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Abraham replied, “I realized that the one thing
missing here is the fear of God. I could be killed because of my wife.” Genesis 20:11
Great is fear [of Heaven], for all who fear Heaven
it can be presumed will not sin, and one who does not fear Heaven it can be
presumed will not abstain from any sin, as the verse [Exodus 20:17]
states: “His fear will then be on your faces, and you will not sin.”
And what is stated concerning evil ones? [Psalms 14:1] “The fool has said in
his heart: 'There is no God'; they have dealt corruptly, they have done
abominably; there is none that does good.” Midrash haGadol
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The Midrash teaches that
the source of mitzvot between man and fellow man (bein adam l’ḥavero)]
is fear of Heaven, and not any social compact. We fulfill mitzvot bein
adam l’ḥavero because it is God’s command, and it is this divine imperative
which makes the obligations absolute.
Malbim, in his commentary on our
verse, phrases the point thus:
Abraham informed Abimelech that even if there are individuals or entire
nations who are great philosophers imbued with proper etiquette and who have
trained themselves in positive traits, based upon their intellectual
understanding, and who act justly and righteously, they still cannot be relied
upon … intellectual understanding and wise traits alone are not immune to ones
desires.
There is but one power within the human soul which can be relied upon to
prevent sin, and that is the quality of fear which is implanted within the
soul, and it is from this source that fear of Heaven issues.
Yehuda Kiel [Da’at Mikra
on our verse] comments: “Fear of Heaven is the religious force which dissuades
man from erring in grave sins between man and fellow man.”
Netziv adds that Abraham did not
claim that Abimelech’s subjects are bereft of courtesy and good manners, rather
that the social mores of the land are based upon human intellectual
understanding. Therefore, Abraham feared, since one who does not fear Heaven
will be unable to control his urges, which overcome human wisdom.
Zohar [1:140] explains the
reason fear of Heaven was lacking in Gerar:
Rabbi Elazar says: because the Shechinah rests only within the
Holy Land, and therefore “the one thing missing here is the fear of God,” for
this is not the place where the Shechinah rests.
Based upon
these comments, it can be concluded that the Land of Israel is the most
suitable place for fulfilling mitzvot bein adam l’ḥavero.
Rabbi Menaḥem Kasher [Torah
Shelayma] connects Zohar’s comment with that of the Babylonian Talmud [Ketubot
110b]: “One who dwells outside the Land is considered as one who has no God.”
The comment of Maharsha on this Talmudic statement is most enlightening: “For
one of the Divine qualities is doing kindness (gemilut ḥassadim) and man
should follow the Divine attributes.”
We can add that our Sages [Babylonian Talmud Avoda
Zara 17b] use the same phrase “as one who has no God” to describe one who
engages in Torah study but not gemilut ḥassadim, on which Noam Elimelech
comments: “since he lacks connection with the Created, only with Torah.” Thus,
true connection to God requires dealing with gemilut ḥassadim and the
Jew being in the Holy Land, the Land which is uniquely the Land of the Creator.
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