Mei Meriba, the transgression, in Hashem’s words being (Chukat 20:12 ): יען לא האמנת בי להקדישני לעיני בני ישראל: literally: 'Because you did not believe in Me to sanctify Me, in the eyes of Bnei Israel’.
The meaning of the words האמנתםֶ here, is causative, the transgression being that he weakened - instead of strengthening - the Emunah of Bnei Israel, in Hashem.
The Chatam Sofer also solves an apparent difficulty in a Gemara ( Shabbat 97.) by his chiddush.
The gemara states : One who casts aspersions on upright people, is afflicted in his body - as it is written (Shemot 4:1): ’And they will not believe me’ that Hashem appeared, and spoke to me to redeem them - whereas It was known to Hashem, that Bnei Israel would believe.
Therefore Hashem spoke to Moshe, saying: ’They are believers the sons of believers, whereas you - Moshe - your destiny is not to believe, as it says: ’Because you did not believe in Me to sanctify Me in the eyes of Bnei Israel’.
Where do we see that Moshe was afflicted in his body? His hand was afflicted by leprosy.
The Chatam Sofer expounds: ’The complaint of Moshe, that Bnei Israel would not believe him, was not an aspersion on them, , but rather he queried: ’How could they be exoected to be believers, when this was not instilled in them by Avraham and the Avot, their ancestors - casting the aspersion on the Avot.
To this, Hashem responded: ’You: your end is to not believe - heaven forfend, that Moshe himself should not believe - but, by you striking the rock, instead of speaking to it, you caused a weakening of the Emuna of Bnei israel, the very thing that you accused the Avot of doing.’
A parting thought: By bringing nachat ruach to Hashem - by instilling in all his generations Emunah in Hashem, which, as we brought at the outset, was the purpose of creation - surely Avraham merited the accolade which we find in the Zohar Hakadosh accorded to Moshe Rabbeinu:
חסיד המתחסד עם קונו: A chassid who does chessed to his Master!
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