RABBI PINCHAS GELB

Chazon: Shabbos of Vision

hile most national origin stories center upon human strength, heroism
and fortitude, the Jewish national origin story of the Exodus from
Egypt tells, not of human prowess, but rather of Hashems fulfilling a
promise made to Avraham, thus introducing the legal-ethical category of the trust
relationship between Hashem and the nation into the center of Jewish society.1 Yet,
the centrality of this fiduciary relationship, at times, is obscured by events in history, as
characterized by the three-week period between the 17th of Tammuz and Tisha Bav.
During these times, our experience of the covenant is maintained by our faith in its
fulfillment beyond the immediate circumstancesand this requires vision. Perhaps
for this reason, based on its haftaras opening words, the Shabbos before Tisha Bav
has become known as Shabbos Chazon, which means Shabbos of Vision.
First Use of the Word Chazon or Machaze
A words first use in Tanach often reflects the nuance of its meaning. The word chazon,
in its variant form machaze, first appears in Tanach regarding the Bris Bein HaBesarim
between Hashem and Avraham.
The Torah records seven times that Hashem spoke with Avraham. The first and
seventh times are marked by the words lech lecha, go for yourself (Gen. 12:1,
22:2). The second, third, fifth and sixth times discuss Avrahams seeing Hashem
(Gen. 12:7, 17:1, 18:1) and the land (Gen. 13:14). And the fourth timethe middle
oneinvolves Hashems speaking to Avraham in a machaze, a vision, as Bereishis
15:1 states:

.
1 This article is dedicated to the memory of my father-in-law, Rabbi Levi Meier ztl, who lived with vision and
loved Rashis approach to Bereishis 15:5.

Rabbi Pinchas Gelb is a lawyer in Los Angeles.

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After these events, the word of Hashem was to Avram in a vision (machaze)
saying: Fear not AvramI am a shield for you; your reward is very great.
The meaning and implication of the word machaze is suggested by the subsequent
description of the Bris Bein HaBesarim, which states in its initial section (Gen. 15:4-5):
.

.
And behold, the word of Hashem came to him saying: [Your servant Eliezer]
will not be your heir; instead, one that will come forth from within you will
be your heir. And He took him outside, and He said: Gaze, please, toward
the heavens and count the stars if you are able to count them; and He said to
him: So will be your children.
The Torah does not generally involve itself with stage direction, so it is unclear
why this verse specifies the locationwhether outside or insidewhere Hashem
spoke to Avraham during each part of this discussion. Rashi, who as a rule emphasizes
the textual significance of each word in the Torah, provides three explanations for the
verses inclusion of the phrase (Gen. 15:5): And He took him outside.
Rashis first approach lefi peshuto (i.e., the most evident interpretation) is simply
that Avraham had to walk outside of his tent and view the stars in order for Hashem
to underscore the promise of descendants to him by comparing the number and
steadfastness of his descendants to the stars.2 This is the verses most straightforward
meaning. Yet, it does not explain why the phrase and He took him outside is
included at all, given that no meaning would have been lost had this phrase been
omitted completely. We would just have thought that Avraham was standing outside
the entire time. Also, this approach does not account for the overt symbolism in this
2 The end of the verse so will be your descendants does not specify whether this comparison to the stars refers
only to the large number or also to the intrinsic nature of these descendants. Indeed, the gemara in Shabbos 156a
and Nedarim 32a appears to apply the phrase at the end of the verse so will be your descendants to the entire
verse, and implies that this comparison to the stars speaks, not only to quantity of, but also to the inherent
quality of these descendants. Yet, in Bereishis 26:4, Hashem tells Yitzchak that his descendants will be like the
stars, and there the simile is about the large number of these descendants. In Devarim 1:10, Moshe likewise
tells the Jewish people: Hashem, your God, has multiplied you and, behold, you are like the stars of heaven
regarding great number, which indicates that this simile refers to the large number of these descendants (see
also Shemos 32:13). However, Rashi comments on extraneous words in Devarim 1:10, and he notes that the
census population after the Exodus, to which Moshe references, was only 600,000 which is far fewer than the
myriads of stars. Therefore, Rashi on Devarim 1:10 additionally emphasizes the steadfastness of the stars as an
aspect of this simile.

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verse, especially considering that Avraham already had been told in the preceding
verse that he was going to have children who would inherit from him.
Accordingly, Rashis second approach lefi midrasho (i.e., an interpretation
based on the contextual implication, rather than the localized simple translation)
emphasizes that Hashems taking Avraham outside of his tent, itself, was intended
to serve as a metaphor to him. Rashi (based on Bereishis Rabba 44:10) explains that
Hashem was telling Avraham not only to leave his physical tent and view the stars, but
also, more broadly, to leave [his] astrology. Avraham had concluded that he and his
wife would not have children. But the reality was that his destiny was still unfolding
and, after his name would be changed from Avram to Avraham and his wifes name
would be changed from Sarai to Sarah, they would have children. Thus, Hashem
told Avraham that He would give him a degree of independence from systems of
causalityfrom gezeiros that are ostensibly inalterablewhich, at that time, were
characterized by the signs in the stars. Avraham no longer would be subject to these
astrological signs. His destiny would take a new turn.
But this approach still does not account for the Torahs description of the Bris
Bein HaBesarim as a whole. In particular, the Rashbam (quoted in Tosafos on Brachos
7b) emphasizes a striking incongruity in the verses. The middle part of the Bris Bein
HaBesarim is described as occurring just as it was starting to get dark (Gen. 15:12):
And it happened as the sun was going to set, a deep sleep fell upon Avram; and
beholda dread; great darkness fell upon him. This is followed by a famous passage
that is recited in the Haggada, and then the final part of the Bris Bein HaBesarim states
(Gen. 15:17): And it happened when the sun set and it was very dark. And behold,
there was a smoky furnace and a pillar of fire that passed between these pieces. So
during the middle section of the Bris Bein HaBesarim (Gen. 15:12) the sun was just
starting to set, but during the first part (Gen. 15:5), when the verse says that Hashem
took Avraham outside and told him to count the stars, it was still day. The implication
of Bereishis 15:5 in context, therefore, is that Hashem took Avraham outside and
instructed him to look toward the stars during the day!3
Accounting for this, Rashis third interpretation of the phrase and He took him
outside (based on Bereishis Rabba 44:12) states that Hashem took Avraham out, not
just from his tent, but from the space of the world entirely, and raised him above
3 Because of this, the Rashbam quoted by Tosafos on Brachos 7b applies the concept that there is no chronological
order to the verses (ein mukdam u-meuchar baTorah), and that this part, as well, occurred at night. But this still
raises the question of why the Torah presents the Bris Bein HaBesarim in this manner which, taken as a whole,
conveys the incongruity of Hashem telling Avraham to count the stars during the day.

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the stars. As Rashi explains: This is the language of [the word] habata, [which is to
gaze] from on high toward something lower. Indeed, the fiduciary covenant between
Hashem and Avraham in the Bris Bein HaBesarim was outside of, and completely
above, nature. It was sui generis. The patterns and precedents of cosmology, politics,
sociology and history would hold no sway over it at all. This is what Rashi describes
in his third explanation of the verses phrase and He took him outside as Hashems
having lifted Avraham above the stars.
Thus, Rashi interprets the phrase and He took him outside on three distinct
levelsthe regular (lefi peshuto), the exceptional (lefi midrasho), and the
transcendent (davar acher). Rashis first approach is that Avraham simply stepped
outside of his tent to view the stars. His second approach is that Hashem was going to
change Avrahams name and personal direction, but the systems of causality as a general
matter would remain fixed as a constant. And Rashis third approach is that Hashem
raised Avraham above the stars so that he not only circumvented, but transcended
these systems entirely, gaining perspective over and above the regular order of things.
These three approaches to Bereishis 15:5 are necessitated by the verses
immediate and wider contexts. It is as if Rashi is focusing a lens, first zooming in and
then broadening the contextual scope. As Rashi emphasizes in his remark to Bereishis
3:8: There are many aggadic midrashim and our Rabbis have already arranged them
in their proper setting in Bereishis Rabba and in other midrashim, and I have come [in
writing this commentary] only for the simple meaning of Scripture and for aggadah
that resolves the words of Scripture with each word stated in its proper place and with
its correct meaning.
The Enduring Effect of Sustained Inner Vision
It is not obvious from the verses, and Rashi does not comment on, whether the
entire sectionincluding the phrase and He took him outside (Gen. 15:5)
was part of the machaze that the opening verse in Bereishis 15:1 references. Indeed,
considering that the phrase behold, the word of Hashem came to him saying (Gen.
15:4) is repeated in the middle of the section, the beginning of the section might
have taken place in a vision and the events described afterward might have happened
at a separate time.4 Yet, the Radak cites the apparent anomaly stated in the verses
of Hashem telling Avraham to go outside to count the stars during the day (Gen.
15:5), and he concludes based on this that the entire Bris Bein HaBesarim must have
been part of the machaze that Bereishis 15:1 references.
4 This textual uncertainty is compounded by Rashis comment to Shemos 12:40.

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The Rambam takes a similar approach and includes the phrase and He took
him outside (Gen. 15:5) as an example of events in Tanach that occurred as part of
an inner vision (Moreh Nevuchim 2:46):
...



.
[W]hen it is said of Avraham: And He took him outside (Gen. 15:5), this
occurred in a vision (machaze)[I]t is said of Avraham: The word of
Hashem was to Avram in a vision (machaze), saying (Gen. 15:1). And it
is stated in this same vision of prophesy: And He took him outside, and He
said: Gaze, please, toward the heavens and count the stars. (Gen. 15:5). It
is clear that it was in a vision of prophesy that he saw that he was brought out
from the place he was in until he could see the heavens, and that afterwards it
was said to him and count the stars (Gen. 15:5), and it was said [to him]
describe it as you see.
Thus, the Rambam emphasizes that the vantage that was provided to Avraham
from above the stars does not mean that he was physically brought through the
expanse of the universe. Rather, this happened as part of an inner vision (machaze),
as referenced in the introductory verse to the Bris Bein HaBesarim.5
The Bris Bein HaBesarim is a central event in Sefer Bereishis and it is the elemental
precursor of Hashems redemption of the Jewish people from Mitzrayim. That it
took place as part of a vision demonstrates the extent to which an inner vision
specifically, one that contains and expresses the dvar Hashem (Gen. 15:1)can
have essential impact, and endure.
Conclusion
Uniquely among the weeks of the year, the Shabbos before Tisha Bav has been given
a significant title: Shabbos Chazon, thus highlighting the requirement, especially
during the period bein hametzarim, to have inner vision. The task and focus during
this time period is not only and simply to mourn, but also to strengthen our capacity
5 Although the Ramban (Commentary on Gen. 18:1) disagrees with the Rambams interpretation in Moreh
Nevuchim 2:42 regarding the visit by the angels in Parashas Vayera, he does not disagree here, perhaps because
this section begins with a statement that this occurred in a machaze. The Ramban specifies that this machaze was
comparable to the ability of the Jewish people to see sound during Maamad Har Sinai.

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for inner vision that, as in the Bris Bein HaBesarim, is reflective and expressive of the
dvar Hashem through Toras Hashem. It is a time, in other words, of inner motion and
teshuva.6
Moreover, the Shabbos after Tisha Bav has been given the title Shabbos
Nachamu in appreciation of the fact that, even while the Beis HaMikdash has not
yet been rebuilt, this capacity for inner vision, once cultivated, sustains.7 It does
not quickly abate like a flash in the pan. Instead, throughout the shiva denechemta,
it continues to unfold toward the Yomim Noraim and the entire year, and to develop,
beH, into actualized redemption.

6 See Rav Mayer Twersky, Avenues of Teshuva (TorahWeb.org, 2011).

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Nitzachon
Adas Torah Journal of Torah Ideas
Volume 3:2 Spring-Summer 5776

Adas Torah
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Los Angeles, CA 90035
www.adastorah.org
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(310) 228-0963
Rabbi Dovid Revah, Rav and Mara DAsra
Alan Rich, President

Nitzachon Editorial Team