THIRD TRIAL: Now you see Me, now you don’t

אַל־תִּירָ֣א אַבְרָ֗ם אָנֹכִי֙ מָגֵ֣ן לָ֔ךְ

“Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield for you.” Bereshit 15:1

Abraham arrives in the land of Canaan, recognizing and obeying the Divine Voice. By his own will, he takes upon himself the commitment to follow God. He passes the first trial! Then the second test begins. The Divine Voice had promised him many rewards in the land of Canaan: prosperity, descendants, fame. But when Abraham arrives in the promised land, the promises are far from fulfilled. In the very land where he was guaranteed plenty and riches, a famine takes over! And yet our forefather does not take back his commitment. He does not flee back north, to his native land. Instead, he takes refuge in Egypt until the famine is over and he can return to the land God sent him to. Abraham passes the second test. He learns to be loyal to HaShem, unconditionally.

THE THIRD TRIAL

But his challenges, his nisyonot, are not over yet. As if the lack of rain and food were not enough, Abraham’s wife is taken from him. Sara Imenu is kidnapped in Egypt and taken to Pharaoh’s harem. Abraham had anticipated that the Egyptians would be very interested in his wife’s beauty, so he told her to present herself as his sister. But he did not imagine that Pharaoh himself would take Sara! He is completely powerless and can do nothing to rescue his beloved wife. Pharaoh gives Abraham a generous dowry for Sara: cattle and servants. Abraham is rich. But what use is his wealth without his beloved Sara? Throughout this ordeal, God does not reveal Himself to Abraham. Did Abraham feel he had done something wrong, and that God’s promise to give him offspring might never be fulfilled?

SURPRISE

And then, the unexpected happens. Abraham is summoned to Pharaoh’s palace. Pharaoh is angry with him: “How could you not tell me that Sara is your wife?! Why did you deceive me and tell me she was your sister?” From Abraham’s point of view, Pharaoh’s reproach amounts to a death sentence. Pharaoh could put Abraham to death and keep his widow. But unexpectedly, the Egyptian monarch returns Sara, healthy and untouched, to her husband, and Abraham is free to leave with his wife and with the generous dowry he had received from Pharaoh. (Remember HaShem’s promise? Prosperity? Check!)

But Abraham is unaware of what we readers are told: that God intervened by punishing Pharaoh, and in doing so, warned Pharaoh that Sara was a married woman he had to stay away from.

Abraham never actually found out what had really happened. And despite sufferings that seem undeserved and illogical, Abraham learns an invaluable lesson: God acts in ways that human beings will never fully understand or perceive. Sometimes to our benefit, as in this case, and sometimes in what seems to be against our interests, as in the binding of Isaac. Abraham learns that human logic cannot anticipate Divine wisdom, and that God intervenes in ways we cannot imagine, or even dare to pray for.

This level of unsolicited Divine intervention, which we do not necessarily perceive, is called “Magen,” a shield: an unnoticed Divine protection. HaShem protects us without our realizing it. He is constantly saving us from dangers we are not even aware of, even before something bad happens.

To recognize this kind of Divine protection, every day we praise HaShem for being “Magen Abraham,” the Protector of Abraham and of his privileged descendants.

Rabbi Yosef Bitton