Those Who Curse Avraham

       Toward the beginning of Parashat Lekh-Lekha, we read of the promises God made to Avraham when He commanded him to leave his homeland and resettle in Canaan.  Among these promises we find, “u-mkalelkha a’or” – “I shall curse those who curse you” (12:3).  It appears that from the outset, already at the moment when God informed Avraham of the mission he and his descendants would be assigned in the world, it was anticipated that he would have mekalelim – detractors and adversaries.  But God also promises Avraham that as long as he remains steadfastly committed to his mission, the curses uttered by his foes will fall upon them, and not him.

            Rav Yehuda Leib Ginsburg, in his Yalkut Yehuda (Denver, 1936), notes that God did not promise Avraham that he won’t havemekalelim, that he would not meet with strident opposition.  He guaranteed to visit retribution upon his adversaries, but not that he would be spared from opposition altogether.  The reason, the Yalkut Yehuda explains, is because a mission like Avraham’s naturally arouses opposition.  He writes:

That which the Almighty said to him, “and I shall curse those who curse you,” and did not bless him that he would not have people who curse him at all – this is because this is something impossible, that there would not be any callous people capable of cursing even the most distinguished person.  In particular, it is unavoidable that a great person will have enemies as a result of jealousy, and especially a person like Avraham, who came along and said that that which they considered sacred is actually profane, and that which they revered and made into a deity is something worthless and vacuous.  Certainly there were people who looked upon him as a man who disgraced that which is sacred, and they became his adversaries.

            A person who embarks on a successful idealistic mission will, almost by definition, meet with opposition, cynicism, resistance and derision.  Latent within this blessing to Avraham is a warning that he and his descendants would have to gird themselves with several layers of thick skin, that mekalelim of different strips and colors will scorn, mock and even actively oppose their efforts.  The nation of Avraham would have to persist on its journey through history with firm resolve and determination, and with conviction and faith in God’s eternal promise of “u-mkalelkha a’or,” that we will ultimately prevail over the mekalelim.