“And Hashem said to Avram: ‘Go forth from your land, from your birthplace, and from your father’s house to the land (ashear ar-eh-ko) that I will show you.’”
The simple way to explain this pasuk is: Hashem told Avram that He will show Avram the land where to go and Avram should go there. Zera Shimshon asks, if this is so, then it should have been written in the pasuk, “asher ar-eh lecha,” and not “asher ar-eh-koh” since “asher ar-eh-koh,” literally means “that I will show you to others.”
Another difficulty is, if this pasuk is relating that Hashem told Avram which land to travel to, then why is the name of the land not written in the passuk? It is only written (pasuk 5), “And Avram took Sarah his wife … and they left to go to the Land of Canaan” but the pasuk does not mention that Hashem told Avram the name of the land! This implies that Avram understood where to travel. How did Avram understand that Hashem intended for him to travel to Eretz Yisrael?
Zera Shimshon explains in light of Midrash Yalkut Shimoni, Vayaira, remmez 102; the origin of the name: “Yerushalayim” is from the name that Avram gave it “Har Yeiroh” and the name that Shaim, the son of Noach, gave it “Shalaim.” Hashem did not want to offend either of these two tzaddikim, so Hashem combined both of these names, and called it: “Yerushalayim.”
The commentator on the Yalkut asks: “Why did Avram and Shaim call it two different names? What is the depth in each of these names?”
He explains that “Shaim” called it “Shalaim,” which means complete, because he perceived the completeness of Hashem’s physical world in Eretz Yisrael: health, strength and prosperity that manifests itself in “Yerushalayim.” However, Shaim was not on such a high level of spirituality to sense the spirituality that also exists in Yerushalayim. Avraham, on the other hand — who was on a much greater level of spirituality — also sensed the tremendous spiritual potential of Eretz Yisrael in general, and specifically in Yerushalayim in which one can reach high levels of yiras Hashem, so Avraham called it “Har Yeiroh,” which has the same root as yiras Hashem.
Hashem called it both of these names, because in truth both exist there; great physical plenty and also, great spiritual potential for those who want to attain it.
The Zera Shimshon continues that, from here, we see that Eretz Yisrael is different from other lands. The quality, beauty and splendor of all lands are independent of the character and conduct of its inhabitants. However, the spiritual and physical beauty of Eretz Yisrael is connected and are proportionate with its inhabitants’ conduct. When the inhabitants are immoral the land is affected negatively. However, when tzaddikim live in the land, for instance Shaim, then its physical beauty is seen. And when there are even greater tzaddikim there — like Avraham Avinu — then, even its spiritual glory can be felt.
This is one of the reasons Hashem told Avraham to go to Eretz Yisrael. Hashem wanted Avraham to be in Eretz Yisrael, in order to help Avraham; since Avraham was a tzaddik, and he would cause the land itself to give him a beracha that he would have children and be prosperous.
The Zera Shimshon concludes, according to this, Hashem did not openly tell Avraham to go to Eretz Yisrael. Hashem told him to go to a land “asher ar-eh-koh,” which means “to the land in which I (Hashem) will show your greatness to others,” and Avraham, by himself, understood that Hashem was referring to Eretz Yisroel with the following logic. Eretz Yisroel is the only land that a person’s greatness affects the beauty of the land, and since Avraham was a tzaddik, when he enteredEretz Yisroel, there would be an immediate change in Eretz Yisroel and this would cause people to be aware of Avraham’s greatness.
According to the above, Zera Shimshon answers another question in the parsha. On the pasuk (12:10), “Va’yehi raav ba’aretz — And there was a famine in the land.” Rashi explains that right when Avraham came to Eretz Yisrael, Hashem brought a famine only in Eretz Yisrael, and this forced Avraham to leave and go to Mitzrayim. Hashem did this, in order to test if Avraham would question Hashem; even though Hashem had promised Avraham the land, Avraham had to leave it right away.
Zera Shimshon asks: “Why should Avraham’s leaving Eretz Yisrael cause him to question Hashem? True, Hashem promised Avraham the land, however Hashem never told him when He would give it to him. Just like Hashem promised to give Eretz Yisrael to Avraham’s descendants, and Hashem did not give it to them until more than 400 years later; so too, it would not have been so difficult for Avraham to reach the conclusion that it was the same with him — it was his land and when the famine would stop, he will come back and live there. What was the great test?
The answer is: Hashem promised Avraham that when he would enter Eretz Yisrael, the land would flourish and people would realize that it was caused by his greatness. But, if right when Avraham would arrive, a famine would begin, so even when Avraham would then return to Eretz Yisrael and the land would begin to prosper, people would not say the land prospered because of him, since when he first came a famine had started. They would, instead, give some natural explanation for the suddenly blossoming land and the sudden high-quality of the crops.
Therefore, the test of Avraham was that even though, it looked like Hashem’s promise would not be fulfilled, and that Avraham’s greatness would not be seen by the people around him, Avraham did not doubt Hashem and went down to Mitzrayim.
According to this, we have to understand how Hashem fulfilled His promise to Avraham that the land will prosper because of him and that from this, people will know his greatness.
The Zera Shimshon answers in light of Rashi, who explains that when Avraham initially went down to Mitzrayim, he had to borrow money for food and lodging which he paid back when he returned to go back to Eretz Yisrael. This implies that at the time Avraham left Eretz Yisrael, he did not have his own money.
Therefore, if Hashem would have blessed the land immediately when Avraham arrived, he would not have had the money to benefit from the plenty of the land. Hashem, therefore, forced Avraham to go to Mitzrayim and attain wealth, so that when he would return, he would be able to benefit from the tremendous plenty that his righteousness had caused!
