Religious Pluralism | Parashat Hashavua-- The Weekly Torah Portion

GOD'S STAKE IN THE COVENANT

Shabbat Lech-L'cha, 7-8 November, 1997, 8 Heshvan 5758

Parashat Lech-L'cha (Genesis 12:1-17:27)

One of the most mysterious passages in all the Torah occurs in this week's Torah reading -- the Covenant Between the Halves (15:9-17). The covenant is concluded after two short dialogues between God and Avram during which Avram receives the two classic covenental promises: the generation of a people from his seed, and the divinely ordained connection between this people and a certain land.

Avram, understandably enough, sounds a bit overwhelmed by the great gifts God promises to bestow upon him. Avram is also a man of means and understands that these same divine gifts, great as they are, will also impose new responsibilities on him. The gift of generations is one Avram can conceive of [no pun intended!] and the Torah reports that his reaction is accepting (15:6 - And because he put his trust in the Lord, He reckoned it to his merit). But the gift of land -- perhaps because Avram knows full well that the land is inhabited and its acquisition will involve more than God and himself -- elicits a very human and practical response (15:8 - And he said: "O Lord God, how shall I know that I am to possess it?".

God's response to this predictable question is, in itself, totally unpredictable. He does not respond with words of reassurance, as He has done shortly before (15:1 - "Fear not, Avram, I am a shield to you; your reward will be very great."), but with cryptic instructions about bringing together a collection of animals; a heifer, a female goat, a ram, a turtledove, and a young bird. Avram exhibits great aplomb under the circumstances, gathers the animals together and even knows what to do with them without further instruction from God. (15:10 - "He brought Him all these and cut them in two, placing each half opposite the other; but he did not cut up the bird.").

Mystified as we may be, Avram is clearly in his element. He has cut up the animals and arranged them in a ritualistic fashion. This ritual does not seem to have anything to do with sacrifice: note that there is no mention of burning the pieces, of incense or gathering blood, any of which would indicate the execution of ancient sacrifice ritual.

Rather than sacrifice, the act of halving animals and laying out the halves in a set pattern provides the basic imagery for the act of entering into a covenant. To conclude a covenant is to l'karet brit -- we'd say today, to cut a deal. The Hebrew word "l'karet", meaning to cut or sever, is based on the three letter root ë ø ú. The Hebrew word "brit", meaning covenant, is based on the three letter root á ø ú. The letters of both roots are similar in shape, and their meanings are also intertwined. If one transposes the first two letters of the Hebrew brit, one produces the word "batar", which is the verb used in verse 10 to describe how Avram cut each animal in two.

After Avram's preparations he is overcome by a deep sleep and God reveals the fate of the people and the land to their sleeping patriarch: The years of slavery in Egypt, the great liberation, and the return of the people to the Land. Before Avram awakes, at the darkest hour of the night, a smoking oven appears and a flaming torch passes between the pieces of the halved animals that Avram had laid out with such care.

The passage is eerie, laden with primeval symbols of fire and slaughtered animals. The scenario evokes murky images of pagan rites, and, indeed, contemporary biblical scholars maintain that the ceremony held by God and Avram follows the form of land-grant treaties in the ancient Near East.

"In the Mari texts 'to kill a donkey foal' is to conclude a covenant. At Alalakh they 'cut the neck of a sheep' for the same purpose." (See Nahum Sarna's commentary to the book of Genesis, Jewish Publication Society, 1989, page 114)

In these acts of covenant-making, the one who passes between the pieces of the split animals invokes their fate upon himself if he should violate the conditions of the covenant or treaty.

Smoke and fire are common symbols of God's presence on earth, and so we are lead to the conclusion that it is God Himself who passes between the pieces of the split animals (15:17), irrevocably binding His fate with the fate of His people and the promises He is making.

What a powerful statement it is that God's presence (not Avram) passes between the pieces. Once we accept the concept that God has so great a stake in the eternity of our covenant with Him, our responsibility to uphold the brit becomes even weightier. Apparently, it is not just our fate as a people that hangs in the balance -- but God's fate as the Lord of Israel as well.

May we, God's partners in the covenant, have the integrity to explore the rest of our Torah with clear vision and humility, so that we can develop our own best understanding of our part in this great undertaking.

Shabbat Shalom

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE: Amy Levin has served as rabbi of the Masorti (Conservative) Family Congregation of Beit Ha-Kerem, Jerusalem, since September 1995. She is one of the first women to study in the rabbinical school of the Masorti/Conservative Seminary of Judaic Studies in Jerusalem. In addition to her congregational work, Amy teaches Talmud at Hebrew Union College's new Liberal Yeshiva -- a program designed to introduce English speakers to the basic texts and concepts of the Jewish tradition. Amy made aliyah in 1981 and is the mother of two wonderful teenagers.