Parshas Lech Lecha: Paying Off the Debts

וילך למסעיו מנגב ועד בית אל עד המקום אשר היה שם אהלה בתחלה בין בית אל ובין העי

“And he proceeded on his journeys from the south as far as Beis-el, to the place where his tent had been formerly, between Beis-el and Ai.” (13:3)

Upon Avram’s return from Mitzrayim, he made a point of returning to the same places that he stayed at on his way down to Mitzrayim. Rashi comments: וילך למסעיו. כשחזר ממצרים לארץ כנען היה הולך ולן באכסניות שלן בהם בהליכתו למצרים, למדך דרך ארץ, שלא ישנה אדם מאכסניא שלו. דבר אחר בחזרתו פרע הקפותיו – When he returned from Mitzrayim to the land of Canaan he went and lodged in the same inns as he had stayed when he traveled to Mitzrayim. This teaches you good manners: that one should not change his inn (Arachin 16b). Another interpretation: on his return he paid the debts he had previously incurred.

It seems that on the way down, Avram was a poor man and either borrowed money from people or he lodged on credit, so now was his opportunity to pay off his debts. The obvious question is: why is this even noteworthy? What is Avram’s entire world of chesed even worth if he owes money all around town and does not pay up? Doesn’t everyone eventually make their payments, and certainly Avram himself?

The Chasam Sofer explains that on his way down, the people scorned him: “You keep saying ‘Hashem will help, Hashem runs the world, Hashem looks after me’ – and yet, you don’t have a penny to your name, and you are now being forced to go down to Mitzrayim.” Avram would not respond to this mockery. Therefore, upon his return, laden with wealth, he felt he had a debt to pay. He had an obligation to show all of those people how Hashem made him wealthy, and that He was right there beside him all along.

The Chasam Sofer offers another reason why he returned to the same places. The Ramban’s well-known opinion is that it was a great sin for Avram to go down to Mitzrayim (12:10). Each stop along the way down was a chillul Hashem. According to this, his return to Eretz Yisroel was an act of teshuva – so he made sure to return to each stop in order to complete his repentance. Subsequently, this act of teshuva caused Avram to reach an even higher level of greatness, as Chazal teach: במקום שבעלי תשובה עומדים אין צדיקים גמורים יכולים לעמוד.

Along the lines of the Chasam Sofer, I would like to suggest another answer:

The Gemara in Shabbos says as follows: אמר רבא בשעה שמכניסין אדם לדין אומרים לו נשאת ונתת באמונה קבעת עתים לתורה: Rava said: After departing from this world, when a person is brought to judgment (for the life he lived in this world), they say to him: Did you conduct business faithfully? Did you designate times for Torah study? (Shabbos 31a)

After 120 years in this world, we will all experience the grand bechina. One of the questions we will each be asked is קבעת עתים לתורה, “Did you designate times for Torah study?” For many of us, this question will be easily checked off because we have our daily chavrusos and shiurim. Furthermore, עתים is plural – and many of us will even be able to pat ourselves on the back and say that we have learned in the mornings and nights.

However, I heard from R’ Shlomo Eisenberger shlit”a (of the Telzer Yeshiva) that perhaps the expectation behind the question is a little bit more than that.

Shlomo Hamelech writes in Koheles: לכל זמן ועת לכל חפץ תחת השמים. There are 28 עתים which cover all different occasions in a person’s life cycle that are mentioned in the pasuk. Now let us ask the question again: קבעת עתים לתורה? Did you make sure to learn during those 28 times as well? That day when your first child was born (עת ללדת)? The night you danced at your oldest child’s wedding (עת לרקוד)? During a doctor’s visit (עת לרפוא)? Of course you learnt twice daily when things were status-quo and good to go, but what about during those other עתים when you indeed had a good and valid excuse – did you keep to your k’vius during those times as well?

Avraham Avinu viewed his Torah learning as an absolute חוב. Perhaps along his many travels, when his schedule was not like his ordinary life, he may have had a good reason here and there to miss some learning time. He may have even had an exemption of osek b’mitzvah. However, he still kept a cheshbon of the missed time. Therefore, upon his return, he went back to those places in order to pay back his “chovos”.

 Good Shabbos, מרדכי אפפעל