בס "ד
Parashat Lech Lecha
We find in theis week’s Torah reading that Avraham built three altars and Rashi, the famous commentatior, explains the reason for two of them, but not the third. Why?
Based on Likkutei sichot, vol. 30, p. 36
The Three Altars of Abraham: Three Ways to Serve G-d
This post is a short summary of a Torah class. I recommend watching the whole class to hear it in full.
Abraham built three altars in the land of Canaan. Each one was built for a different reason. Why did he build three? Why not just one, to say thank you to G-d and be done?
The First Altar: Thank You
G-d told Abraham to leave his home and go to a new land. When he arrived in Canaan, G-d said to him: “I will give this land to your children.”1
Rashi, the most important commentator on the Torah, explains that Abraham did not have children yet. Now G-d promised him children and a land for them. So Abraham was thankful. He built an altar and brought offerings.2
The Second Altar: Forgiveness
Abraham traveled on and came to a city called Ai. There he built a second altar.
Rashi explains why. Abraham saw with prophecy that, many years later, his children would sin in this very place. In the book of Joshua, the Jewish people tried to conquer Ai. They lost the battle and some people died. Then they found out that a man named Achan had taken things he was not allowed to take.3 So Abraham prayed at Ai. He asked G-d to forgive his children in advance.4
The Third Altar: A Question
Later, Abraham came to Hebron. G-d appeared to him again and promised him children and the land. He said that Abraham’s children would be as many as the stars in the sky. Abraham built an altar there to thank G-d.5
Here is the interesting part. Rashi explained the first two altars. But for the third altar, Rashi says nothing. Why not?
Three Ways to Serve G-d
Every story in the Torah has a lesson for our own service of G-d. The reasons Rashi gives for the first two altars come from the Midrash. The three altars show us three ways to serve G-d.
Level 1: Serving God because of what we need.
A person needs food, money, a home, and children. So he thanks G-d for giving him these things. This is the simplest level. We serve G-d because we receive something good from it, physical or spiritual. This is the first altar.
Level 2: Serving G-d through teshuvah.
The second altar is not about money or things. It is about teshuvah, which means repentance, or “returning” to G-d. A person can make mistakes. He needs a way to fix them. At this level, a person knows he is not perfect, and he asks G-d for forgiveness. This is called kapara, or atonement.
This level is not about getting something. It is about the connection with G-d. Sometimes a person feels close to G-d, and sometimes far away. He goes up and down. Teshuvah helps him come back.
Level 3: Serving G-d only to be close to Him.
Now we understand the third altar. The name Hebron comes from the Hebrew word for “connection.”6 At this level, a person serves G-d for one reason only: because G-d is the King, and this is what He wants. He does not expect children. He does not expect money. He does not even expect G-d to clean his sins. He just wants to be connected to G-d.
The Alter Rebbe, the founder of the Chabad movement, said it very clearly. He said that he does not want G-d’s paradise. He does not want the World to Come. He does not want a higher paradise or a lower one. He only wants G-d Himself.7
That is why Rashi gives no reason for the third altar. There is no reason. The only reason is: this is what G-d wants from me.
Conclusione
The three altars of Abraham show us three levels of connection to G-d. First we serve because of what we need. Then we serve to repair our mistakes. At the highest level, we serve only to be close to G-d.
May Hashem give us the strength to serve Him with a true heart.
Buon Shabbat.
Discorso del rabbino Tuvia Serber
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