Parshas Lech lecha- MAGEN AVROHOM

ויאמר ה' אל אברם לך לך מארצך וממולדתך ומבית אביך אל הארץ אשר אראך (בראשית יב:א)

Thrice daily, we daven Shemoneh Esrei. At its very beginning, we invoke the names of our Avos HaKedoshim: אלקי אברהם, אלקי יצחק, ואלקי יעקב.

Chazal tell us that these correspond to the berachos Hashem gave to Avraham Avinu: "ואעשך לגוי גדול" — this is what is meant when we say Elokei Avraham.

"ואברכך" — this refers to Elokei Yitzchak.

"ואגדלה שמך" — this corresponds to Elokei Yaakov.

One might have thought that the brachah should conclude with all three names. But the pasuk concludes, "והיה ברכה" — you, Avraham, you are the brachah. And so we end with מגן אברהם.

When examining Avraham Avinu’s great test, the meforshim wonder: what exactly was so difficult? Here you have a man with no money, no children, and no fame. Even if he felt he had a mission in life, he had no realistic way to fulfill it. Then Hashem tells him, "לך לך מארצך... אל הארץ אשר אראך" — go to the land that I will show you, and there you will become great, famous, wealthy, blessed with children — everything!

So what’s the challenge? Who wouldn’t accept such a promise?

The answer may be understood through a mashal. A father says to his son, “I know you’re busy, but please bring me a bottle of seltzer from the storage room. If you do, I’ll give you a million dollars.” Of course, the son quickly does it. But can he then proudly declare, “I’ve fulfilled the mitzvah of kibbud av v’eim”? Hardly — he did it for the money!

So too, the nisayon of Avraham was this: will he follow Hashem’s command because of the promised blessings, or will he do it lishmah — purely because Hashem commanded him, without thought of reward or matan secharah b’tzidah?

Rav Moshe Feinstein זצ״ל (Darash Moshe) offers another dimension. Avraham was seventy-five and Sarah sixty-five. If Hashem is the Hakol Yachol, why must they relocate at all? Couldn’t Hashem fulfill all these blessings right where they were? Yet such a question never entered their minds. Without hesitation, without rationalizing, they followed Hashem’s word — leaving everything behind for an unknown destination.

Rav Moshe writes that this is why we conclude the first brachah of Shemoneh Esrei with מגן אברהם. Three times a day, we are given the opportunity to attach ourselves to that strength — to the unwavering emunah of Avraham Avinu.

We, too, sometimes find ourselves in situations that make no sense. We’ve done everything right, and yet, it’s not working. “Why is Hashem sending me there and not here? What does He want from me?” But then we remember Avraham Avinu and whisper מגן אברהם — drawing strength from his decision to trust Hashem without question. That same inner strength still lives within us.

This week marks the yahrtzeit of Rav Meir Shapiro זצ״ל (ז חשון תרצ״ד). Rav Meir envisioned a world where yeshivah bochurim would be respected and valued — where their Torah learning would be recognized as vital to Klal Yisroel’s future. With this dream, he built the magnificent Yeshivas Chachmei Lublin — complete with indoor plumbing, a rarity at the time. Of course, such a project required massive funds. Careful plans were made for the Rav to travel to America to raise money.

When Rav Meir arrived in New York, however, every plan collapsed. Meetings were canceled; doors were closed. Standing at the train station with his suitcase, he lifted his eyes to Heaven and began to daven: " אמרתי מטה רגלי חסדך ה' יסעדני. “If I say, ‘My foot has slipped,’ Your kindness, Hashem, supports me.”

He repeated these words again and again — and from his heart composed the famous niggun to that pasuk. He understood that when a Yid feels completely lost, like he is collapsing; buckling under the weight of the great burdens he carries, yet still trusts that Hashem has a plan — from there comes the yeshuah: חסדך ה' יסעדני.

At that very moment, a man approached him and asked what was wrong. Upon hearing his story, the man suggested he try a small shul in a suburb of Philadelphia; perhaps they could help. Rav Meir went, met the rav and president — both amaratzim — and was introduced, mistakenly, as “a professor from a girls’ school in Poland.” Things seemed only to worsen.

Realizing the mispallelim were also not scholars, he set aside his prepared drashos and spoke simply — about Parshas Shemos: about the infants thrown into the river, about Yocheved and Miriam saving Moshe Rabbeinu, and about the dangers that faced Bnei Yisroel.

Among the listeners was a child who understood that just as Moshe saved Klal Yisroel, perhaps Rav Meir too could help save Yidden. He begged his father to assist. The father donated generously — enough to cover the yeshivah’s needs.

אם אמרתי מטה רגלי חסדך ה' יסעדני. From the strength of Avraham Avinu came the strength of Rav Meir Shapiro — and from their strength, ours. Each time we choose to believe, even when we cannot understand, we are tapping into the everlasting power of מגן אברהם.

Good Shabbos, מרדכי אפפעל